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‘Internet Access is Like Oxygen’: Converging Connectivity and Energy Access
Microsoft’s Affordable Access Initiative is providing grants to internet access and related services companies and startups reaching underserved communities in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and North America. In June, the tech giant announced the second year of grantees. Paul Garnett, senior director of the Affordable Access Initiative at Microsoft, explores how internet connectivity can have a ripple effect.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
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Weekly Roundup: India’s Demonetization Gets Ugly, Health Care’s Last Mile Gets Shorter and Coke Comes to Gaza
Indian Prime Minister Modi’s surprise move to ban 1,000 and 500-rupee notes early last month, ostensibly to crack down on black money, has mushroomed into a full-blown crisis. Are the financial inclusion benefits worth the cost? We explore this and many other topics in the roundup.
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- Health Care, Investing, NextBillion Originals
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Green Bonds: A Surging Market for Socially Responsible Investing
The green bond market could double in size this year, boosted by issuance from China and U.S. corporations like Apple.
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- Environment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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Western Union introduces US-Cuba money transfers
The Western Union Company pioneered mobile and online money transfers to Cuba via the Western Union app and wu.com in the U.S., paving the way for a new generation of tech-savvy customers to move money into Cuba in minutes.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Latin America
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Upending Conventional Wisdom with Bottom-Up Innovation
To accelerate the democratization of affordable and robust internet access, Microsoft this week announced 12 new partnerships with social enterprises. Paul Garnett, Director of Affordable Access Initiatives at Microsoft, writes that the partnerships will support market-based innovation through seed grants, a network of peers, mentors and resources, and commercial partnerships, in addition to engaging the communities in which they work.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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Weekly Roundup: A New Africa Accelerator – What Moms, Kids and GE Get Out of It
This week, GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced the healthymagination Mother & Child Initiative, which intends to help social enterprises refine their business plans, manage their human capital and prepare for growth. We discuss this program, the value of old-school development solutions, and (potentially) big news from Facebook in this roundup.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing, NextBillion Originals, Technology
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Visa Enters Somalia’s Financial Market
Visa Inc. has signed an agreement with Somalia’s Premier Bank that will enable Visa cardholders in Somalia to use Premier Bank’s ATM network in the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Entrepreneurship Unlocked Workplace Daycare for the Children of Garment Workers
With Bangladesh reigning as the cheapest place to produce clothing in the world, the government and the multinational businesses that depend on low-cost labour have yet to tackle the root of poor working conditions. One social entrepreneur, however, has steadily made progress partnering with communities and factories to improve the lives of women workers and their children. Ashoka Fellow Suraiya Haque founded Phulki in 1991, and today the organisation operates nearly 90 community-based and 25 factory-based daycare centres in Dhaka.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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