NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Businesses Cash in on Water

Excerpt: Everyone knows there is a lot of money to be made in oil. But a fresh group of big businesses is discovering there may be even greater profit in a more prosaic liquid: water. ?You?ve got exploding urban populations, increased pollution and a need to address those things in a meaningful way,?? said Ian Barbour, general manager of Dow Chemical?s Water Solutions unit. ?Of course, we?re investing significantly in the water business.? Most analysts expect the water mar...

Source

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

Microloans May Work, but There Is Dispute in India Over Who Will Make Them

Tyler Cowen, co-author of Marginal Revolution , reports for the New York Times from Hyderabad: My visit suggested that microfinance is working, but it is often more corporate, more commercial and under more attack than I had expected. He goes on to describe the tension between state-sponsored microfinance programs and private ones, with interesting anecdotes sprinkled in. MICROFINANCE is b...

Source

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

Region

South Asia

What works at the top doesn?t work at the base

By Charo Quesada Hobbled by an inadequate and often incomplete basic education, low-income people in Latin America and the Caribbean are forced to take low-skill jobs that offer few opportunities for training or advancement. Obviously, they are also a distinct disadvantage when it comes to starting and running a business. As Alejandro Espinosa of Grupo Nueva of Chile put it at the IDB conference Building Opportunities for the Majority, ?successful businesses can?t happen in fail...

Source

IDB America (link opens in a new window)

The roots of financial democracy

By Charo Quesada The poor in Latin America and the Caribbean tend to live on the margins of the financial mainstream. Unfamiliar with and distrustful of commercial banks, they rely entirely on cash transactions and informal financial services such as those provided by loan sharks. Improving the situation of millions of families who cannot save money, obtain loans, increase their assets, mitigate risks or transfer resources securely is one of the central objectives of the I...

Source

IDB America (link opens in a new window)

Clinton Speaks on Poverty and Politics in Latin America

A highlight of the IDB?s ?Building Opportunities for the Majority? conference in June was a conversation between Luis Alberto Moreno, the Bank?s president, and Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States. Clinton participated in the conference because the IDB?s new initiative dovetails with many of the activities of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Moreno and Clinton discussed a wide range of topics, including inequality, trade, alternative energy, AIDS and the rewards of public serv...

Source

IDB America (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda

Excerpt: OVER the last dozen years, the view from Gemima Mukashyaka?s small coffee garden in the lush emerald-green hills of southwestern Rwanda has changed. In 1994, after the genocide that killed 800,000 people, it was a site of devastation, chaos and abandonment. Five years ago, when worldwide coffee prices spiraled downward, her neighbors in the densely populated region near Butare were uprooting their coffee trees and planting quick-growing food crops to survive. But today, there...

Source

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

More Action Needed By Business in South Africa On Poverty

Excerpt from Interview: Futhi Mtoba, Chairman of Deloitte Southern Africa, provides a look at where the corporate responsibility movement stands in South Africa, particularly as it relates to poverty alleviation. According to Mtoba, there is general understanding, and even genuine desire on the part of business to do something, but for various reasons implementation is lacking. One solution for increasing momentum, says Mtoba, is to develop better methods of...

Source

AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

The tides hold hope as a source of energy

There is more riding the giant waves here than surfers, thanks to a growing number of scientists, engineers and investors. A group of entrepreneurs is harnessing the perpetual motion of the ocean and turning it into a commodity in high demand - energy. Right now, machines of various shapes and sizes are being tested from the North Sea to the Pacific to see how they capture energy from waves and tides. The industry is still in its infancy, but it is gaining attention bec...

Source

International Herald Tribune (link opens in a new window)