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

SINCE 1994, the South African government has invested significant political capital in the support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is because SMEs are recognised as key contributors to both growth and employment, contributing 30% of the country?s gross domestic product and almost 70% of private-sector employment. Government intervention in this sector has included the provision of wholesale finance and nonfinancial support services. The 2005 and 2006 budgets have also given su...

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Business Day (link opens in a new window)

The East African Development Bank is to start financing development programmes in partnership with the private sector.? At the bank’s governing council meeting held recently in Kampala, proposals to develop a variety of development finance products were unveiled. The East African Community member states have endorsed the bank board’s proposal to provide additional capital to strengthen its equity base and fund expanded operations. The African Development Bank (ADB), which is a shar...

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The East African (link opens in a new window)

SME Bank has come up with five loan schemes specially designed to help different types of small- and medium- scale enterprises flourish in the years ahead, it was announced yesterday. With the exception of SME Professional which was launched in December last year, the new loans are SME Start-Up, SME Procurement, SME Franchise and SME Global. Managing director Datuk Azmi Abdullah said the five products were a result of extensive research by the bank to ensure that they were dif...

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Business Times Malaysia (link opens in a new window)

BANGALORE, India, May 23 ? The world’s largest chip maker, Intel, said Tuesday that it would introduce a low-cost computer in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets, in an effort to gain greater market share. Intel announced the Indian computer project as part of a wider global strategy to promote the use of technology in emerging markets. The computer will have a processor, chip set and software designed by Intel and will be produced by Indian hardware m...

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New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Sharon Davis Top African political and business leaders meet in South Africa for the World Economic Forum on Africa to discuss steps to sustain the current economic growth on the continent and launch a public-private partnership that aims to address the root causes of poverty. More than 700 participants are expected at the forum, which runs from 31 May to 2 June in Cape Town under the theme Going for Growth&q...

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Southern Africa News Features (link opens in a new window)

ACCRA, Ghana -- The sparkling new bank, down the street from Accra’s bustling Makola market, looks like a financial institution anywhere: Six busy teller windows, a new accounts desk, air conditioning holding the steamy heat outside at bay. But for Ghanaians who have never had access to banking services before, it represents a revolution. After years of seeking small loans from loan sharks, family members and non-profit micro-credit programs, they now have what they never had befo...

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Chicago Tribune (link opens in a new window)

By Tricia Duryee Chris Brookfield sees similarities between building a technology startup and lifting people out of poverty. As odd as it sounds, the former Seattle venture capitalist is doing just that by applying his investing skills to microfinance. I have to take the same hard analytical approach to this as I did in venture capital, he said. In structure and in the process, it’s similar. Earlier this month, Brookfield decided to lea...

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Seattle Times (link opens in a new window)

Jitters Over Rising Interest Rates

Stocks in developing countries tumbled yesterday, extending one of their biggest losing streaks in nearly a decade, as growing jitters about the global economic outlook amid rising interest rates prompted investors to abandon riskier markets world-wide. The pullback in markets as far-flung as Turkey, India, Russia and Brazil has broad ramifications for U.S. investors. Emerging-market stocks have been the world’s top performers ov...

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Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)