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

Technology works, people don’t

Study of pilot project using mobile phones for healthcare in Africa finds that technology works, but implementation, management and human factors are real hurdles. Bridges.org has conducted an in-depth investigation of a pilot project by the Cape Town Health Directorate that tested innovative uses of mobile phone technology to improve the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) in its clinics. This is part of the City’s efforts to fi...

Source

OneWorld Africa

Can There Be Too Much Competition In Developing Nations? by Mike Masnick

As the Afghan government looks to sell more cellular licenses, some are questioning whether or not there’s going to be too much competition. Of course, that’s a problem for the operators, not the regulators. In some ways, it’s almost amazing that this discussion is even taking place. It wasn’t long ago that using a mobile phone in Afghanistan was basically impossible. However, with the rebuilding of Afgh...

Source

TheFeature

Region

South Asia

Internet helps Africa via remittances and VoIP, by Danny O’Brien

MamaMikes.com is a site run from the east African country of Kenya. It looks similar to a flower delivery website, or perhaps a mini African Amazon. It sells online an elaborate range of goods for delivery - 40 roses, a crate of Tusker beer, or a mocha chip cake. You can buy monthly shopping certificates for Kenyan and Ugandan grocery stores, mobile phone airtime or a petrol card. MamaMikes doesn’t look like the internet trans...

Source

Irish Times

Swaziland: Small And Medium a Recipe for Big Hopes, by James Hall

For a country struggling with a stubborn unemployment rate of over 40 percent, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises seems a welcome solution to joblessness. So, it comes as no surprise that Swaziland’s minister of enterprise and employment, Lutfo Dlamini, is an enthusiastic proponent of these businesses - commonly referred to as SMEs. Small and medium enterprises represent a grass-roots solution to the economic downturn. They are good for poverty alleviation...

Source

Inter Press Service

How Foreign Investment can Facilitate Development, by Syed Mohammad Ali

Studies have shown that the poor end up paying more for banking, electricity, water and health care. An article in the Harvard Business Review argues that multinational companies in social service delivery areas could help create better quality of care Many development thinkers now agree that foreign investment can be a major building block in promoting development goals. Yet creating models for investment in markets where the majority of the people are poor is not easy. Channelling foreign i...

Source

Daily Times Pakistan

Eradicating Poverty Through Profit: World Resources Institute conference explores making business wo

Is there really a ?fortune at the bottom of the pyramid,? just waiting for corporations to claim it and empower the poor? Over two-and-a-half days in December, more than 1,000 people from five continents gathered at the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco to explore this question. The occasion was a conference organized by the World Resources Institute, called ?Eradicating Poverty through Profit: Making Business Work for the Poor.? Re...

Source

Green@Work Magazine

Nigeria: Much More Growth to Come, by Steve Wallage

In the world’s fastest growing mobile market, the ride has just begun Nigeria hit the mobile headlines in late 2003 when the ITU published its global subscriber growth rates for the year to June 2003, showing the country leading the world with a growth rate of 143% -- a figure that could have been even greater were it not for the fact that SIM card sales were suspended for 20 weeks due to too much customer demand. Yet, even now, with an active subscriber base of around 5.5 millio...

Source

TheFeature

New Group to Galvanize Business Role in Combating AIDS, TB and Malaria

Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) Appointed Private Sector Focal Point for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Board of Directors Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC), the pre-eminent organization leading the business response to AIDS, announced today that GBC has been selected to represent the private sector as the official focal point for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Board of...

Source

Global Business Coalition