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Portable Solar Power to the People
Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, is commercialising its solar powered portable LED lamps with mobile phone charger, the Mobiya TS 120S, in order to offer innovative, reliable and affordable products to people living without access to electricity.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Can Mobile Money Improve Your Health?
According to insights provided byMondato, the general rule of thumb is that when something appears too good to be true, it very likely is. Imagine that you were unfamiliar with the concept of insurance. A stranger at your door promises that if you pay 1000 shillings per month via your phone, if at some point you or someone in your family were to fall ill, the man’s company will pay up to 300 times that amount to cover the medical expenses. You would certainly be forgiven for being highly circumspect, at the very minimum.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Can a Bajaji Change a Teen Girl’s Life?
“Human-centered design has a role in solving every problem,” says Pam Scott, a serial design thinker whose career has wended from advertising to customer research to a board seat at IDEO.org to a current chapter that might be dubbed activist philanthropy. A born connector, Scott has spent nearly three decades working at the intersection of design and impact, and much of her power lies at getting the right people in the room and prompting them to ask — and answer — the right questions.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- philanthropy
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New Tools Deliver Medical Diagnoses, Fast, Cheap and in the Field
Reliable electricity is a rare commodity in some parts of Guinea, which means some traditional medical equipment often is useless. So researchers there are using a new tool to identify Ebola cases: a portable diagnostic machine that fits in a suitcase and runs on a solar battery.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Rwanda’s Clinics Have Gone Off-Grid and Onto Renewable Energy
Rwanda is located in the poorest region in the world, sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, it is making advances with off-grid renewable energy solutions for rural areas that could be a model for similar economies.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Buyout Firm Vital Plans $500 Million Africa Fund As Demand Booms
Private equity firm Vital Capital Investments LP is planning a $500 million investment fund that will focus on African industries overlooked by competitors.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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Finger-Prick, Blood Test for Ebola Takes Just Minutes
Public health officials may soon be able to screen patients for Ebola at border crossings and hospitals with a finger-prick blood test that takes mere minutes.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: FINCA Surpasses $1 Million in Loans to Microenterprise and Small Businesses in Nigeria in First Six Months
FINCA's newest subsidiary, FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd. in Nigeria, surpassed USD 1 million in small loans to microenterprise and small business owners within its first six months of operation, it was announced today by President & CEO Rupert Scofield during his remarks at the Spring meeting of the Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC), hosted this year by FINCA at its headquarters building in Washington, DC.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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