NextBillion - A WDI Publication

OGA, I?ve heard of micro- credit,? said this sugar-cane seller in Hausa, on a recent NTA Channel 10 programme on MICRO-CREDIT and Poverty Alleviation, ?but I don?t really know anything about it. Now, this sugar cane that I sell; I buy a bundle of it at between N550.00, and N600.00 from the wholesale seller on credit. Then I cut it up and begin to sell. After selling half of the lot, I go pay something out of what I owe, and I pay the rest when I?ve sold the entire bundle. This way, the who...

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Vangaurd Online (link opens in a new window)

FMS , Delhi organized a seminar on the concept pioneered by Prof C K Prahlad - The Bottom of the Pyramid- on ?Local Entrepreneurship and Global Markets: Corporate Outreach to the Small Entrepreneur.? in association with the Centre for Civil Society. The panel comprised of Mr. Pradeep Kashyap, Managing Director, Marketing And Research Team (MART) Architect of ’Project Shakti’ of HLL; Mr. Arjun Uppal, Consultant ICICI (Ex-MD, Mother Dairy); Mr. William Bissell, CEO, FabIndia and Mr. Shara...

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PaGaLGuY.com (link opens in a new window)

Metro Water Board goes all out to deliver at the doorstep

Child and Police Project and Heritage Livelihood Services Provider are the partners Community free to manage distribution Water board’s revenue too will go up Programme to be implemented in slums. HYDERABAD: Brand new water tanks, one each for two streets, a community enterprise comprising households that decides on individual timings and equitable distribution of drinking water among themselves and the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) reaching out to an area...

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The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge Award Recipient Workshop February 7-9, 2006, Rome, Italy CGAP and IFAD will co-sponsor a three-day workshop for a select group of former Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge (PPIC) grant winners in Rome, February 7-9, 2006. The PPIC program funds smaller institutions (those that fall below the donor radar screen) that demonstrate effective models and methodologies for deepening outreach and impact, while working toward sustainability. The ...

Inventors innovate to meet the need’s of the world’s poorest.

David Hume wrote in 1742 that legislators and founders of states had to be ranked as superior to inventors in terms of their benefit to humanity; the inventor’s work might increase the commodities and enjoyments of life, but without sound government this would mean little. Hume might have wished to reconsider had he lived to see some modern-day legislatures - or certain of today’s inventors, particularly those who apply brilliant pragmatism to improvin...

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International Herald Tribune (link opens in a new window)

Market for solar-derived hot water heats up in Brazil.

IPS, 1 February 2006 - Turning sunshine into electricity is still too costly for it to become widespread, but using it to heat water is a viable option that is expanding in many countries, and could make great strides in Brazil. Two initiatives by environmentalists and interested companies are giving a boost to solar water heaters in Brazil. In Sao Paulo, only a final decision by Mayor Jos?? Serra is needed for legislation to go into effect that would make installing sola...

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Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) (link opens in a new window)

Next Cleantech Star: Water?

Solar power might be the star of the cleantech industry right now, but water technologies are the prot??g??s eagerly awaiting their turn in the spotlight, industry watchers said Wednesday at the Clean-Tech Investor Summit in Rancho Mirage, California. One in five people around the globe lack access to safe drinking water, said Ira Ehrenpreis, a general partner at Technology Partners, a Palo Alto, California-based venture capital firm that invests in new water technologie...

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Red Herring (link opens in a new window)

Uganda Saccos Reach 2000

Esther Nakkazi Uganda’s savings and credit co-operatives (saccos) have grown by 40 per cent since the year 2000. The Commissioner for Co-operative Development in the Ministry of Trade, Fred Mwesigye, said the increase of saccos is a sign that Ugandans are adopting a saving culture. Already, the advent of microcredit institutions has changed the face of banking by forcing large banks to create new credit lines for small savers. According to the ...

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The East African (link opens in a new window)