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Latin American link-up aims for US$1 syphilis test
Paraguayan and Uruguayan scientists are working together to develop a US$1 diagnostic test for syphilis, which they hope could be launched as early as next year. The early-detection kit for a disease that affects three million people in Latin America would be used alongside pregnancy tests to cut cases of congenital syphilis, say the researchers, who have linked up through the UN University's Biotechnology Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNU-BIOLAC), based in Venezuela.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- public health
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New Investment Fund Will Advance Late-Stage Vaccines and other Global Health Technologies
A new investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will, for the first time, allow individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries. With $94 million committed by a pioneering group of investors -- including anchor support from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW) and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation -- the Global Health Investment Fund ("GHIF" or the "Fund") will help advance the most promising interventions to fight challenges in low-income countries such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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A Celeb-Backed Apparel Factory in Haiti Goes High-End
When apparel brand Boxercraft was searching for a new supplier for its T-shirts and tank tops earlier this year, it didn’t turn to factories that crank out millions on the cheap. Instead, the 120-employee business, based near Atlanta, chose Industrial Revolution II, a garment manufacturer in Haiti. What clinched the deal was more than IRII’s competitive prices and low importing costs: It was the venture’s promise to train unemployed Haitians, pay them more than the minimum wage, and donate half its profits to social programs.
- Tags
- manufacturing
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Grameen Bank to be Controlled Directly
The government is finally bringing the Grameen Bank under direct control of the central bank, to give the authorities more powers over the microcredit organisation. The decision is in line with the proposals of the government-sponsored Grameen Bank Commission, which recommended bringing the bank under the regulatory control of either the Bangladesh Bank or the Microcredit Regulatory Authority to better monitor its activities.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
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Nigeria: Insurance Sector Can Enhance Economic Growth – NAICOM
The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has said that the country is much likely to attain a sustained economic growth and development if it can adapt its insurance industry with innovative ways that will bring on board the generality of the country's population. Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel stated this at the sensitisation workshop for stakeholders on key initiatives of the Commission held in New Karu, Nasarawa State last week.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Microloans Typically Used to Alleviate Poverty Abroad Surging in Silicon Valley
When Silicon Valley small businesses needed an influx of cash, and fast, they didn't find help at a bank. They turned instead to a type of financing more commonly associated with buying a sewing machine for a Guatemalan tailor or a tractor for an African farmer. Microlending, a decades old form of financing for the world's poorest, is now booming in Silicon Valley.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
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Kenyans Find the Unintended Consequences of Mobile Money
In Western Kenya, “Sambaza” is both a marketing slogan and means for despair. It means “to spread.” Vodafone-owned Safaricom, the dominant mobile provider in Kenya, uses it as a brand name for a service that allows customers to transfer airtime to each other. According to a new study funded by the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion (IMFTI), the word has also come to refer to the way money in a mobile account slips away, drip by drip, as friends and family ask for favors.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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New Report: Bringing Impact Investing From the Margins to the Mainstream
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, today launched From the Margins to the Mainstream: Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors. The report provides a market assessment and recommendations for how mainstream investors can more actively engage in impact investing.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- impact investing, research
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