NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Jason Matthews

Economically developing countries have huge potential that could someday benefit the rest of the world. However, due to various reasons, including internal and external influences, they have been left behind more privileged nations. Rural areas are particularly disadvantaged as poor infrastructure and limited-to-non-existent public or private transport means getting goods to market is both difficult and expensive. New, sustainable solutions to this problem would remove some of the factors limiting the growth of these small businesses.

Photo courtesy of Mitchell Luo.