NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Internet Connections Growing Fastest in Africa

Africa is gaining Internet connectivity faster than any other region and as such, service is spreading to smaller cities and rural areas via innovative technologies -- and that only can help the expansion of free press, democracy and development all across the continent, says the co-founder and chief executive officer of allAfrica.com, Reed Kramer. In an interview with the Washington File to mark May 3 World Press Freedom Day, Kramer cited a recent...

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AllAfrica.com (link opens in a new window)

Incubating Entrepreneurs

In Chile, a novel training program pairs business-school students with low-income entrepreneurs in a mutually enriching partnership. By Nicole Keller When M?nica Civilo decided to start her own business, she felt disadvantaged because she had no access to financing. (Banks generally require businesses to be up and running, or at least to put up collateral for a loan.) Once she did manage to get the money together, the family toymaker found herself in a complicated situation. ?...

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IDB America (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Moving Money in a Borderless World

Raul Hinojosa has a revolutionary idea. The poor don’t get poorer, as Karl Marx contended. On the contrary, Hinojosa says, the poor have buying power, are open to technology and can help launch new businesses. Entrepreneurs who understand this, he says, can help the poor, as well as themselves, get richer. The 49-year-old professor of political economy at UCLA, says an example of this type of business is the money transfer industry. He says many Americ...

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Yahoo! News (link opens in a new window)

China to produce low-cost computers of its own

A Chinese company has developed the first computer costing around 1,000 yuan (125 U.S. dollars) using a Chinese-made Godson II CPU, and plans to put the computers into industrial production in June. We hope everyone can afford our computers, said Zhang Fuxin, an expert of the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) under the Chinese?Academy?of?Sciences in charge of developing Longmeng computers. Last...

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People’s Daily Online (link opens in a new window)

Interview with Jed Emerson: Foundations: essential and missing in action

--Could you give a couple of examples of recent innovations that you feel are really exciting? One great example is Nurcha (National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency) in South Africa, which provides bridge financing for the low-cost housing sector. The Open Society Institute pledged a loan guarantee of up to $50 million. Using that as a catalyst, Nurcha began to guarantee loans from South African commercial banks to low-cost housing developers and contractors. A bank lending m...

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Alliance (link opens in a new window)

Calvert Foundation announced today that it invested a total of $1 million during the first quarter of 2006 in Davis, California-based MicroCredit Enterprises (MCE), a not-for-profit, anti- poverty business venture that leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to people -- mostly women -- living in extreme poverty in developing countries. The microloans promoted by MCE are provided at low rates that avoid the crippling costs and heightened risk of failure that result from the predato...

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PR Newswire (link opens in a new window)

Public private partnerships pose challenges for companies, but those who persist can find their effo

Cross-sector partnerships ? such as those between business and non-governmental organisations, or business and government ? are an increasingly popular way for companies to contribute to society. But making partnerships work can be difficult. Establishing clear rules of engagement and building trust is often a problem. Too often partnerships are more like sponsorship, with companies footing the bill for projects in which they are not closely involved. To be successful, par...

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Ethical Corporation (link opens in a new window)

CSR offers a middle way; a sustainable path between unbridled capitalism with its mixed consequences on the one hand and rigidly regulated economies plagued with artificial and stifling limitations on the other, argue David Chandler and William B. Werther, Jr. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents nothing less than a debate about the future of our society. Amidst issues of ethics, corporate governance, and other efforts to balance conflicting demands, society seeks to c...

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Ethical Corporation (link opens in a new window)