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

Why Women are Economic Backbone of Rwanda

Kigali, Rwanda (CNN) -- Six days a week Bernadette Ndizigiye puts her skillful hands to work. Stretched out on the floor of an empty classroom in Kigali, Ndizigiye and 20 other women weave baskets to earn their keep. Her job at the Agaseke Project, a government run cooperative, has earned Ndizigiye a steady wage, her first savings account, and a taste of financial empowerment. "I can pay school fees for m...

Source

CNN (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Translating Good Intentions into Good Inventions

FORT COLLINS, CO (KUNC) - During the month of July, Colorado State University in Fort Collins is hosting 48 budding entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors from 17 countries. Their mission is to work on product inventions like cheap solar water heaters that are targeted to people living in the developing world. A Business Approach to Philanthropy Being an inventor takes a lot of hard work, intelligence and a little bit of elbow grease.&nbs...

Source

NPR (link opens in a new window)

Fund Seeks to Invest in the West African Seed Industry

The West Africa Agricultural Investment Fund ("WAAIF") and Injaro Investments Limited ("Injaro") Monday announced the First Closing of the first ever West African fund focused on investing in indigenous seed production companies. The initial investors in the fund are The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Lundin For Africa Society, a Vancouver-based foundation. The launch of the fund will provide capital that is desperately needed by West Africa’s cr...

Source

My Joy Online (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Mobile Applications for the Masses

It was in the middle of last year that we decided to launch the mobile award as an advocacy and innovation reference platform, and named it mBillionth to work towards enabling mobile as a tool to make every critical content and service reach the bottom of the pyramid-the billionth person. With rigorous exercise across South Asia through various partnerships and help, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Consider this: We got more than...

Source

LiveMint (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Creating a Consumption Class Out of the Poor

The late management guru CK Prahalad told us that there is a market at the bottom of the pyramid. Indian companies discovered that with the Re1 shampoo sachet. Ratan Tata believes that there is a huge market for the bottom-of-the-line Nano. But there is something missing here: the bottom below the bottom of the economic pyramid, where the fight is for the next meal. Subsistence living means there’s no market. This is job No 1 for our anti-p...

Source

DNA India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Microfinance Mission Accomplished? Hardly, Expert Says

The recent decision by its board to close Seattle nonprofit Unitus and shift its resources to "other strategic areas" prompted Adam Sorensen, a consultant working for the International Finance Corporation, to write a response questioning the actions. Here’s his personal perspe...

Source

The Seattle Times (link opens in a new window)

Media Hype and the Reality of ?New? India

In a week when Delhi’s new "world-class" airport opened for business and the Indian Space Research Organisation celebrated the successful launch of five new satellites, we had a stark reminder of another India that, increasingly, many Indians feel embarrassed to talk about. A United Nations-backed study by Oxford University revealed that poverty in at least eight Indian States - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, C...

Source

The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Frontier Investments: Focused on Mobile Banking, Microinsurance & Housing

ACCION International’s Frontier Investments Group is a double bottom line, venture equity fund focused on catalyzing a new approach to microfinance. It invests in new technologies and disruptive business models that can powerfully enhance the way financial services are delivered to the poor. Building upon microfinance’s success in "banking the unb...

Source

Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Tags

housing