NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Rockefeller Foundation’s Push Toward Design and Innovation

Recently, I wrote a story about the Aspen Design Summit, a small event at which big name designers and philanthropists got together to talk about ways to apply the techniques of design thinking to social problems such as poverty, hunger or healthcar...

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Business Week (link opens in a new window)

Nokia’s Handset Chief Targets 500m Handsets This Year With Focus on India

It comes as no surprise that Nokia’s new handset c...

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Rethink Wireless (link opens in a new window)

FT: The Biggest Idea Might Be Learning to Think Small

I spend my life sitting in boardrooms across from chief executives asking me to help them find that mythical beast, "the bi...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Better Vision for the World, on a Budget

EGHEL, the Netherlands — With AIDS , ...

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New York Times (link opens in a new window)

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Europe & Eurasia

Cash Alone Won?t Make Microfinance Work

NAIROBI/TRANSMARA, Kenya – Two years ago, fed up with a husband who drank too much and provided too little, Julie Amunga, who lives in the sprawling Mathare slum in the capital, Nairobi, decided to start a business that would enable her to support her family. “My friends and I all had husbands who drank too much and beat us at home and yet they were not providing anything for the home,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “We would sleep with other men secretly to provide fo...

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PlusNews East Africa (link opens in a new window)

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Tanzania: New Hope as Chicken Project Takes Off

In the a quiet and laid-back Coastal Region, a pioneering new project involving poultry farming is giving ordinary people a chance to lift themselves out of poverty. Research Into Use (RIU) is a programme based in Dar es Salaam which aims at promoting innovations and utilisation of new knowledge and research output, to eradicate poverty. RIU has so far enabled a community in the Rufiji District to rear a hundreds of chicks each with the intent...

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The Citizen (link opens in a new window)

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya: Solar Sector in Huge Growth as Buyers Stream In

The slow penetration of electricity in Kenyan homes has opened a niche market for solar energy solutions. In the past few years, a number of entrepreneurs have joined the green business, mainly targeting low-income homes that have remained on the sidelines of electricity connections for decades. Less than 20 per cent of Kenya’s households are connected to the national grid, forcing them to rely on a mix of relatively costly, inefficient and unhealt...

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Business Daily (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Say Goodbye to Kerosene Lamps, Here’s Kiran!

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world. Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment. "My neighbour’s son ...

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Rediff Business (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia