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

Q&A: World poverty:

Peter Mandelson, Jeffrey Sachs and Barbara Stocking on whether the world is taking poverty seriously enough Jeffrey Sachs: Business makes trade and I believe the contribution that the private sector and large multi-national companies make to the world are largely positive. But anti-globalisation groups are right to point at shortfalls in the current system. We need to work to shape the rules of the game to provide for a balanced situation where trade ? and the infl...

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Times Online

Putting Global Concerns to a Vote, by John Rossant

In the end, the results were surprising for a group whose largest single component is businessmen. The ’winner’ was ’poverty’ -- 64.4% of the participants in Davos seem to think global poverty is the top issue world leaders must tackle. It was followed closely by ’equitable globalization,’ though there were multiple views on what that meant exactly. Full article available ...

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BusinessWeek

Are you ready for Globalisation 2.0?, by Tim Weber

In Nigeria, the average mobile phone generates $55 (?29.15) in revenue every month. In Rwanda and Mozambique, two of the world’s poorest nations, it is $20 (?10.60). It’s not that Africans are mobile phone crazy. Rather, many phone owners make money by reselling airtime to their local communities. Full article available here. ...

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BBC News

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Davos: Stars, Snow, and Seminars

Celebs and business luminaries discuss social change at the World Economic Forum, which has a key theme of reaching poor consumers While it’s all too easy to poke fun at the ’celeb-ness’ of Davos, Gere, Jolie, and Stone will be joining the likes of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and C.K. Prahalad, University of Michigan professor of business administration, in serious discussions of how best to promote economic growth and development in Africa, South ...

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BusinessWeek

Microcredit a ’Practical’ Way to Fight Poverty, by Mar?a Vega

Of the wide range of strategies identified for combating world poverty, the promotion of microcredits -- and other forms of financing for people with limited resources in developing countries -- has proven to be a highly effective tool, say experts from international agencies. In fact, the success of these initiatives has led the United Nations to designate 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit. Full articl...

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IPS

World’s Fastest Growing Wireless Market Provides Lessons about ARPU for Developing Countries

India’s wireless market is a test bed for alternative infrastructure, handsets, billing systems, business models and marketing strategies that will likely prove applicable to other developing countries. Full news release available here. ...

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PRNewswire

Micro-Credit: Small can be quite big

If there is one common intersection between financial sector reforms, the pro-poor orientation of the Common Minimum Programme, guruspeak on finding gold at the bottom of the pyramid and plain economic sense, it is micro-finance. Full article available here. ...

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The Economist

Wal-Mart venture to expand in China

World’s No. 1 retailer and Beijing-backed CITIC Pacific to open hundreds of stores over 5 years Foreign retailers looking to expand in China, including France’s Carrefour, Germany’s Metro AG and Britain’s Tesco Plc., have been hampered by restrictions that finally lapsed last month under China’s commitments to the World Trade Organization. Now, overseas players can own 100 percent of their stores and set up shop anywhere in the country, although winning ...

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CNN