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Public-Private Engagement for Better Health in Africa
While assessing the good, the bad, and the innovative, new report by the World Bank Group finds that public-private engagement is less than systematic. The Healthy Partnerships report evaluates engagement with private providers in 45 African countries. Lead author Connor Spreng, an economist at the World Bank, on the findings.
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- Health Care, Technology
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- governance
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Guest Post: The World Bank Group, Palm Oil and Poverty
Despite the media focus on the palm oil "debate", which pits proponents of "development" against environmentalists, many voices in private, public, and civil sectors have noted the potential of the palm oil sector to contribute to poverty reduction. The World Bank Group should aim to achieve and measure poverty reduction, not palm oil investments.
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- Agriculture
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Egypt’s 800-Billion Pound Gorilla
With an estimated 800 billion Egyptian Pounds ($136 billion) in domestic deposits, you’d think Egyptian banks should have plenty of loans and credit available for Egyptian small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs). Not quite; considering the fact that Egyptian government debt held domestically is nearly the same amount.
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Africa Election Watch 2011: Niger
One of the biggest determinants of living standards for those at the base of the pyramid too often receives scant attention in the Western press: a presidential election. In 2011, 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa will hold presidential elections. The next presidential election in Africa will take place in Niger, on March 12.
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- Uncategorized
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Bananas Over Corporate Governance: The 2011 Banana Skins Survey
In the recently published Microfinance Banana Skins 2011, subtitled "Losing its fairy dust," the third annual survey polls microfinance practitioners, investors, analysts, regulators, and other experts on the top risks facing the industry worldwide. Corporate governance is ranked the fourth highest risk - up from seventh a year ago.
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- Uncategorized
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Aftershocks of Egypt and Social Enterprise’s Role
Throughout the Muslim world, echoes of the Egyptian chant "Leave, Leave, Leave" fall on far-from-deaf ears. The simple fact that pumping fists in Tunisia preceded pitchforks in Egypt is a harbinger of the aftershocks to come. The burden is on enterprise to ensure that when the dust does finally settle, those very US dollars start to flow freely.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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In Haiti, the Fonkoze Model of Social Evolution – Part 2
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series on Fonkoze’s operations following last year’s earthquake in Haiti. New Fonkoze clients pay a one-time membership fee for life, and they quickly encounter an organization structure designed to communicate to them what a democratic institution looks like.
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Get In Line, Tunisia: Why This is Only the Beginning
While economists and policymakers may debate the exact nature of the relationship between poverty and corruption, it seems that the world’s poorest citizens have already made the connection, such as when they lose a job to a family member of the ruling elite. Tunisia’s protests are the latest demonstration of global frustration with corruption.
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- Uncategorized
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- governance