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Infographic: A New Gold Rush in Africa
While Africa’s resource wealth continues to lure the bulk of foreign investment, the rise of a new consumer class is beginning to shift the balance. See country-by-country data on foreign investment, GDP and more. ...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Acumen Fund Co-Invests $2.2 Million in Ugandan Cotton Ginnery
The New York-based Acumen Fund --a non-profit investment firm that seeks social and financial returns while helping reduce global poverty--is now in the East African country of Uganda. The Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC) will receive $2.2 million from a co-investment between Acumen Fund and Root Capital, with the goal of improving the company’s organic cotton output and helping civil war refugees in...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa: Stanford University to Explore Entrepreneurship and Development in Continent
On Saturday, January 29th, Stanford University will host its fifth annual Stanford Africa Forum. This year the conference will explore Entrepreneurship and Development in Africa. The topic of entrepreneurship is particularly relevant to Africa. In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion in the development community that socioeconomic advancement is better achieved through business (entrepreneurship and social enterprise) than through traditional aid. Many iterations...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Half of Tanzania?s Population on Phone
A research team at the University of Dar es Salaam says half the Tanzanian population is currently hooked to mobile phones, and that it takes just a handset to run a business in the country. Led by Prof Ophelia Mascarenhas of the university, there is no need for offices, visiting cards or huge capital investments. He is joined by Dr. Raphael Mmasi and Dr. Hezron Makundi of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) in his findings. The team however re...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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East Africa Poised to Tap a Reborn South Sudan
NAIROBI/KAMPALA, (Reuters) - East African nations could reap trade and investment opportunities worth billions of dollars to help develop south Sudan if it splits from the north, but they will have to compete with bigger rivals like China to do so. Southerners are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of separation in a referendum next week, a vote that follows decades of civil war with the north and, the south says, economic and political m...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Impact Investing in the Poor, the Next Big Thing
Over the next 10 years, investors across the world will not just be preoccupied with financial returns, but will also pay closer attention to the social, environmental and development impacts of their activities, says a report. This will see impact investment, as this trend is known, rake in up to $667 billion in profits over the period and achieve the billing of the newest emerging asset class of the next decade, according to the report prepared by JP Morgan and Rockefeller Foundation....
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Joseph to Spearhead M-Pesa Expansion in Africa
Michael Joseph, the immediate former CEO of Safaricom, has been tapped to spearhead the expansion of M-Pesa to other African countries as part of a plan to have a seamless mobile money transfer service on the continent. M-Pesa is already successful in Kenya, and is now also available in Tanzania, Afghanistan, South Africa, while a pilot service is on in India. But Vodafone is looking at spreading the services to other African countries such as DR Congo, Lesotho, and Mozambique wit...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Award Winning Social Enterprise Uses Bikes to Power Utilities
Every year, Echoing Green selects a handful of social entrepreneurs to participate in a two-year fellowship. Echoing Green fellows receive start-up capital and technical assistance to build their fledgling social enterprises. Perhaps the most interesting Echoing Green fellow this year is 23-year-old Jodie Wu, founder of Global Cycle Solutions. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, Global Cycle Solutions is innovative from both an engineering and entrepreneurial perspective. The company creates dev...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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