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White House Touts Help For Poor Areas — But Questions Endure Over Who’ll Benefit
Smith, who helps lead the White House efforts on the zones and other domestic policy matters, told NPR that the zones help cities and towns draw on private-sector investment in an innovative way. But the federal law does not specify how those funds should be used; investors might build affordable housing — or they might build high-end apartment buildings.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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Tracking Goats and Bleach, Artificial Intelligence Helps Out in Crises
From knowing if it's safe to rebuild a damaged home to readying aid for displaced people, technology that harnesses AI is proving handy before and when disasters hit.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Electricity is Just the Beginning: Why Off-Grid Solar Opens the Door to Value-Added Services
Lack of energy access is a much-discussed issue in rural households and businesses across the developing world. But according to Mansoor Hamayun, CEO of BBOXX, electricity is just the beginning: Solar home systems could lay the foundation for a host of related services that could transform the quality of life in off-grid communities. Hamayun discusses “Tomorrow’s Rural Home,” BBOXX’s vision for the off-grid home of the future, which shows how solar energy access could create new markets and power economic growth in Africa and beyond.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Report: Habitat for Humanity finds Housing Microfinance helps improve living conditions in Kenya
As part of the project, housing microfinance loans were offered not only to informal workers with unsteady incomes, but also to low-income salaried workers making between US$5-10 per day.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- housing, microfinance
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Insitor, Oikocredit lead seed round in Kolkata-based Aashiyaan Housing Finance
Journalist Swaminathan Aiyar, Columbia University professor Neeraj Kaushal and others also participated in this round, said Aashiyaan. Boutique investment bank Unitus Capital was the financial advisor to Aashiyaan for this transaction.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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When Student Could Not Find His Calling, He Used Architecture to Build Some Stability for Refugees
Upon further research, Scott learned that between 15-20 million of them still live in tents, essentially camping in terrible conditions for 12 to 17 years on average. Between that, and the general lack of innovation as it relates to shelters, Scott quickly realized he’d found his calling.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Press release: Three leading development finance institutions sign loan agreement to support capital markets and high impact sectors in Africa
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and ALCB Fund Board Members today signed a loan agreement to support high impact sectors in Africa focusing on housing, agriculture and SMEs.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press release: Building the Business Case for Housing Microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa
A new study from Habitat for Humanity (www.Habitat.org) says that housing microfinance can and should become a mainstream offering for financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa as they respond to growing housing needs in the region, particularly from poor people.
- Source
- Press release
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa