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African Farmers try KickStarting Their Farms
Summary: KickStart is a company hoping to help lift African farmers out of poverty by selling them simple water pumps for their crops. Scott Simon talks with Martin Fisher, co-founder of the non-profit company....
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A Little Money Goes A Long Way
Excerpt: Ann Brown and Maria Martinez have never met, but last March Brown loaned Martinez $50. It was part of a $400 loan Martinez needed to get her clothing store up and running in Danli, Honduras. She used the cash to buy colorful hairbands, bright shirts, frilly button-downs, and baby onesies. Sales have picked up, and now Martinez is paying Brown back in monthly installments via the Web site on which they found each other, Kiva.org. When I was starting my handbag business, a neighbor ...
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Philips keen on SADC region factory
Excerpt: Johannesburg - Electronics giant Philips said on Tuesday that it hoped to build a compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) assembly factory in the SADC region - the first of its kind in Africa. Millions of Southern Africans living in both rural and urban households do not have access to electricity, and those that do often struggle to afford quality lighting. Instead, they rely on hazardous paraffin, kerosene or candles which are not only major pollutants, but also often lead to...
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Southern Africa: Conference to Explore Affordable Lighting
Excerpt: In a quest to give access to affordable lighting to millions of households in Southern Africa, an electronics company will host a conference to explore the feasibility of building a factory to manufacture Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) in the region. This because the majority of citizens in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region do not have access to electricity while those who use it still struggle to afford quality lighting. Inste...
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Tata offers Rs 25 cr annual medical aid to poor
Excerpt: The Tata Group and three other top business houses have joined hands with the Jharkhand government to ensure medical treatment to the state’s below poverty line population. Apart from the Tatas, Birla, Essar and Jindal group have formed the Sarva Swasthya Mission Trust -- which will be the first of its kind private-public partnership in the country. This project will provide health coverage and medical treatment to the poorest of the poor in...
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- South Asia
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Namibia: NA Mulls Property Rights for Communal Areas
THE National Assembly has adopted a motion on modernising property rights in Namibia to enable people living in settlements and rural areas to gain ownership titles. This will give them the necessary collateral to qualify for bank loans. A member of the DTA party, McHenry Venaani, tabled the motion and the debate concluded last Wednesday. There exists a need for entrenching property rights to many rural poor as a form of addressing wealth and empowering Nam...
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S. Africa can show way in selling to new world
Excerpt: SIXTY-ONE countries comprising about 40% of humankind are officially classified as low-income countries (LICs) by the World Bank (2005). While many of these countries were ignored as viable destinations for business previously, today the globalisation of markets has focused attention on these ?base of the pyramid? countries. Why would anyone be interested in a group of countries in which per capita gross national income is below $800 a year? The answer is growth and market saturation. L...
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Real business ventures are the only way to provide financially self-sustaining solutions to poverty
Excerpt: Markets can work for everyone but this requires an innovative approach that unleashes entrepreneurship at the local level, the WBCSD argued at a recent United Nations (UN) hearing. Many of our members are already promoting sustainable and inclusive business activities with partners from the development community and civil society, and we believe there is much more we can do. The objective of the UN General Assembly?s hearing was to create a space where...
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