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

Kenya: New Fisheries Policy Out Soon

A policy document detailing the operations of the new Fisheries ministry will be out in September this year, minister Dr Paul Otuoma said Sunday. Dr Otuoma said that the document would spell out the functions of various departments in the ministry. He said the new policy is being formulated to ensure efficient and effective running of the new ministry and to ensure that the fishing industry is beneficial to fishermen. As at now we cannot say much as a mi...

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AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

Nigeria: “The Future Belongs to Youths in Enterprise” – Olasunkami

The future of Nigeria belongs to today’s youths who are actively running their own small businesses. The minister of youth development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkunmi, made this statement in Abuja at the closing ceremony of the corpers’ entrepreneurship development programme [CEDP] organised by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in collaboration with the directorate of National Youth Service Corps [NYSC]. The minister who was repres...

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AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

Boom time for the global bourgeoisie

In the midst of the current widespread gloom and doom in the west, it is important not to lose sight of the true structural themes shaping our era. Linked to the current mood, commentators often depict an embattled and shrinking middle class, with sharply rising financial inequality. However, globally, this is simply not true. One of the most startlingly positive phenomena for many generations continues to unfold around the world. We are in the middle of an explosion of the world&...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Is the future green for China?

China recently overtook the United States as the world’s biggest carbon polluter, but in a nation known for its dirty technology , a surprising business trend is emerging: green entrepreneurs. As China booms, the country has relie...

Trade, Not Aid, For Africa

The man regarded by many as the world’s leading expert on global poverty is Oxford academic Paul Collier. He dedicates his recent book, winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize, to Daniel, apparently his young son. Collier says it’s Daniel’s world that could face massive global upheaval if a solution isn’t found to relieve the ever deepening poverty of almost 50 African states whose populations taken together number a billion people. World poverty is declining, and some countries (Ch...

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National Post (link opens in a new window)

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international trade

Entrepreneurship beyond 2010

Entrepreneurs in South Africa have been encouraged to look for business opportunities for 2010 and beyond. Malose Kekana, chief executive officer of Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) said entrepreneurs need to be educated and informed about businesses they venture into. Kekana was speaking at the 5 th Annual Entrepreneurship Development Conference (EDC) and Business Development Exhibition held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre last week. This year’s...

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Money Web (link opens in a new window)

Tracking Down the Trail of Foreign Aid

The current foreign aid fad is to channel most money through recipient governments rather than the NGOs that actually deliver most services in most poor countries. This wins the donors (Canada among them) high praise from the heads of those lucky governments who get the cheques. They like this policy a lot. But the people the money’s supposed to help? No so much. In an ideal world, it would be hard to argue against providing aid money through governments....

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Vancouver Sun (link opens in a new window)

The Next Billion

Till a few years ago, N. Padmavathy and her six friends were daily-wage workers in an export unit in Chennai, with a monthly income of not more than Rs 2,000. At times, when she had to pay her children’s school fees or take her children to the doctor, she had to borrow at hefty rates from the local money lender. As a daily-wage worker, she could never predict her income, till she discovered the power of microcredit. A Rs 15,000 loan each, taken by Padmavathy and he...

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India Today (link opens in a new window)