NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Microsoft Would Put Poor Online By Cell Phone

It sounds like a project that just about any technology-minded executive could get behind: distributing durable, cheap laptop computers in the developing world to help education. But in the year since Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory, unveiled his prototype for a $100 laptop, he has found himself wrestling with Microsoft and the politics of software. Mr. Negroponte has made significant progress, but he has also catalyzed t...

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The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

To Anyone familiar with banking in the rich world, the world of microfinance can seem rather odd. The main providers have not been motivated by anything as straightforward as making money, at least until recently. The core of the industry today consists of some three dozen multinational networks of microfinance providers, which despite their superficial similarities and inspirational rhetoric compete fiercely and fight over everything. The main areas of strategic disagreement are whe...

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The New Nation (link opens in a new window)

Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) today announced the appointment of Deborah Burand as its new executive vice president for programs. Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) January 26, 2006 -- Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) today announced the appointment of Deborah Burand as its new executive vice president for programs. A widely-respected microfinance trailblazer and lawyer, Burand will oversee GFUSA?s Grameen Technology Center, Capital Markets Group and program operations. ?This is a t...

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eMediaWire (link opens in a new window)

City Poor Can’t Afford Electricity

A FEASIBILITY study has found that the majority of around 14 000 households in Windhoek’s informal settlements will not be able to pay for either electricity connections or consumption if this were to be provided to them. The study commissioned by the City in 46 informal settlements found that the residents wanted a high level of electrical infrastructure, which was beyond their means to pay for. The analysis of the households’ income revealed that most households...

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The Namibian (Windhoek), Lindsay Dentlinger (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

IFC to Help Kyrgyz Not-for-Profit Group Reach More Microentrepreneurs

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today signed an agreement to provide a $2.2 million financing package to Micro Credit Agency Bai Tushum Financial Foundation, one of Kyrgyzstan?s leading micro lending institutions. Through the package, IFC will support the transformation of Bai Tushum from its present not-for-profit status to a more sustainable, commercially-oriented, deposit-taking financial institution that can serve as a...

Source

ifc.org (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

Empowering the poor by improving governance of social service delivery

World Bank Delivery of essential social service delivery continues to be strengthened with the adoption of programmatic approaches in health and education, sustained emphasis to the sector in the budget, and continued non-government organisation (NGO)-government partnerships that have proved effective in the past. There is a common understanding that the next generation of reforms would need to focus on strengthening the institutional framework for service delivery along with...

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The Financial Express (link opens in a new window)

Research Body Develops Modern Solar Fruit Dryer

A new highly effective solar dryer for reducing the massive post-harvest losses of fresh produce has been adopted by farmers in Wakiso district. The dryer has been developed by Uganda Industrial Research Organisation with support from the German Technical Cooperation and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Farmers in Wakiso are optimistic that their fruit production will increase after several years of making losses. Uganda grows a variety of crops ...

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New Vision (Kampala), Ronald Kalyango (link opens in a new window)

Experimental Entrepreneurship: Removing the ’Tin Cup Dependencies’

...the Botswana project illustrates a new concept they have developed in a study called Societal Wealth Creation via Experimental Entrepreneurship. The idea is to promote philanthropy which supports business entrepreneurship under a for-profit model that attacks social problems and creates new societal wealth. Based on four experimental entrepreneurial philanthropy programs that are already in progress, including the one in Botswana, the Snider Center hopes to attract phi...

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Knowledge @ Wharton (link opens in a new window)