NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Qualcomm Backs Game Console for the “Next Billion”

A startup called Zeebo Inc. is betting that people in emerging markets want to play good video games just as much as people in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan do. Zeebo plans to launch its "video game console for the next billion" in Brazil next month for $199 and in other countries later this year for $179. It was developed using the cell phone technology of Qualcomm Inc., the San Diego company best known for its mobile phone chips. The Zeebo unit is light, and a lit...

Source

Associated Press (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

ANDE Pushes Investment in Developing Countries

LONDON – A group of major philanthropic foundations today announced the launch of a new economic development network that would increase investment and business assistance for entrepreneurs and small and growing businesses in the developing world. Supporters of the new effort said they planned to eventually achieve the same level of lending and support for small and growing businesses that has been generated as a result of microfinance. Based in Washington, D.C. at the Aspen ...

Source

Press Release (link opens in a new window)

Nano Marks the Beginning of “Indian Century”

Even Tata Motors’ competitors are all praise for the nano. "It reflects India’s maturity in different fields," says P Balendran, vice-president, General Motors India. "Other countries and multinational corporations, who did not look at India seriously as an innovation destination, will view us in a different perspective." Advocates of the ’fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’ theory see it as a vindication of their views. "If you have a very large population which ...

Source

DNA News (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Unveiling Latin America’s economic success

A lot of attention has been focused on the remarkable economic success of China, India and other Asian countries. So much so that the rise of Latin American companies as major players on the international economic scene has almost gone unnoticed. “Latin American companies have fallen through the cracks,” says Lourdes Casanova, a lecturer in strategy at INSEAD and author of Global Latinas: Latin America’s emerging multinationals. “While other emerging m...

Source

Knowledge@INSEAD (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

WDI Scholars Target Innovation, Healthcare

New initiatives target emerging markets, technologies, public policy. ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The William Davidson Institute (WDI) recently announced two appointments to launch new research initiatives that address significant global issues: the effective commercialization of "green leap" technologies for sustainability and the effective delivery of healthcare. Stuart Hart , the S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise and professor of management...

Source

Press Release (link opens in a new window)

Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa

The Wall Street Journal -- online.wsj.com ...

Source

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

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Unleasing the Spirit of Enterprise

A fundamental characteristic of entrepreneurship is its capacity to generate employment, offer the promise of more income, and increase wealth. By doing so, it plays a pivotal part in providing individuals a platform from where they can aspire to a life in which their potential is realised. Over time, much of the developed world has risen to the challenge of crafting just such a platform, and the business corporation as we know it today is a critical component of this idea of advancemen...

Source

Hindu Business Line (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

VisionSpring Founder Jordan Kassalow Wins Skoll Award

The Skoll Foundation recently announced that VisionSpring is one of seven organizations to receive a three-year grant of $765,000 and join the growing global network of Skoll social entrepreneurs who are tackling the world’s most critical social and economic challenges. The Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by eBay’s first president, Jeff Skoll, to promote his vision of a more peaceful and prosperous world. The Skoll Awards program provides social entrepreneurs who have already ach...

Source

Press Release (link opens in a new window)