NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Declining water supply brings a deluge of ideas

We live in a world in which 2.6bn people consume water from unsafe and polluted sources, according to United Nations figures. Against this, it takes up to 100,000 litres to produce 1kg of beef, 75 litres to make one computer chip and 780 litres to create one litre of fruit juice, says Waterwise, a UK non-governmental organisation ? an idea known as ?embedded water?. Excerpt: We live in a world in which 2.6bn people consume water from unsafe and polluted sources, according to United Nations figur...

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Microsharks

Rapid expansion of Indian microcredit leads to a turf war with the government. Excerpts: The dispute centres on one poor rural district, Krishna. Some women were reported to have killed themselves because they could not repay the MFIs. In March a top government official in Krishna temporarily shut 50 branch offices of four MFIs, seized and destroyed their records and told their borrowers not to repay their loans. He accused the microfinance groups of charging exorbitant rates. There h...

Source

The Economist (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Fighting Bird Flu With Cellphones

Indonesia Goes Wireless to Overcome Reporting Delays on Cases of Deadly Disease Excerpt: In Indonesia it often takes days, if not weeks, for reports of bird flu to find their way to health authorities in Jakarta. The delay can prove deadly. Earlier this year, the killer H5N1 virus spread among several members of a single family, likely originating with sick chickens that slipped under health officials’ radar. Now Voxiva Inc., a small Washington, D.C., company, has devel...

Source

Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Entrepreneur has quixotic goal of wiring Rwanda

Greg Wyler, an American tech entrepreneur, dreams of bringing the Internet to this troubled country. There are a few hurdles. Excerpts: Greg Wyler, an American tech entrepreneur, dreams of bringing the Internet to this troubled country. There are a few hurdles. One is a battered communications tower atop this 14,787-foot volcanic peak. The air is too thin for helicopters to transport the several tons of equipment needed for repairs. Instead, it has to go by hand. One recent mor...

Source

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

Chinese Take a Turn at Turning a Sub-Saharan Profi

Through all the iterations of the world?s engagement with Africa, most of its nations have remained stuck in an economic trap in which they primarily supply valuable raw materials to the developed world while serving as a marketplace for cheap manufactured goods.? But China seems to be offering Africa something new, a straightforward business relationship between equals based on mutual interest and noninterference in the internal affairs of its allies. Excerpts: China, it seems, is sudden...

Source

New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Thai kids to get low-cost laptops

The ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to poor children around the world is about to take a small step forward. More than 500 children in Thailand are expected to receive the machines in October and November for quality testing and debugging. Excerpt: The ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to poor children around the world is about to take a small step forward. More than 500 children in Thailand are expected to receive the machines in October and November ...

Source

The Associated Press (link opens in a new window)

Making Microfinance Easier

Entrepreneurs in the developing world are starting or expanding businesses using small loans from individuals they’re paired with online. Excerpt: For 15 years, Angel Asenov Isaev, a 29-year-old Gypsy living in Sliven, Bulgaria, worked in a bike repair shop in the center of town, struggling to save enough capital to start his own shop. About five months ago, Isaev applied for a $250 loan from a local microfinance institution (MFI) called REDC Bulgaria. He got the loan,...

Source

Business Week (link opens in a new window)

Informal Sector ; a Base to Development

The informal sector proves to be the major mechanism for economic growth and development. In most low developed countries, the informal sector is the largest source of employment, investment and government revenue. This is because the informal sector offers the best opportunity for the upward mobility in lifeline of the poor people and their children. In Rwanda, the informal sector is significant especially among the poor, the disadvantaged, low income earners and a vast ma...

Source

AllAfrica (link opens in a new window)