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Uct Scientists Invent Disposable Solar Panel
Tamar Kahn Johannesburg SCIENTISTS at the University of Cape Town are exploiting the nano-scale properties of silicon to develop a super-thin disposable solar panel poster which they hope could offer rural dwellers a cheap, alternative source of power. Many people living in remote areas are not linked to the national electricity grid, and use batteries or run their own generators to supply their power needs. The scientists have developed technology for pri...
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More Internet, Less Poverty?
Building a bridge across the digital divide might not be the smooth path to poverty reduction that many people believe. As many as 17,000 people from around the world are attending this United Nations conference targeted at closing the now famous divide, the gap in access to the Internet and other information age tools (and skills) between rich and poor countries, and even within nations. But will providing Internet access or mobile phones to more people help end the poverty that dis...
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Immigrant workers who send money home to their families are a major source of critical funding for p
Rich and poor countries need to make it cheaper for immigrant workers to send money back to their families to ?sharpen? the impact of remittances on poverty reduction, the World Bank said on Wednesday. International remittance flows to developing countries are expected to rise to $167bn (?143bn, ?97bn) this year, twice the amount of official aid paid by governments, the bank said in its Global Development Prospects report. Unreported flows mean that remittances are probabl...
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Understanding fragmented consumer tastes in China
Matt Doyle, Procter & Gamble’s director of healthcare products research, has an unusual invitation for his guests during a visit to the company’s Cincinnati headquarters: C’mere, you want to go to Alaska? The group has just been standing in a store room in which P&G’s products neatly line the shelves. The temperature is 40?C and the humidity 75 per cent, replicating the heat of a Chinese summer. In the second room, the temperature has dropped to -5?...
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ICICI bank, Grameen of USA set up JV for micro-finance
MUMBAI, NOV 15: With a view to developing a commercial market for micro finance receivables, the country’s largest private sector bank, ICICI bank has tied up with Grameen Foundation USA to set up Grameen Capital India (GCI). GCI will work with the micro finance institutions (MFIs) to access primary and secondary debt markets as also private placement of MFI portfolios with banks, said KV Kamath, managing director & ceo, ICICI Bank. GCI will also provide credit enhancements t...
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Delay, High Cost of Business Registration, Counter Productive – World Bank/IMF
Saviour Davidson Fia According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, African nations, despite their high youth unemployment rates, continue to thwart small and medium businesses with legal burdens and piecemeal reforms. Data on recent reforms to the regulatory environment for business contained in ’Doing Business 2006,’ a publication by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), poi...
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Ugandan firm gets African ICT award
Original post here: http://www.andnetwork.com/app?service=direct/0/Feed/$DirectLink&sp=l6023 A Ugandan based computer company, Crystal Clear Software Limited, has won the African Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMME) 2004 Award. The company was recognised for showing a balance between business skills (70 per cent of total weight) and social agenda (30 per c...
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- African News Dimension
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eBay?s Founder Starts Giving
Pierre Omidyar on his $100 million gift to Tufts?with a few strings attached. Pierre Omidyar, 38, is one of the world?s richest idealists. With stock in eBay worth $8.4 billion, the founder of the auction giant and his wife, Pam, are starting to give money away. In early November they made their biggest gift yet: $100 million to Tufts University, where they met as undergrads. But the money came with an unusual stipulation: It can be invested only in microfinance?tiny business loan...
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