NextBillion - A WDI Publication

It’s Time for Sustainable Development

Bill Clinton was set to enter the White House, the European Union was born and China had its first taste of a double cheeseburger with fries when McDonalds opened its doors in Beijing. That was 1992. A lot can happen in 20 years. In June 2012, two decades after the groundbreaking Earth summit, which put climate change and biological diversity on the global political agenda, attention will turn once again to Rio de Janeiro for the UN conference on sustainable development, or ...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Education

Region

Latin America

Africa’s Mobile Pricing Wars

The increasing availability and ownership of mobile phones across much of Africa has brought numerous impressive benefits to ordinary Africans. And with the costs of calls, data-usage and handsets falling rapidly in many African countries, there has been a continuous rise in the number of mobile phone users across the region - in fact, the continent-wide growth rate of 20% makes Africa the fastest growing market for mobile phon...

Source

Think Africa Press (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Year of Controversial Giving

By Matthew Bishop and Michael Green What does 2012 have in store for giving, especially the impact-driven approach to it we call "philanthrocapitalism"? Having peered into our philanthrocrystal ball, we see giving becoming more dangerous, more controversial, and more political, among other things, as philanthrocapitalists find themselves at the centre of some of the year’s biggest news stories. Here are our 10 predictions for the coming year: ...

Source

The Huffington Post (link opens in a new window)

BOI/UNDP: Nigeria?s household energy market worth $5.1b

The Bank of Industry (BOI)and United Nations Development Programme (BOI/UNDP) partnership has identified the potential in investing in household energy through supplies of energy-efficient equipment and bulbs adding that the market is worths $5.1 billion. The Project Manager, UNDP/BOI Access to Renewable Energy Project, Segun Adaju in his paper titled ’Investing in clean energy for the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in Nigeria’ presented at a forum in Lagos, said the BOP is the ...

Source

The Nation (Nigeria) (link opens in a new window)

More Corporate Companies Should Adopt Social Enterprise Ethos

Recent political and financial events have seen businesses retrench, dig in and attempt to ride out the storm. To many, this suggests that the corporate world is being indifferent to its social responsibility. Community projects are being curtailed and cash donations to charities drying up. The impact can only be detrimental. As austerity measures deepen, are big businesses unwittingly contributing to social injustice? If so, who will fill the gap they are leaving? In the UK, soci...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Case studies: investing in bottom of pyramid

Dfid’s role models for its new private sector approach in India include the US-based Acumen Fund, part of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, the US Rockefeller Foundation and Mumbai-based Aavishkaar Investment. Samridhi Dfid has chosen the Small Industries Development Bank for India to channel investments to small enterprises, in its first private sector development programme in India. ...

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Ethiopia Invests in Farmers to Achieve Country’s Middle-income Ambitions

Fields of red sorghum in terraced fields that stretch into the distance are a common sight in the scenic mountains of eastern Ethiopia , giving a misleading impression of bountiful harvests despite this year’s drought in the east Africa . Farmers tie five or more tall sorghum stalks...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Social Business: A More Sustainable Way to Help in Haiti?

Children dressed in school uniforms sit in rows listening to one of their classmates sing a song while snacks are passed around. Two years ago, before a devastating earthquake struck the island, they were in a different location in a building that has since been demolished on a nearby plot of land here in Léogâne, Haiti. Now these youngsters and their families are getting another chance with the help of an innovative antipoverty effort that combines business tactics with so...

Source

The Chronicle of Philanthropy (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Agriculture