NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Gates to Unveil Challenge to Advance Agricultural Development

U.S. billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates will announce on Monday (May 9) a challenge that aims to help small farmers in poor countries grow and sell more products. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder is expected to encourage people to help spread the word: investing in small farmers so they can boost their production is key to reducing poverty and hunger, Devex was told in an email. The challenge is linked to remarks Gates is expected to deliver at a global agricu...

Source

Devex News (link opens in a new window)

One In 3 Africans Now Middle Class, Report Finds

One in three Africans is middle class, a rising group of consumers to rival those of China and India, researchers have found (pdf). Record numbers of people in Africa own houses and cars, use mobile phones and the internet and send their children to private schools and foreign universities, according to the African Development ...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Yunus loses final appeal against dismissal

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a final appeal by "banker to the poor" Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus against his dismissal as managing director of Grameen Bank, the micro-lender he founded. A government probe last month cleared Grameen of financial irregularities, but the finding did not change the decision to fire him. Yunus, 70, was dismissed on the grounds that he had overstayed his position and refused requests to quit. [ID:nSGE73401G] The official retireme...

Source

Reuters (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Harvard Business School Names ’11 Social Entrepreneurship Fellow

Media-Newswire.com) - BOSTON-Harvard Business School has awarded the 2011 Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship to Rakhi Mehra ( MBA 2009 ). Mehra was selected for her work in co-founding micro Home Solutions ( mHS ), a social initiative for developing sustainable housing solutions for the urban poor. Her achievement was recognized at this year’s HBS Business Plan Contest, where teams of student entrepreneurs compete to win cash and in-kind services. The HBS Social Entrepreneurshi...

Source

Media-Newswire.com (link opens in a new window)

African Economies ’Must Go Global’

By Justine Gerardy (AFP) CAPE TOWN - Africa must accelerate links to global markets and improve competitiveness to sustain the strong growth expected this year, experts at the World Economic Forum on Africa said on Wednesday. African economies weathered the global economic storm in 2008 and have since resumed strong growth -- a positive showing which paradoxically highlighted Africa’s weak presence in global financial markets, said Jennifer Blake, head of WEF’s compe...

Source

AFP (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

State Department Is Trying To Make A Thousand Ushahidis Bloom

When the earthquake decimated Haiti last year, technologists around the world converged online to develop tools to help rescuers find victims and raise funds . Now the State Departme...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Christian Sarkar, Co-founder, $300 House Project

No description provided

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

A Look at Three Models of Philanthro-Capitalism

A market based approach to philanthropy, with one eye firmly on the bottom line, can be an effective way for entrepreneurs to meet their social goals. take a close look at three such models of philanthro-capitalism. ...

Source

Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia