NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Donors Promise $4 Billion To Global Vaccines Body

Donors promised to give a global vaccines body more than $4 billion to help it protect millions of children from diseases like measles, pneumonia and yellow fever. At a one-day pledging conference in London on Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced the U.K. would provide 814 million pounds ($1.3 billion) of new funding up to 2015. Australia announced on Sunday it would commit $211 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the Bill & Meli...

Source

Associated Press/NPR (link opens in a new window)

Samasource Taps Silicon Valley to Create Jobs for Poor People

Forget microfinance. Leila Chiriyath Janah is betting that "microwork" can be an even more successful route to alleviate poverty. Samasource, her three year old San Francisco nonprofit, has found simple computer-based work for 1,200 people living in poverty in Kenya, India, Pakistan, Haiti, Uganda and South Africa. The paying clients? Technology companies like LinkedIn, Intuit and Google. "We’re creating an entirely new type of company," says Janah. By providing work to those who...

Source

Forbes (link opens in a new window)

Closing the Loop between Sanitation and Food Security for the ?Base of the Pyramid?

If consumers in the advanced Western economies have a hard time swallowing the idea of drinking water recycled from sewage, that may be nothing compared with what those in the Philippines have to go through when they consider eating foods raised from fertilizer recycled from human wastes. But that´s exactly what a local foundation based in the boondocks of Mindanao has been advocating, and is now actively looking for "technology off-takers" who are willing to partner with t...

Source

American Chronicle (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Study: Microcredit can be Bane, Not Boon to Self-esteem of Poor

BOSTON (Reuters)- Microcredit lending, which advocates say helps poor entrepreneurs in developing countries succeed and gain confidence, may have little impact on profits and even take a toll on borrowers’ well-being, a new study showed. Recipients of the small scale loans, typically between $100 to $500, instead reported lower levels of overall well-being, including satisfaction and self esteem, than those denied the loans, according to the study by economists Dean Karlan of Yale U...

Source

Reuters (link opens in a new window)

Social Entrepreneurs: Making An Impact

Want to advance social development? Hire and invest locally, says Tal Dehtiar, founder of Oliberté ...

Source

Forbes Development Wire (link opens in a new window)

Tata Nano Enters Sri Lanka Taxi Market

COLOMBO: Tata Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car , entered Sri Lanka’s taxi market on Thursday, billed as a more comfortable and safer alternative to rickety three-wheel auto rickshaws. A local company said it was launching a service with 45 cabs with plans to increase the fleet to 200 within six months. Sri Lanka became the car’s first foreign market late last month. The service is pitched at a lower price than air-conditioned cabs and as a bette...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Visa Acquires Mobile Financial Services Company Fundamo For $110M

Visa this morning announced that it has agreed to acquire Fundamo , a specialist mobile financial services provider to network operators and financial institutions in developing economies, for $110 million in ca...

Source

TechCrunch (link opens in a new window)

In India, Dynamism Wrestles With Dysfunction

GURGAON, India - In this city that barely existed two decades ago, there are 26 shopping malls, seven golf courses and luxury shops selling Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs shimmer in automobile showrooms. Apartment towers are sprouting like concrete weeds, and a futuristic commercial hub called Cyber City houses many of the world’s most respected corporations. Gurgaon, located about 15 miles south of the national capital, New Delhi, would seem to have everything, ...

Source

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

Region

South Asia