NextBillion - A WDI Publication

(From Davos) Challenges Remain for Booming India

By Richard Carter (AFP) - 11 hours ago DAVOS, Switzerland - India has a huge presence at this year’s Davos meeting, with bullish bosses hailing a booming economy but warning that creaking infrastructure and wealth gaps could yet stifle its stellar rise. A massive poster trumpeting investment in "Inclusive India" greeted the 2,500 members of the global business, political and media elite at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at this Swiss ski resort. Indi...

Source

AFP (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

(From Davos) Poverty’s Success Story

The World Economic Forum convening this week in Davos, Switzerland, is organized around the theme of "Shared Norms for the New Reality." As in past years, the conference will feature plenty of debate about how to solve global challenges in a multipolar, interdependent world. This "new reality," however, is getting a little old. Politicians, commentators and pundits have long opined - in Davos an...

Source

The Washington Post (link opens in a new window)

Social Entrepreneurship Summit to be Held at Rutgers-Camden on Feb. 18

CAMDEN -- A conference examining how investments in social entrepreneurship can help to increase jobs and grow businesses, non-profits, and other organizations will be held at Rutgers-Camden during 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 . "Innovation, Social Benefit, and Job Creation: The Potential of Social Entrepreneurship in South Jersey" will explore how new business models and services are helping non-profit and for-profit organizations to diversify their revenue st...

Source

Rutgers Today (link opens in a new window)

Harvard Business? Exec Ed Program Focuses on Emerging Markets

Harvard Business School will launch a new executive education program in April, hoping to cash in the demand by industries to tap into the potential of emerging markets. Dubbed "Building Businesses in Emerging Markets," the five-day session is designed to help executives understand emerging markets, identify new business and optimize their organization’s strategy in specific countries, HBS said. Tuition, which includes books, accommodations and most meals, is $8,750. ...

Source

Boston Herald (link opens in a new window)

Investing In China’s Future One Student At A Time

For Calvin Chin , the road to higher education requires just a few hundred dollars at the right moment. Take Winnie, for instance. She was a senior at Guangzhou University when her father had to quit his teaching job because his eyesight started to fail him. He went back to working...

Source

The Huffington Post (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Why Africa Needs an Agricultural Revolution

Africa’s peasants are migrating to the cities in huge numbers because it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive on their farms. Farmers are trapped into using inefficient technologies; average cereal yields have barely increased in 40 years and farm sizes are shrinking. Although Africans are leaving the farm, far too few are finding productive jobs in the cities. Most are getting poorer, the cost of safety-net programmes is escalating and Africa’s dependence on concession...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Colombia: For the Poor, a New Way to Protect Against Disaster

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia - Before a sales team for Liberty Mutual fanned out into a crime-infested slum to sell insurance, the venders bowed their heads, asking god to bless their work and protect them from thieves. A ramshackle neighborhood where horse carts ply the streets and the floors of many houses are made of dirt might seem an odd place to peddle insurance. After all, insurance companies have historically ignored the poor. But the Liberty team was offering something new to l...

Source

Global Post (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Web Inventor Seeks Voice-Enabled Internet in Africa

Tim Berners-Lee is best known as the father of the World Wide Web, but his latest side-project in Senegal and Mali--the World Wide Web Foundation’s VOICES project --aims to give youth and families without typical computing abilities a way to access the Internet with voice-enabled apps. "VOICE...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa