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A Digital Approach to Reducing Educational Inequality in Africa – During and After COVID-19
As COVID-19 spreads through sub-Saharan Africa, its long-term impact on children's education is becoming clear, as over 253 million students are not in school due to closures caused by the crisis. Wambura Kimunyu at Eneza discusses the company's innovative platform, which provides educational content via SMS texts – and how it's working to expand access to the platform in response to the pandemic.
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- Education, Technology
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Press Release: Visa Foundation Commits $210 Million to Support Small and Micro Businesses and Immediate COVID-19 Emergency Relief
“Two hundred million dollars in new financial resources demonstrates our continuing commitment to support small and micro businesses, with a focus on women’s economic advancement globally,” said Graham Macmillan, President of the Visa Foundation. “When women thrive, communities thrive. We know this matters now more than ever as the global economy seeks to recover and rebuild.”
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- Coronavirus
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Viewpoint: We Must Invest Differently to Support Women and Girls
Many of the structural issues at the root of gender inequality are locked in and magnified by our current financial system.
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- Investing
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Commentary: The impact investing talent war heats up
The next generation of impact investing leaders will include more women and finance professionals.
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- Investing
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What’s Working – And What’s Not – in Africa: A New Report Aims to Inform Better Development Practice on the Continent
The challenges facing Africa are substantial – but so too are the unique assets the continent possesses. As the development sector works to address those challenges and leverage those assets, it's useful to highlight both the approaches that are working – and those that aren't. That's the goal of Next Generation's recent report on the social investment and development industry trends impacting Africa. Reana Rossouw explores its findings.
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- Technology
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Changing Mindsets to Empower Women: Roshaneh Zafar, On How Kashf Foundation Helped Microfinance Take Root in Pakistan
There was no shortage of skeptics when Roshaneh Zafar first started talking about launching a microfinance institution with a focus on women's empowerment in Pakistan. But over two decades after founding Kashf Foundation, Zafar has proven them wrong. In this video Q&A, she discusses how she brought the first specialized microfinance institution to Pakistan – and crafted an approach that helps the country's female entrepreneurs overcome the unique barriers they face.
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- Finance
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Insights, Analysis and Debate: Vote for the Top NextBillion Article of 2019
Another year has come and gone, and it's time for NextBillion to select our most influential articles of 2019. As usual, we’re turning to you, our readers, for help. We've selected our 12 most-read articles of the year, and we invite you to vote for the one that impacted your thinking the most. You can vote up to 12 times during the voting period, which runs from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2. The winner will be announced on Jan. 3. As always, thank you for reading, contributing content to, and engaging with NextBillion!
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- Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Technology
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Shedding Light on Women in Solar: How – And Why – Off-Grid Solar Companies Should Hire More Female Sales Agents
Off-grid solar companies need large sales forces to reach last-mile consumers. But though they often struggle to build these sales forces, and though there's a large pool of female candidates to choose from, only 35% of their salespeople are women. Scott A. Roy at Whitten & Roy Partnership discusses the false assumptions that keep solar companies from hiring women, and explores the reasons why female sales agents are actually better all-around performers than men.
- Categories
- Energy