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Chevron foundation, USAID give Nigeria $50M
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Chevron Corp.’s foundation and USAID are to pour $50 million into Nigeria’s impoverished delta where militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded that more oil profits come back to the region, the U.S. oil giant said Thursday. Chevron’s Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and the U.S.-government funded USAID will each invest $25 million toward the development of the region over the next four years. The money will support programs desig...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Ethiopia Launches Industry Extension Service Package Targeting SMEs
In an attempt to replicate success stories from its ’Agriculture Extension Program’, which has been showing some good results in changing the lives of poor farmers, the Ethiopian government launched today ’Industry Extension Service’ package targeting urban Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs). Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions will provide the new service package, which targets solving all the major headaches of SMEs...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Bridges Fund Tops ?11.75m with JP Morgan Investment
A fund for social entrepreneurs run by Bridges Venture has topped £11.75m following a £2.75m investment from JP Morgan. The sustainable growth investor’s Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund opened in 2009 to address the funding gap faced by fast-growing social enterprises. Its first £9m was funded by the Office for Civil Society, Nesta, R&S Cohen Foundation, Deutsche Bank, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and others. The Bridges Ventures team has also alloca...
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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From Reeds to Roads: Bamboo Bikes in Ghana
When Columbia University professor John Mutter went to Ghana in 2007, he noticed how necessary a reliable source of transportation was to people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. "You can’t go to any of the poorer countries in Africa and not be struck by how many people get around by walking or bicycling," said Mutter. With roads in generally poor condition, it can take a long time to get from place to place, he said. Even the seemingly simple task of getting cash crops to mark...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nigeria: Global Malaria Control – It’s Time to Cast Down the Net
Maybe as her own demonstration of love during the Valentine season, the First Lady of Nigeria - Dame Patience Jonathan on Sunday February 13, 2011 turned a portion of Aso Rock into a repository for insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) that were subsequently distributed to some categories of Nigerian women. Her love gift is one out of the numerous efforts by various individuals, groups, communities, societies, agencies, governments, stakeholders and non stakeholders alike, in the fight agains...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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For Pepsi, a Business Decision With Social Benefit
SAN GABRIEL, Mexico - In the past, farmers would make the dangerous trek north from this tiny town hidden in the rugged folds of the Jalisco mountain range to the United States, hoping to earn enough money doing odd jobs to cover debts incurred while cultivating the small plots of land that have been in their families for generations. But more recently, many have managed to avoid the trips, staying home as the result of a new venture with ...
- Region
- Latin America
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Zimbabwe: Fewer Extramarital Partners and Dollars Push Precipitous Decline in H.I.V. Rate
Defying expectations in a region devastated by AIDS , rates of H.I.V. infection in Zimbabwe have fallen precipitously in the last decade. In 1997, an estimated 29 percent of adults were infected. A decade later, 16 percent were. The basic explanation is simple, according to ...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Rwanda: Bloodless male circumcision to boost HIV prevention
The Rwandan government plans to expand its national voluntary male circumcision programme using a new device, the PrePex system, which officials say saves both time and money. The PrePex system works through a special elastic mechanism that fits closely around an inner ring, trapping the foreskin, which dries up and is removed after a week. A study conducted by the Rwandan Ministries of Defence and Health in 2010 found the device to be safe and effective. "Yo...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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