NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Solar Light Bulb Sheds Light on Social Entre?pre?neur?ship Model

Problems facing the developing world are wide-ranging and include the need for potable water, adequate food and efficient, affordable lighting. Inventor Stephen Katsaros’s solar-powered light bulb may go a long way towards fixing the last of those three. Katsaros created a solar light bulb that uses the sun’s rays to charge a battery-powered LED light supply for roughly four hours. The battery, which is replaceable, lasts roughly 300-500 charges, while the product itself c...

Source

The Washington Post (link opens in a new window)

Microfinance Gets Lending Boost with RBI Nod to Crowdsourcing

India’s microlending sector has got a significant nudge with the central bank giving its first nod to a crowdsourcing company to attract small loans from abroad for the country’s poor. Following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, individuals or institutions from anywhere in the world can use Milaap’s online platform to identify whom they want to lend to, widely expanding the capital source for the company. They can extend as little as Rs.1,000 to fund someone...

Source

livemint.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Ross Establishes India Initiatives under Faculty Director M.S. Krishnan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Dean Alison Davis-Blake has established the Ross School of Business India Initiatives and appointed M.S. Krishnan as faculty director. Krishnan is the Joseph Handleman Professor of Business Information Technology and a Hallman Research Fellow at Ross. The India Initiatives comprise, but are not limited to, the C.K. Prahalad Initiative and the Center for Global Resource Leverage: India. As faculty director of India Initiatives, Krishnan will report to Associate Dean for ...

Source

Michigan Ross School of Business (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Social Enterprise Spotlight: Portable Solar Lighting

"How many _____ does it take to change a light bulb," may no longer be just a joke. In inventing the LuminAID Light , a solar powered portable device, Andrea Sreshta and Anna Stock have created a possible alternative to Thomas Edison’s 1879 electric discovery that has the potential to change, not only the light bulb, but also the world. It is no wonder that they are one of the three social entrepreneur finalists for the ...

Source

Forbes (link opens in a new window)

Business Incubator for Marginalised Youths Debuts

In 10 years from now, 40 million Nigerians will become job seekers, and most of them would be unskilled hands. What do we do with these job seekers? Generation Enterprise (GEN) raised this question last week in Lagos. It is GEN’s mandate to solve this problem. GEN, a model that provides an end-to-end solution to youth poverty and unemployment, brought leaders in Nigeria’s public, private, and social sectors together in Lagos to tackle the related issues of youth unemployment and...

Source

Business Day (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Slum-free India Scheme to be Taken Up as National Mission

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government’s endeavour is to make the country slum-free through the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) scheme and empowering slum dwellers with house ownership. "We have taken a major step for our poor brothers and sisters living in cities. We have approved the Rajiv Awas Yojana. We want to make India slum free through this scheme," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in his Independence Day address to the nation in New Delhi. The RAY, the ...

Source

The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

South Asia

Exploding Malaria With Human-Sized Microwaves

Around the world almost a million people die from malaria each year, and half the planet's population, 3.3 billion people, live at risk of contracting the disease , mostly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Treatments for malaria, however, have never been a high priority for pharmaceutical companies. Most victims have little or no ability to pay, and profit margins on vaccines are thin. Now, our few lines of defen...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Health Care

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Banking on a Mobile Business

I t sounds like the lead-up to a bad joke: What do a mobile phone and a bank clerk have in common? Certainly the differences are more obvious than any similarities, but the two do share one crucial likeness: they both provide access to financial services. Mobile banking is becoming an increasingly popular service across Africa, thanks to a combination of both simplicity and availability. The ability to access basic financial services, such as deposits and transfer...

Source

Business Today (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa