-
Rural Women Banking by Mobile Phone
PLUMTREE, Zimbabwe, Nov 14, 2011 (IPS) - Collecting the monthly subscriptions for her co-operative has always been a headache for Thelma Nare, 41. This is because Nare lives in Tshitshi, Plumtree in rural Zimbabwe, about 60 kilometres away from the humdrum of the nearest town centre where banks are located. "We meet after a long time as here in the rural areas our homesteads can be very far from each other. So members of our club do not meet or contribute regularly...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Embrace ICT for Development, Minister Urges SMEs
Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SME) operators have been urged to leverage the power of the Internet in transforming their businesses. Speaking at the Google Business Summit in Lagos, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, said research supports the concept of putting businesses online. "Today, Nigeria has an estimated 33 million Internet users and we have targets to double this number in the next three to four years. Getting your business o...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
LinkedIn Connects Chilean Social Entrepreneur with Kenya
Sebastian Salinas Claro, a young social entrepreneur from Chile is headed to Kenya to help launch a social entrepreneurship program. This event came about through the leading social networking website for professionals, LinkedIn. Sebastian, who founded a small social enterprise called Emprediem earlier this year. The company conducts workshops in entrepreneurship and social innovation. Sebastian’s Kenya endeavor began when a friend informed him that he was connected with Alex...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Gates Foundation Unveils New Agricultural Policy
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest donors to international agricultural research for development, has announced tighter priorities for its funding for Africa and South Asia, concentrating on key target countries and crops. In Africa the focus will be on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. These countries will benefit from significant investment "to...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Andy Lieberman: Social Entrepreneurs, Not Charities, Will Help the Next Billion Out of Poverty
This week the world hits 7 billion in population, just 12 years after we reached 6 billion. Virtually all of these new billion live at the so-called Base of the Pyramid -- that segment of humanity that, by virtue of economic and political circumstance, struggles to meet basic food, water and energy needs on incomes of around $2 a day. Here at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, we are confronting this problem every day and have come to the conclusion that the old ways...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Ivory Coast to Raise Profits for Cocoa Farmers
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - A major restructuring of the cocoa sector is under way in Ivory Coast, officials announced Thursday in reforms they say will give a boost to the country’s growers by guaranteeing them a minim price. Agriculture Minister Sangafowa Coulibaly said the government will create a state-controlled company in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, which will guarantee farmers 60 percent of the international cocoa price. At a news conference where he...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Should We Be Focused on Rural Areas in the Developing World?
Microfinance -- the practice of personal small loans to spur creativity in developing nations -- has well-known rural roots . Of late, I had assumed that the practice had become a city-based endeavor, in concert with other programs, targeting the world’s burgeoning urban populations. Time spent in Africa earlier in the year did not change that perception. However, after following up with community economi...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
The MasterCard Foundation and MIT Partner to Support Entrepreneurship in Africa
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 27, 2011) - The MasterCard Foundation and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are pleased to announce a strategic 10-year, $21 million grant to support emerging entrepreneurs focused on Africa and developing regions. "The Legatum Center uniquely combines entrepreneurial leadership, technological innovation and grassroots development to be...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.