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

Professionals to Unlock Venture Capital Doors for Small Town Entrepreneurs

A group of professionals is unlocking venture capital doors for small town entrepreneurs The story of Aavishkaar is a fine example of sophisticated paying back by educated, affluent Indians spread all over the world. They realise it was India’s knowledge-edge that leveraged them to good lives and so they have sought to widen that edge, by funding small town Indians whose innovations can increase productivities and wealth in the countryside. Aavishkaar itself is a notable in...

Source

Good News Magazine India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

US Company Expands Access to Aids Drugs in South Africa

In South Africa, where 6.5 million people are HIV positive and more than 500,000 would benefit from immediate anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy, a U.S. company is using private-sector efficiency and information technology to expand access to the life-saving drugs. BroadReach Healthcare, founded in 2002 to increase access to health care around the world, received $4.1 million in 2005 and will receive a similar amount in 2006 from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PE...

Source

United States Department of State, Cheryl Pellerin (link opens in a new window)

Opportunity International to develop a trans-African network of new commercial banks for the poor

Opportunity International’s efforts in Malawi and Mozambique will provide thousands of poor Africans with financial tools to rise out of poverty and will demonstrate that rural Africa is a viable market for microfinance. Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations, today announced that it received a $2.2 million grant over three years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that will go toward a project to develop a...

Source

PRNewswire (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

BOTSWANA: YOUNG MAKING A LIVING SELLING AIRTIME

In busy streets and malls, a new breed of vendors loudly announces the prices of its single commodity. The vendors carry the product sticking out of ’purpose built’ side of a carton box. The vendors of mobile phone airtime are increasingly becoming a very distinct and conspicuous group of traders around town. Their aggression and persistence is perhaps only second to Combi men and bus touts. A growing number of young people like Mpho Moitaodi are joining the trade. In ...

Source

The Reporter (Botswana) (link opens in a new window)

Women Enterpreneurs Vital for African Development: ADB, ILO

Fostering women entrepreneurship in Africa is crucial for the development of the continent, the African Development Bank said on Wednesday. At a workshop organized by International Labor Organization (ILO) and African Development Bank (ADB) Pierre Thizier Seya, Resident Representative of ADB country office in Ethiopia, said: Fostering women entrepreneurship development is crucial for the achievement of Africa’s broader objective, including poverty reduction and economic and...

Source

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa), Yonas Abiye (link opens in a new window)

Solar Power for Better Rural Cellphone Access

Business Day Lesley Stones Johannesburg SIEMENS Communications has developed a solar-powered base station for cellular network operators operating in remote areas that lack electricity supplies. The first base station, in Chiringa, Malawi, has been supplied to Celtel, which operates in 13 Afric...

Source

AllAfrica (link opens in a new window)

Academic says governments becoming less important

Understand nature, needs of businesses before calling them small. Trading, middlemen no longer factors to be discouraged. India lags in developing new approaches to enterprise development KOCHI: The term `small’ used to describe enterprises of a certain size does not help us understand the nature and needs of these businesses, says Malcolm Harper of Cranfield Business School...

Source

The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

MasterCard Shareholders Approve Proposals for New Ownership and Governance Structure

The MasterCard Foundation, which will have two goals - to support young people around the world in gaining the skills necessary to succeed in a diverse global work force, and to provide microfinance programs and services to the financially disadvantaged to enhance local economies and develop entrepreneurs. MasterCard Incorporated has announced that its shareholders voted, at a special meeting of shareholders, to approve a range of proposals to provide MasterCard with a new owne...

Source

paymentnews.com (link opens in a new window)