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Analysis: Why India’s Digital Public Infrastructure Will Democratize AI Usage
India isn’t trying to beat Silicon Valley at its own game. Instead, they’re treating AI infrastructure as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): shared, government-controlled systems that provide foundational services.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Productive Use Has Challenges: What’s Holding the Sector Back — And How Companies and Investors Should Respond
Productive use of renewable energy (PURE) technologies such as solar irrigation, cold storage and agro-processing can have a transformative impact in Africa and other emerging markets. But though the potential of these technologies is undeniable, the scale isn’t. As Daniel Waldron, Chris Emmott and Kristi Chon at Acumen, and Duda Slawek at Open Capital explain, few agricultural companies are delivering PURE solutions, and fewer still are growing fast enough to meet the scope of the problems they are trying to solve. They share new research and analysis that illuminate the challenges that are holding the sector back, and propose three ways forward.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Nearly 40% of African Startup Funding Now Comes From Local Investors
The rise of local fund managers can be traced to support from development finance institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) through its Catalyst program, as well as British International Investment, Proparco, and AfricaGrow, which backed African VCs as global investors retreated from the continent.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Mother of All Deals’: EU and India Sign Free Trade Agreement
The agreement is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or cutting tariffs in 96.6% of traded goods by value, and would lead to savings of €4bn (£3.5bn) in duties for European companies, the EU said.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Global
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Upaya Social Ventures Invests In ScrapUncle to Formalize India’s Circular Economy And Create Green Livelihoods
ScrapUncle runs a vertically integrated system where collectors are provided with electric pickup trucks and all collected material is routed to ScrapUncle warehouses.
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- Social Enterprise
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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World Bank Supports Central Asia’s First Regional Electricity Market to Boost Energy Security and Affordability
During the REMIT Program’s first phase, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the Central Asian Countries’ Coordinating Dispatch Center (CDC) Energia, will benefit from program grants and concessional financing totaling $143.2 million.
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- Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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Gates Foundation Announces $9 Billion Budget, Plans to Cut Staff
The spending increase is part of the foundation’s commitment to accelerate its mission ahead of its planned closure in 2045.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Rethinking What it Means to Start a Business: Why Systemic Venture Building Matters for Africa’s Food Future
Africa’s entrepreneurs are often seen as risky investments not due to any limitations of their own businesses, but because of the risks in the systems around them. As a result, as Dieuwertje Nelissen, Eveline Jansen and Rachael Kirui at Enviu argue, it's important for development stakeholders to move beyond de-risking individual businesses and to put greater effort into strengthening and de-risking the systems that support them. They explore this systemic approach in the context of African agriculture, sharing a venture-building model that can help entrepreneurs reduce early-stage risk and scale sustainable impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing, Social Enterprise
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