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For The Energy Impoverished, Hugh Whalan Is A Ray Of LED [Video]
In order to read this you’ve powered up a computer, likely turned on a light, maybe you’re also charging your phone or brewing a cup of coffee. Every one of these actions is a small sip of energy that you take for granted. "In fact, you probably struggle to remember how many times and ways you use energy in a day," notes Hugh Whalan, the co-founder of Energy In...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Microfinance Infrastructure Can Expand Access to Energy in Africa
The Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION has on Tuesday released a report ’Microfinance and Energy Poverty’ . The report highlights strategies for leveraging infrastructure of microfinance institutions and savings groups to increase access to energy in Africa. According to the findings of the report, there is a large and growing dema...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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ZIMBABWE: Poverty Alleviation Scheme Targets Kids
HARARE, 30 September 2011 (IRIN) - Orphans and vulnerable children from more than 80,000 households in Zimbabwe are set to benefit from a three-year government and donor-funded programme to cushion them from the worst effects of poverty. Led by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Labour and Social Services with support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the governments of the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and the European Commission (EC), the National Action Plan for Orphans and...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Malawi?s Solar Micro-finance Initiative Builds Business for Women Entrepreneurs
(WNN) Kasungu, Malawi: In the small landlocked southeastern African nation of Malawi only 8% of its growing 15.263 million people are connected to the national power grid, a source of power that has become increasingly unreliable. For many women and their families this often means only one thing - complete darkness at night or limited light generated only by candles or kerosene lamps. Being a woman in one of the poorest countries in the world carries with it many burden...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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UNCDF?s MicroLead partners The MasterCard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation in partnership with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) launched the expansion of the successful MicroLead program at the 5th Annual African Microfinance Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The $23.5 million six year project will increase access to microfinance, particularly savings services, to 450 000 low income people in Sub- Saharan Africa. The MicroLead expansion has selected a minimum of eight institutions to enable microfinance leaders to establish ...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Swiss Re Policies Help Cholera Victims in Haiti, Poor Farmers in Africa
Global reinsurer Swiss Re is introducing business interruption coverage in case of cholera outbreaks for women entrepreneurs in Haiti. Swiss Re, together with Mercy Corps and Fonkoze, the largest microfinance organization in Haiti, are introducing a new cholera insurance program. The coverage ensures rapid payout once a pre-defined set of criteria are met. These include cholera-related hospital admissions and observable weather factors linked to cholera outbreaks. Cholera first appeared...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nut Farmers in Ghana Crack into Mobile Technology
Today is a day that I’ve been anticipating for weeks; ever since I found out I was going to host a group of international reporters in Ghana. My thoughts have ranged from excitement to anxiety to trepidation and back around again. After extensive preparation in the form of vaccinations, planning, research and shopping, the time to execute is finally here. As I get ready to join, host and escort nine international journalists through Ghana, a country that I’ve never been to and u...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dies at 71
NAIROBI, Kenya - Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who started out by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died late on Sunday after battling cancer. She was 71. Mrs. Maathai, one of the most famous and widely respected women on the continent, wore many hats - environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the ...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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