NextBillion - A WDI Publication

10 Businesses VCs are Dying to Fund

Fortunately, for the motley gaggle of entrepreneur-wannabes, there’s record venture capital, or early stage money, pouring into the country. According to a recent Evalueserve report (it’s a research and analytics firm), more than 44 us-based vcs are now seeking to invest heavily in start-ups and early-stage companies in India. These firms, the report reveals, plan to raise $100 million (Rs 470 crore) a pop, or a staggering $4.4 billion (Rs 20,680 cror...

Source

Business Today (link opens in a new window)

Speaking books for health education in low literacy areas

Low literacy levels in Africa are part-and-parcel of everyday life, and seriously reduce the effectiveness of health care literature. In association with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, Books of Hope has designed and produced interactive, multilingual Speaking Books that can be seen, read, heard and understood regardless of someone’s reading ability. Each Speaking Book consists of 16 pages of culturally appropriate illustrations supported by straightforward and eas...

Source

Springwise (link opens in a new window)

CHINA: China has over 34 million bloggers

Beijing --- The number of blogs in China hit a record 34 million in August, 30 times more than just four years ago when the on-line writing phenomena began to sweep the country. More than 17 million people in China consider themselves blog writers, offering personal insights and opinions on any topic they choose, according to a report on China’s blog market, which says 75 million people regularly read blogs. The report also points out that nearly 70 per cent of the blog...

Source

Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Botswana: Business Place Gaborone to Boost SMMEs

Lack of management skills by many of Botswana’s Small to Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) could be a thing of the past, as the newly established Business Place (Centre) Gaborone will endeavour to address these shortfalls. The centre, which was unveiled to stakeholders last week during the donor presentations, is situated at Maraka House at the Gaborone bus station. The donor presentation gave sponsors a chance to present their pledges and funds, which amounted to over P1 million.

Source

All Africa (link opens in a new window)

Indian SMEs need access to finances

New Delhi: Indian small and medium enterprises (SME) have not kept pace with the country’s economic growth because of their inability to access finances, says industry experts. The reasons for the poor growth of SMEs and strategies to put them on a high-growth curve were discussed Tuesday here during the launch of the first publication in the series of ’Emerging Auto Component SMEs of India.’ The first of its kind, this series is sponsored by Dun & Bradstree...

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Silicon India (link opens in a new window)

Africa closes tech gap with flashy phones

Rickety minibus taxis weave between corrugated iron shacks, dodging street hawkers and the odd scrawny child with trousers gaping at the knee. Alexandra is one of South Africa’s roughest townships, and yet you can switch on your laptop there, slide in a data card and access your e-mail in seconds using the world’s most advanced commercial wireless technology. About a decade after mobile phones started to spread across the poorest continent, trailing Europe by several years, wireless t...

Source

NEWS.COM (link opens in a new window)

Corruption still holds emerging markets back

The development of emerging market economies continues to be held back by corruption and poor governance in spite of their increasing influence on the global stage and growing foreign direct investment in other countries. That was the most striking message from a two-day meeting of current and former central bankers, development experts, finance ministers, investors, and presidents of countries such as Brazil, India, and Tanzania.

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

China’s development ’experiment’ key to future growth

Maintaining a balance between environmental sustainability and the continuing process of urbanisation is a major issue facing the Chinese, write the researchers. Although much of China’s biodiversity is being threatened by rapid economic development and human activities, Tang Zhiyao and colleagues report the existence of ten biodiversity ’hotspots’ in mountain ranges that remain largely unaffected. Protecting these mountainous areas is critical for cons...

Source

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific