NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Dutch Agency Funds E+Co With $6.6M Investment

FMO, the entrepreneurial development bank of the Netherlands, has created a clean energy investment facility to be managed by E+Co. FMO has set aside USD 6,650,000, funded by FMO’s Access to Energy Fund. Funding also includes a capacity development facility for entrepreneurs in the amount of EUR 500,000. The FMO-E+Co agreement is the result of intensive cooperation over the last year and reflects both organizations’ goals to create a sustainable market place for access to clean energy...

Source

Press Release (link opens in a new window)

Tata Launches Low Cost Water Filter

India’s giant Tata Group on Monday unveiled a new low-cost water purifier, hoping to do for health what it did for motoring and provide affordable, safe drinking water for millions and cut disease. The Tata Swach _ named after the Hindi for "clean’’ _ is designed to be used in poor, rural households that have no electricity or running water, using ash from rice milling to filter out bacteria. The device, which will cost less than 1,000 rupees (21.5 dollars), ...

Source

Bangkok Post (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

MFIs Wary of Housing Loans over Default Fears

Bangalore: Concerns of defaults are holding back microfinance institutions, or MFIs, from a full-fledged expansion into home loans even as they seek to turn their clientele of poor borrowers into consumers and compete with commercial banks. MFIs, established mainly to lend small sums to the unbanked poor to help them earn a living, say there’s potentially a huge demand for home loans among their customers. At least two of seven prominent MFIs that Mint spoke to have started...

Source

LiveMint (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Tags

housing

Mahindra Could Roll Out India’s Cheapest Tractor by 2010

In its bid to cater to bottom-of-the-pyramid farmers in the country, Mahindra FES is looking to roll out India’s cheapest tractor by next year. If Bloomberg reports are to be any indication the new low cost product could be powered by a 15-hp engine and would be available at Rs. 150,000 (about 40 per cent cheaper than other entry-level ones). India’s largest tractormaker has indicated that it aims to clock 25,000 units of the proposed model in the next four years, citin...

Source

Wheels Unplugged (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Singapore Firm Eyes Profit in Cheap Toilet Market

SINGAPORE (AP) - Christopher Ng has a dream: Help alleviate a major global health problem by bringing toilets to the world’s poor — at a tidy profit. Ng, managing director at Singapore-based Rigel Technology, hopes to sell his state-of-the-art portable, fertilizer-making, toilets for as low as $30 beginning next year, tapping into a multibillion dollar market for proper sanitation in developing countries. It is among the exhibits at the annual World Toilet Summit in Sing...

Source

Associated Press (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Adidas to Make ?1 Trainers In and For Bangladesh

The move from the company more usually associated with expensive footwear and celebrity sponsorship was inspired by Bangladesh’s Nobel prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, the pioneer of micro-loans which help the poor start their own businesses. He told the company, which has been criticised for exploitation in the developing world, that Bangladesh needed "social businesses" which would create jobs in the country. The company has now agreed it will produce shoes in Bangladesh on a non-pro...

Source

The Telegraph (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Abraaj Capital to Buy Riyada Ventures, Focus on SME investments

Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital has agreed to acquire all of Riyada Ventures as it moves into the venture capital space. Riyada Ventures, which was set up in the Jordanian capital of Amman in 2005, will be integrated by Abraaj into its newly launched regional SME and entrepreneurship initiative. Khaldoon Tabaza will continue as the CEO of the new business line of Abraaj. Tabaza has worked in the MENA venture capital industry since 2000, p...

Source

AltAssets (link opens in a new window)

Region

North Africa & Near East

India Financial Inclusion Fund Raises $90M Kitty

IFIF will invest in MFI, low-cost housing and companies that provide financial services to the poor. India Financial Inclusion Fund (IFIF), one of the largest funds focussed on investing in companies playing in the bottom-of-the-pyramid market, has achieved a final close of $90 million. Advised by Hyderabad-based Caspian Advisors, IFIF has raised commitments from the likes of UK’s CDC Group, Global Microfinance Equity Fund and Switzerland’s Social Investment Services.

Source

VC Circle (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia