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Ugandan Billionaire Ashish Thakkar Launches Venture Capital Fund For Young Entrepreneurs
VENTURES AFRICA – Ugandan billionaire businessman Ashish J. Thakkar, under the auspices of the Mara foundation, a non-profit enterprise of Mara Group, today announced the formation and launch of a venture capital firm – Mara Launch Uganda Fund to support the needs of today’s entrepreneurs.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Helping Africa manufacture its own emergency and disaster relief supplies
In the current humanitarian emergencies in South Sudan, Somalia, Niger and Kenya, the strong likelihood is that tarpaulins – one of the most basic relief items – will have come from China.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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India’s RBI Eases Regulations for Non-Bank Microfinance Lenders
India’s central bank eased norms for non-bank microfinance companies, removing a cap on lending rates and relaxing risk-provision standards, after some lenders found it difficult to meet existing regulations.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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Ideas man: professor in quest for India’s rural inventions
t's 43 degrees Celsius, and Prof. Anil Gupta has been hiking the scorched plains of central India for hours. But he smiles widely as he enters a tiny village in search of another unsung genius. "If you have any new ideas or you have any new inventions, I'm here to promote you," he tells farmers squatting beside a dusty roadside shrine to Lord Shiva.
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- Agriculture
- Region
- South Asia
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Test-driving the ‘World’s Cheapest Computer’
India’s “Aakash” project, a tablet billed as the cheapest computer in the world, hopes to revolutionize learning in Indian colleges and universities. We’ve been following the ups and downs of the Aakash project closely here at India Ink and were delighted when we were allowed to test drive the new, improved version, known as the Aakash-2, at the ministry of Human Resources Development.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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74 Million Served, and Counting: 10th Annual Class of Global Social Entrepreneurs Coming to Silicon Valley
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug 02, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Anuj Sharma's startup company, Sarvajal, has found a way to bring clean water to thousands of households in rural India, who would otherwise have to walk miles or drink disease-causing dirty water. Sarvajal dispenses water from solar-powered, ATM-like machines. Customers pay around $3 a month with their cell phones, and special mobile technology alerts the company if there are problems with any of its 157 franchised machines.
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- Uncategorized
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US intelligence predicts poverty plummet by 2030
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Poverty across the planet will be virtually eliminated by 2030, with a rising middle class of some two billion people pushing for more rights and demanding more resources, the chief of the top U.S. intelligence analysis shop said Saturday.
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U-M researcher deals with hope, not charity, in far corners
On the east side of Nairobi, in a slum called Mukuru, Ted London went looking for outhouses and found a Steve Yzerman hockey jersey.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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