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

A Fisher of Women

The male-dominated fishing industry in Cape Town is making room for Sahra Luyt and her association of fisherwomen, giving less fortunate women the chance to cast their nets towards a better life. At the start of this century, a mere handful of fisherwomen were netting lobster along shores of the Cape Peninsula in hope of a better future. Ocean-blazer Sahra Luyt, 36, had been going to sea with her skipper and spouse Sedick Larney, 40, since the mid-1990s. My grandmother alway...

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Embassy (Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly)

German company focuses on the triple bottom line.

The Nutrition Improvement Program, which focuses on the fortification of foods with vitamins and minerals in order to prevent disease and mortality due to malnutrition, is DSM’s first initiative in the context of the ’Base of the Pyramid’. This is a new development in the field of sustainability to which the company will increasingly be paying attention. The ’Base of the Pyramid’ concept involves the development and implementation of new, innovative business models in ...

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Faz.net (link opens in a new window)

How Is Entrepreneurship Good For Economic Growth?

Innovations is a new journal focused on the intersection of social enterprise and public policy. The following is an excerpt from an article in the first issue.? Check out Rob’s post for more background. Zoltan Acs How is entrepreneurship good for economic growth? This question would seem to have a simple answer: Entrepreneurs create new businesses, and new bus...

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Innovations (link opens in a new window)

Germany-funded Poverty-relief Project Initiated in Xinjiang

A poverty-relief project has been launched in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a program funded by joint investment from China and Germany. The project was initiated on Sunday in Kashi Region and Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu to the southern area of Xinjiang. (...)The project aims to assist 30,000 poor villagers living in the area by helping them adopt new water-saving technologies to water over 4,000 hectares of fruit trees. The German government has...

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Development Gateway (link opens in a new window)

Using the Sun to Sterilize Water

Tanzanian villagers have begun using an energy-saving method to sterilise their drinking water - leaving the water under the sun. The piped water supply to Ndolela village in the central Iringa region is intermittent and even when it does flow, it is not clean enough to drink. When the pipes run dry, villagers get water from a dirty spring. Mother of five Rose Longwa says the new process has changed her life. We no longer suffer from stomach illness. That’s because the ...

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BBC Online (link opens in a new window)

Cambridge University’s Program for Industry launches a “Business and Poverty Program” in association

Cambridge University’s Program for Industry in association with the WBCSD and Oxfam has launched a Business and Poverty Program to examine the inter-relationship of business and poverty. The Program will bring together senior company managers, experienced practitioners, academic thinkers and NGO leaders. It aims to assist leaders from major organizations to develop an advanced understanding of how, through their mainstream commercial activities, businesses can improve the quality o...

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World Business Council for Sustainable Development (link opens in a new window)

Ring Up My Bill, Please

The promise of phones that double as digital wallets is not new. Consumers in many Asian and European countries have bought everything from convenience store trinkets to subway tickets using their mobile handsets for years. But the idea has largely been a gadget geek’s fantasy here in the United States. Only recently have American banks and wireless companies begun developing mobile payment products. Now, the next wave of technology could wash ashore within two years.

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

As Indian banks plan to march into rural India disbursing commercial loans and housing finance, they need insurance companies to keep in step in order to de-risk their borrowers and make their lending safer. The challenge and opportunity lies in moving to the bottom of the pyramid by providing flexible, affordable and easily available insurance to rural and semi-urban people, preferably through the involvement of state governments or through large companies (especially public sector undertaking...

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Indian Express