NextBillion - A WDI Publication

B-Schools Put Africa on the Curriculum

Long relegated to the back shelf by the media, Africa is hot these days. And not just in the celebrity circles frequented by Bono, Angelina Jolie, and Oprah. Africa is top-of-mind on B-school campuses, too. Schools such as Columbia, Yale, and Dartmouth’s Tuck are sending their students to places like Tanzania and South Africa. Meanwhile, B-schools are tweaking their curricula to include Africa-centric case studies. As far as many MBAs are concerned, there’s no better emerging economy to ...

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BusinessWeek (link opens in a new window)

Why Indian companies are setting their sights on western rivals

?Being in this market, contrary to what everyone believes, you always need to be more competitive than what you have to be outside, because the buying power in this country is so low. So you?re always thinking of how to address that segment of the market. ...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Reliance, Bharti may storm microfinance

Reliance Retail and Bharti, which has joined hands with Wal-Mart, could storm the micro-credit space as they look to establish rural supply chain linkages to service their mega retail forays. According to sources, Reliance Retail is likely to move the RBI seeking permission to set up an NBFC arm that will operate as a microfinance institution (MFI). It may also look at partnering existing MFIs as part of its ambitious supply chain with rural and semi-urban markets for which the co...

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The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

India’s Vision for a Digital Billion

As 2006 drew to a close the President of India outlined his vision for a connected India. He challenged the country’s technical elite to provide free bandwidth for anyone, anywhere, anytime. In the speech, Dr Abdul Kalam said that communication channels were a demolisher of imbalances and likened the government’s responsibility to it to laying the roads. This one action, he said, would not only boost the economy of Indi...

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BBC News (link opens in a new window)

Phelps’s Prize

The Nobel Prize lectures given last month by the economics and the peace laureates strikingly emphasized entrepreneurship. But the kinds of entrepreneurship espoused by the laureates are profoundly different. The economist Edmund Phelps’s lecture highlights the contribution of entrepreneurial individuals, firms and financiers in transforming stagnant societies dominated by small-business owners into dynamic economies with large and highly productive commercial enterprise. Mr. Phel...

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Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Equity Bank yesterday unveiled Internet banking service in the local market after a successful trial run in London to tap the purses of over 10,000 Kenyans living in the diaspora. The service allows customers worldwide to access their accounts for purposes of conducting convenient payments such as monthly salary transfers, remittances, affordable money transfers, foreign currency issuance, among other services. Yesterday?s launch, which was presided over by Commonwealth ...

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Kenya Times (link opens in a new window)

Citigroup has joined forces with one of Africa?s leading private equity groups to invest at least $200m in the continent, the biggest bet to date on the future of African growth businesses. CDC, a private equity investor owned by the UK government and formerly known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation, will commit $100m to a dedicated Africa fund, managed by Citigroup?s private equity arm. Citigroup will match CDC dollar for dollar. The investment brings CDC?s to...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Aureos Capital, one of the most experienced private equity groups in Africa, is aiming to raise $400m for a ground-breaking bet on the potential of smaller companies to build businesses spanning the continent, writes Barney Jopson in London. The group, domiciled in Mauritius, is among a handful of emerging market specialists active in Africa and already runs three funds, dedicated to east, west and southern Africa, which total $140m. The new pan-African fund is a signifi...

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)