NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Harvard Business Review on Reaching India?s ?Vast Middle?

The meltdown of the microfinance industry in Andhra Pradesh, as we have noted carries big risks not just for an industry designed to serve the poor but for the entire concept that the poor can be profitable customers. That has been an emerging trend in management thinking about emerging markets in the last few years, in part because of the success of microfinance. But since these matte...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Joseph to Spearhead M-Pesa Expansion in Africa

Michael Joseph, the immediate former CEO of Safaricom, has been tapped to spearhead the expansion of M-Pesa to other African countries as part of a plan to have a seamless mobile money transfer service on the continent. M-Pesa is already successful in Kenya, and is now also available in Tanzania, Afghanistan, South Africa, while a pilot service is on in India. But Vodafone is looking at spreading the services to other African countries such as DR Congo, Lesotho, and Mozambique wit...

Source

Business Daily (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

More Business Schools Embracing ’Do-Gooders’

The popular image of a modern-day business school student as a sharp-suited spreadsheet wizard increasingly is being turned on its head. For reasons ranging from the economy to a change in attitudes, many students today are pursuing business school degrees with a view toward working with non-profits, or launching socially responsible businesses. Myles Lutheran is an example. Until recently he was the archetypal ...

Source

MSNBC (link opens in a new window)

Award Winning Social Enterprise Uses Bikes to Power Utilities

Every year, Echoing Green selects a handful of social entrepreneurs to participate in a two-year fellowship. Echoing Green fellows receive start-up capital and technical assistance to build their fledgling social enterprises. Perhaps the most interesting Echoing Green fellow this year is 23-year-old Jodie Wu, founder of Global Cycle Solutions. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, Global Cycle Solutions is innovative from both an engineering and entrepreneurial perspective. The company creates dev...

Source

Justmeans (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power

As small-scale renewable energy becomes cheaper, more reliable and more efficient, it is providing the first drops of modern power to people who live far from slow-growing electricity grids and fuel pipelines in developing countries. Although dwarfed by the big renewable energy projects that many industrialized countries are embracing to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, these tiny systems are playing an epic, transformative role. The ...

Source

New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Interest Rates on Microloans in Rwanda to Drop

Rwandans will soon pay lower interest rates following the launch of the Transparent Pricing Initiative project in the country. The initiative, which is already operational in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, is part of the broader MFTransparency programme aimed at impelling African microfinance institutions to price loans fairly and educate citizens on interest rates. "Rather than attempt to control interest rates, we facilitate transparent pricing in microfinance products so that all ...

Source

The East African (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Rich Market that is India’s Poor

MUMBAI - The sleek, portable computing platform, akin to the iPad, offers all the practical features of a tablet computer - internet browser, multimedia player, PDF reader and video-conferencing capability. But its biggest draw is its price: US$35 [Dh128]. Unveiling the prototype of the touch-screen computing tool in July, Kapil Sibal, who at the time was India’s human resources and development minister, pegged the device as India’s answer to the $100 laptop developed in 2...

Source

The National (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Focus on Society, Not Just The Quick Money: Amartya Sen

New Delhi: Speaking at The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) summit, Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen asked the business community to increase their focus on the society than making quick money on the sly. "The business community plays a unique role but they are also part of the society. They should not get into making quick money on the sly. They have to think big, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of remedies for the society," he said. ...

Source

Silicon India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia