NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Microcredit’s Quiet Revolution Takes Root in Brazil

SOROCABA, Brazil - When people talk about Brazil’s economy, figures numbering in the billions of dollars are usually bandied about to underline the success -- and the potential -- of this vast Latin American market of 193 million people. But for one 25-year-old woman, Alessandra Franca, just a handful of cash is all it takes to make a difference for the 40 percent of Brazil’s population who are still poor. A year ago, Franca founded Banco Perola, a lending institution spec...

Source

AFP via Google News (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Patagonia, Adidas, Walmart Join Sustainable Apparel Coalition

What happens when you put executives from Walmart and Patagonia in a room? This isn’t the start of a bad joke--it’s how the Sustainable Apparel Coalition was born. The seeds of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition were planted in 2009 when Patagonia and Walmart teamed up to help the latter company create a sustainability assessment tool for its supply chain (Patagonia was also working o...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Education

Region

Latin America

For Pepsi, a Business Decision With Social Benefit

SAN GABRIEL, Mexico - In the past, farmers would make the dangerous trek north from this tiny town hidden in the rugged folds of the Jalisco mountain range to the United States, hoping to earn enough money doing odd jobs to cover debts incurred while cultivating the small plots of land that have been in their families for generations. But more recently, many have managed to avoid the trips, staying home as the result of a new venture with ...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

IDB, Oikocredit, Incofin and Calvert Foundation Back Credit Cooperative in Ecuador

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has closed a $9 million syndicated loan with Jardin Azuayo, a community-based savings and loan cooperative in Ecuador . The loan will fund the co-op’s Credits for Community Development project, which channels funds to municipalities, community organizations and other local entities to finance improvements in social infrastructure such as schools and roads. Th...

Source

iadb.org (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

With Mobile Technology Vodafone and the U.N. Improve Health in Brazil’s Remote Communities

The Vodafone Foundation and the United Nations are working together again on a mobile initiative for social good --this time in Brazil and with an eye on ...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

In A Shift, Cubans Savor Working for Themselves

BAUTA, Cuba - Marisela Álvarez spends much of the day bent over a single electric burner in her small outdoor kitchen. Her knees are killing her. Her red hair smells of cooking oil. "I feel useful; I’m independent," said Ms. Álvarez, who opened a small cafe in November at her home in this scruffy town 25 miles from the capital, Havana. "When you sit down at the end of the day and look at how much you have made, you feel satisfied." Eagerly, warily, Cubans are tak...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Colombia: For the Poor, a New Way to Protect Against Disaster

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia - Before a sales team for Liberty Mutual fanned out into a crime-infested slum to sell insurance, the venders bowed their heads, asking god to bless their work and protect them from thieves. A ramshackle neighborhood where horse carts ply the streets and the floors of many houses are made of dirt might seem an odd place to peddle insurance. After all, insurance companies have historically ignored the poor. But the Liberty team was offering something new to l...

Source

Global Post (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Jamaicans May Bank on a Mobile Future

JAMAICA can choose a mobile phone-based financial services delivery system which targets those persons who currently do not have easy access to the established banking network. Carl Rosenquist, a Chartered Information Technology Professional with the British Computer Society, was one of several industry experts trumpeting the development during the Mobile Financial Services Conference at the Terra Nova All Suites Hotel in Kingston in December, which aimed to develo...

Source

Jamaica Observer (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America