NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Micro Credit Providing a Lifeline

Small-business owners are becoming more reliant on non-governmental organizations to provide capital. Chen Jia reports from Shaanxi province. Chinese farmers finding it hard to obtain bank loans are turning to micro-credit organizations to help them launch their own businesses, amid the accelerated expansion of the non-governmental financial system. With savings of only 1,000 yuan ($157) and no other income five years ago, Li Wenqin, a farmer in her 50s, never thought that she wou...

Source

China Daily (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Venturing into Growth Industries with High-Impact Capital

23rd in a series of excerpts from the book "The HIP Investor" (John Wiley & Sons, 2010). See other published articles in the series here ( bit.ly/gSJMtU ). How do impact investors spur long-term innovation? Through garage startups, which can also be sexy. That’s where William Hewlett and David Packard originated what’s now known as HP, or Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin followed in that tradition ...

Source

Reuters (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Health Care

Research by JNU Shows Inequality Has Increased in Both Rural & Urban Areas

NEW DELHI: Poverty in India has fallen at twice the rate since 2004-05 as compared with the previous decade, says a study by two professors of Delhi’s Jawarharlal Nehru University . The average annual decline in poverty rose to 4.3% in the six years from 2004-05, as against 2.1% between 1993-94 and 2003-04, ...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

60,000 of India?s Rural Women Entrepreneurs Get a Boost

A partnership between International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Utkarsh Microfinance, a start-up based in Uttar Pradesh, India has helped 60, 000 women in rural parts of northern India have access to finance and increased credit. IFC’s $550 000 investment has helped Utkarsh expand access to financial services for women entrepreneurs in rural parts of India. With IFC’s help, Utkarsh is instituting practices that avoid over-indebtedness, encour...

Source

Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Opportunity for Socially Relevant MSMEs to Access Funding and Capacity Building

Sankalp Forum opens applications for Sankalp Awards 2012 (India and South East Asia), finalist MSMEs to get access to funding and capacity building. Sankalp Forum, a global platform for social enterprises, announced that it is now accepting applications for the Sankalp 2012 Awards. The awards will recognize emerging enterprises across 6 categories, including the newly laun...

Source

Sankalp Forum (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Unreasonable, Maybe, but It?s on a Social Mission

DANIEL EPSTEIN wants to get one thing straight: He is an unreasonable man. Happily, proudly unreasonable. Entrepreneurs who want to change the world, he says, have got to be a little crazy. And so, to foster some practical zaniness, Mr. Epstein is a co-founder of something called the Unreasonable Institute , in Boulder, Colo. For the last two summers, he has helped preside over this academy for entrepre...

Source

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

PharmaSecure gets $3.9M from ex-Google CEO

PharmaSecure announced this week a $3.9 million investment round led by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors. Other investors included Gray Ghost Ventures, Healthtech Capital and the TEEC Angel Fund. Healthtech Capital lead a $200,000 investment round for PharmaSecure in September. ...

Source

MobiHealthNews (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

GBF, LGT Venture Philanthropy Partner to Employ iCats Program

The Grassroots Business Fund (GBF), a global organization that provides investment capital and capacity building to businesses that create economic opportunities at the base of the pyramid, announces that it will be partnering with LGT Venture Philanthropy ( LGT VP ) to employ their iCats Fellowship Program. Chosen through a selective application process, iCats Fellows will be placed with GBF’s portfolio companies. Two GBF iCats Fell...

Source

News Release (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa