NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Rural Telecom Firms Gear Up for Rural Foray

Rajesh S Kurup Global telecommunication giants are gearing up to take a deep plunge into the domestic rural segment, where, they believe, the next battle for telecom supremacy will take place. Handset majors like Motorola and Nokia and infrastructure provider Alcatel, and Indian companies such as Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom have already taken the first step to venture into the unchartered territories. Over 70 per cent of India’s 1 billion-plus population l...

Source

Business Week , via Zdnet India (link opens in a new window)

New insurance options for the rural poor in India.

Foraying into the rural sector, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has tied-up with seven Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to cater to the insurance and savings needs of the masses in semi-urban and rural areas. ’’Understanding the need to provide flexible, affordable and easily available insurance to the masses in the semi-urban and rural areas, the company has tied up with RRBs to get access to the bottom of the pyramid and provide insurance services to the people in these areas,’...

Source

WebIndia123 (link opens in a new window)

MICROFINANCE: AN ELUSIVE TOOL FOR PALESTINIANS

Ramallah, 2 Dec. (AKI) - Five years on from the start of the second intifada against Israeli occupation, Palestinians are seeking to rebuild their shattered economy, but access to finance for small-scale entrepreneurs to kickstart development is scarce, says Khalil Shiha, head of development at of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC). Currently micro entreprises cover 91 percent of the Palestinian economy; this reflects the importance of the future of microfinance, h...

Source

Adnkronosinternational (link opens in a new window)

Automaker eyes underserved rural markets

MUMBAI: Ever since management guru C.K. Prahalad spoke about money to be made by tapping the market at the bottom of the pyramid, more and more corporates are succumbing to the collective purchasing power of the not-so-well heeled. And a significant portion of their strategy is directed towards the rural masses. If it was the e-chaupal for ITC and Project Shakti from Hindustan Lever, soon it will be the turn of two- and three-wheeler major Bajaj Auto to step on the gas in rural Bharat.

Source

DNA India (link opens in a new window)

Professionals to Unlock Venture Capital Doors for Small Town Entrepreneurs

A group of professionals is unlocking venture capital doors for small town entrepreneurs The story of Aavishkaar is a fine example of sophisticated paying back by educated, affluent Indians spread all over the world. They realise it was India’s knowledge-edge that leveraged them to good lives and so they have sought to widen that edge, by funding small town Indians whose innovations can increase productivities and wealth in the countryside. Aavishkaar itself is a notable in...

Source

Good News Magazine India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

US Company Expands Access to Aids Drugs in South Africa

In South Africa, where 6.5 million people are HIV positive and more than 500,000 would benefit from immediate anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy, a U.S. company is using private-sector efficiency and information technology to expand access to the life-saving drugs. BroadReach Healthcare, founded in 2002 to increase access to health care around the world, received $4.1 million in 2005 and will receive a similar amount in 2006 from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PE...

Source

United States Department of State, Cheryl Pellerin (link opens in a new window)

Opportunity International to develop a trans-African network of new commercial banks for the poor

Opportunity International’s efforts in Malawi and Mozambique will provide thousands of poor Africans with financial tools to rise out of poverty and will demonstrate that rural Africa is a viable market for microfinance. Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations, today announced that it received a $2.2 million grant over three years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that will go toward a project to develop a...

Source

PRNewswire (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

BOTSWANA: YOUNG MAKING A LIVING SELLING AIRTIME

In busy streets and malls, a new breed of vendors loudly announces the prices of its single commodity. The vendors carry the product sticking out of ’purpose built’ side of a carton box. The vendors of mobile phone airtime are increasingly becoming a very distinct and conspicuous group of traders around town. Their aggression and persistence is perhaps only second to Combi men and bus touts. A growing number of young people like Mpho Moitaodi are joining the trade. In ...

Source

The Reporter (Botswana) (link opens in a new window)