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

In a first, UN agency buys insurance against drought

Marc Lacey In a pilot project that could someday transform the world’s approach to aid emergencies, the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, has taken out an insurance policy that will pay the agency should Ethiopia’s notoriously fickle rains fail in 2006. The policy’s creators are calling it the first natural disaster insurance coverage for an international aid agency. The policy, which costs $930,000, is designed to create a way of financing natural disaster...

Source

International Herald Tribune (link opens in a new window)

Hydropower ’can benefit the poor’

Chris Van Gass, Cape Town Hydropower has the potential to contribute to reducing Africa’s energy poverty, says a report published today. The report, Meeting Africa’s Energy Needs -- the costs and benefits of hydropower, details two case studies from Zambia and Kenya that show how hydropower can deliver benefits with minimal effect. The report, by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), Oxfam and WaterAid, coincides with the opening in Johannesburg of an African ministerial c...

Source

Business Day (Johannesburg) (link opens in a new window)

Now a Multimedia PC for just 7,500 Rs

HYDERABAD: An affordable computer enabled with multimedia and Internet will soon be available in the Indian market for just Rs.7,500 ( ed: approx. USD $169 ) a scientist said here Friday. The Nova NetPC has been developed by Chennai-based Novatium Solutions, a consortium of Indian partners, Mumbai-based Netcore Solutions, the Telecom and Networks Group of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras and the US-based Analog Devices. It would cost much less than the current price of Rs....

Source

The Economic Times online (link opens in a new window)

IFC Partners with Key Microfinance Institution in Morocco, to Benefit More Than 45,000 Microenterpre

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and the Foundation for Local Development and Partnership (Fondep), a microfinance institution in Morocco, have signed a partnership agreement whereby IFC will provide a partial credit guarantee and technical assistance support. IFC?s package will help Fondep access long-term sustainable financing and maximize its microfinance operations through its 43 agencies across Morocco. These agencies offer services t...

Source

Microfinance Gateway (link opens in a new window)

Emami devises self-employment project for rural youth

Emami Limited, as a part of its corporate social responsibility has devised a project of self-employment micro-interior rural areas with the objective of providing employment to the unemployed rural youth, to empower village women, to help in poverty eradication in villages and to contribute to social and economic development. The self-employment scheme provides an opportunity to earn a regular and sustainable income to the unemployed rural youth and women who have no fixed income. E...

Source

India Infoline News (link opens in a new window)

Metro Water Board goes all out to deliver at the doorstep

Brand new water tanks, one each for two streets, a community enterprise comprising households that decides on individual timings and equitable distribution of drinking water among themselves and the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) reaching out to an area where it has never gone before. Notwithstanding the searing heat, the dusty urban sprawl of Ambedkar Nagar in Jawahar Nagar gram panchayat of Shamirpet mandal in Ranga Reddy district, came alive on Friday wit...

Source

The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

It is expected that in the long term, microfinance can grow into a ’mature’ commercial activity. This is one of the most important conclusions of the study called ’A billion to gain?’. This study is the first to systematically map out the current activities and future plans of international financial institutions in the area of microfinance. ...

Source

WBCSD (link opens in a new window)

Profit is not the only sign of a successful social enterprise.

If you think that a social enterprise is the same as you and your mates getting together a whip-round in the pub, think again. Social enterprises are organisations with all the profit-making enterprise of corporate organisations but whose bottom line has as much to do with social benefit and sustainability. Here’s how to unleash some of that entrepreneurial spirit. 1. Be hard-headed. Social entrepreneurs (SEs)need all the qualities of commercial entrepreneurs. They take risks, gr...

Source

Times Online (link opens in a new window)