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

Clinton Speaks on Poverty and Politics in Latin America

A highlight of the IDB?s ?Building Opportunities for the Majority? conference in June was a conversation between Luis Alberto Moreno, the Bank?s president, and Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States. Clinton participated in the conference because the IDB?s new initiative dovetails with many of the activities of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Moreno and Clinton discussed a wide range of topics, including inequality, trade, alternative energy, AIDS and the rewards of public serv...

Source

IDB America (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda

Excerpt: OVER the last dozen years, the view from Gemima Mukashyaka?s small coffee garden in the lush emerald-green hills of southwestern Rwanda has changed. In 1994, after the genocide that killed 800,000 people, it was a site of devastation, chaos and abandonment. Five years ago, when worldwide coffee prices spiraled downward, her neighbors in the densely populated region near Butare were uprooting their coffee trees and planting quick-growing food crops to survive. But today, there...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

More Action Needed By Business in South Africa On Poverty

Excerpt from Interview: Futhi Mtoba, Chairman of Deloitte Southern Africa, provides a look at where the corporate responsibility movement stands in South Africa, particularly as it relates to poverty alleviation. According to Mtoba, there is general understanding, and even genuine desire on the part of business to do something, but for various reasons implementation is lacking. One solution for increasing momentum, says Mtoba, is to develop better methods of...

Source

AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

The tides hold hope as a source of energy

There is more riding the giant waves here than surfers, thanks to a growing number of scientists, engineers and investors. A group of entrepreneurs is harnessing the perpetual motion of the ocean and turning it into a commodity in high demand - energy. Right now, machines of various shapes and sizes are being tested from the North Sea to the Pacific to see how they capture energy from waves and tides. The industry is still in its infancy, but it is gaining attention bec...

Source

International Herald Tribune (link opens in a new window)

Professionals, entrepreneurs new pillar of China

Excerpt: China’s 150 million entrepreneurs and freelance professionals are being recognized along with workers, farmers and intellectuals as a new pillar of Chinese society and economic development. The Outlook Weekly, Xinhua’s news magazine, reports that entrepreneurs and professionals contribute one third of the country’s total tax revenues. Emerging as a new economic force they include private enterprise owners, technicians and managers and independent pro...

Source

China Daily (link opens in a new window)

ICT Access Centers to be introduced in rural areas

Excerpt: The government for the first time is going to introduce ICT Access Centers for the rural people to attach the underprivileged section to the technology-based knowledge society, reports UNB. The rural ICT Access Centers, to be equipped with modern computers and Internet facilities, will provide ICT-enabled services to the rural people to bring them into the mainstream of development. ?Within next two months, we?ll be able to introduce such knowledge centers,? Sc...

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News From Bangladesh (link opens in a new window)

Seattle may shape “Microfinance 2.0”

Excerpt: It’s not hard to understand why the idea of microfinance appeals to technology entrepreneurs like Kintan Brahmbhatt. Making tiny loans to help very poor people start businesses fosters entrepreneurship, he said. Brahmbhatt, a Microsoft program manager, is convinced this innovative approach to dealing with poverty has the potential to change the world. He’s become an advocate for microfinance at the company, in the Seattle area and in his native India.

Source

The Seattle Times (link opens in a new window)

India?s farmers switch faith to mobile phones

Excerpt: FOR centuries, Indian farmers have relied on ancient rituals, the study of wind direction and local gossip to ascertain the annual onset of the unpredictable monsoon rains. Deciding when to sow their crops and when to take their produce to market is based on experience and instinct. In Jaipur, in the desert state of Rajasthan, landowners continue to put their faith in a 16th-century ceremony that is performed every year on the eve of Guru Purnima, the full Moon day in the Hin...

Source

Times of London (link opens in a new window)