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Unemployed African Youth to Benefit from UN-backed Finance Programme
Some 200,000 low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from a United Nations-backed initiative announced today to increase access for them to financial services in a region where youth unemployment rates are two to three times that of adults. YouthStart, co-sponsored by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the MasterCard Foundation, which has made a four-year, $12 million contribution, is a competition-based programme that will identify and support up to 12 financial instit...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Jane Goodall Saves Chimpanzees Using Microcredit
Jane Goodall came to Gombe National Park to study chimpanzees 50 years ago. She became one of the world’s best known primate researchers. In the early 1990s, she became shocked by the ecological destruction around the park and left the jungle to become an activist. Nowadays she’s saving the primates using microcredit. The 76-year-old chimpanzee expert travels the world to talk about her conservation work. She tells stories about how local people are involved in conserving the...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Sudan’s First SMS-Powered Voting Monitor Tracks Violence
While Sudanese vote about the fate of South Sudan’s independence, one Sudan-born Texan supports the voting process from afar with a historic mobile-powered monitoring tool. Fareed Zein came to the United States from Sudan in 1981 to pursue a college education in computer science. One of the lucky ones, his family could afford his departure and his education, and he left before civil war rattled his homeland. Zein now spends his time--outside of his day job in oil and gas in Ho...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Currency War: The Stakes for Africa
By Sanou Mbaye As a result of chronically deficient demand in the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial and economic crises, global imbalances are on the rise again, as is the risk of protectionism. The US thinks China is undervaluing its currency to support its industry. The situation could lead to an "international currency war". What does this herald for African...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Time Asks: ’Is This Time For Africa?’
Sending your money to Nigeria - just not in response to a scam e-mail from a deposed ruler’s secret son - might actually be a smart move. A growing number of Wall Street pros have been talking up Africa as the next great investment. Goldman Sachs asset-management chief Jim O’Neill, known for spotting the opportunity in Brazil, Russia, India and China and coining the term BRIC, says Africa has interesting potential. Top value investor Chuck Royce has...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa’s Informal Economy Revealed
Steve Daniels , the founder of A Better World By Design and co-creator of Maker Faire Rhode Island , just published a book, Making Do , based on his research on informal economies in Africa. The shocker? He just graduated from college this year...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Land Rush Doesn’t Have to End in a Poor Deal for Africans
If dodgy emails offering millions in return for your downpayment to repatriate a stranded Nigerian astronaut do not tempt you, then maybe this will appeal to your speculative side. A hectare of fertile African land, a 99-year lease, and all for $1 a year. Think about it: crop prices are soaring, land is appreciating and import-dependent rich nations virtually guarantee you a never-ending export market. It’s starting to sound like that Niger...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Grassroots Business Fund Expands International Presence to Kenya
The Grassroots Business Fund (GBF), whose mission is to build and support high-impact businesses that provide sustainable economic opportunities to millions of people at the base of the economic pyramid, has opened a new office in Kenya as a part of its ongoing global growth strategy. While GBF has been operative across the region for more than two years, the expansion intends to provide greater on-the-ground technical and financial assistance to high-impact businesses in region. ...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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