NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Omidyar, Indigo Trust to Fund Social Innovation Center in Nigeria

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and LONDON, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Omidyar Network and The Indigo Trust announced today their support and intent to fund the Co-Creation Hub in Lagos, Nigeria. The Hub is a non-profit, social enterprise centered around a shared work space where stakeholders from multiple walks of Nigerian life come together to collaboratively create tech-based solutions that address social challenges facing Nigerian society. It will be Nigeria’s fi...

Source

PR Newswire (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Switching On: Africa’s Vast New Tech Opportunity

This article was taken from the August 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired’s articles in print before they’re posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online . In 2011, visitors to Africa looking for war, famine and pestilence have to dig a lot deeper than in the past. At Nairo...

Source

Wired (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

How 28 Poor Countries Escaped the Poverty Trap

Remember the poverty trap? Countries stuck in destitution because of weak institutions put in place by colonial overlords, or because of climates that foster disease, or geographies that limit access to global markets, or simply by the fact that poverty is overwhelmingly self-perpetuating. Apparently the trap can be escaped. The World Bank did its annual assessment of poor countries...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Solar Sister Wants to Light Up Rural Africa

One-year-old start up Solar Sister is using cosmetics company AVON’s model to distribute solar energy in Uganda , Sudan , and Rwanda . To learn more about the "business in a bag" model that’s giving rural African women ...

Source

The Christian Science Monitor (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Invest in Agriculture to Tackle Food Crisis in East Africa, says IFAD

In the face of a prolonged drought in East Africa that is threatening the lives of an estimated 10 million people across the region, Geoffrey Livingston, Regional Economist for East and Southern Africa at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said: "We need to act now and step up investment in agriculture and smallholder farmers if we want to prevent a major food crisis." The effects of climate change have been becoming more and more apparent in the region including...

Source

CPI Financial (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Universal Charger for Just About Any Gadget Battery

ASPEN -- If you can pry the lithium ion battery out of your device, you can probably charge it with Fenix International’s noteworthy USB charger. And you won’t need an annoying adapter, either. The company developed the charger for use in Uganda and other developing world countries. It’s part of a whole suite of products Fenix designed to help local people to become one-stop electricity providers. But you can use it yourself, too. At the bottom of this post, you can see the ...

Source

The Atlantic (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

How Africa Can Extract Big Benefits for Everyone from Natural Resources

As the Natural Resource Charter holds its third annual workshop at the University Oxford, in the UK, this week, the combination of rising commodity prices and falling costs of communication technology presents Africa with an unprecedented opportunity to reduce poverty and fight corruption at the same time. T...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

World Bank Offers Farmers Money to Hedge Against Volatile Food Prices

The World Bank has teamed up with JP Morgan to offer farmers and food manufacturers in poor countries access to financial derivatives to hedge their risk from volatile food prices. Two other banks, one in sub-Saharan Africa and one in Europe with Middle East partnerships, as yet unidentified, are expected to launch similar products with the World Bank shortly. Excessive speculation ...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa