NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Fresh Life, Atoo Kakuma Ink Deal to Expand Climate-Resilient Sanitation in Turkana

A shortage of adequate sanitation facilities in parts of Turkana County, including Kakuma and Kalobeyei, has long forced residents to rely on unsafe alternatives, threatening public health in one of Kenya’s most densely populated arid regions and refugee-hosting areas.

Source

KBC (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Environment, Health Care

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Tags

climate change, climate health, partnerships, public health, refugees, sanitation, scale, waste

Viewpoint: Philanthropy Is Underestimating AI. Here’s How to Catch Up

If you are operating a philanthropy and you think your only engagement with AI needs to be in your internal practices or in “AI for XYZ” (eg., better farming), I ask you to consider doing more.

Source

Inside Philanthropy (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Investing, Technology

Region

Global

Tags

artificial intelligence, employment, philanthropy, scale

Analysis: Supercharging Network Intelligence

How network organizations can use AI to better understand and support their members in real time.

Source

Stanford Social Innovation Review (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Social Enterprise, Technology

Region

Global

Tags

artificial intelligence, business development, innovation, nonprofits, philanthropy, research, scale

Drip Capital Surpasses $9 Billion in Trade Transactions as SMBs Navigate Shifting Global Supply Chains

SMBs continue to face a substantial working capital gap, with traditional banks pulling back on small business lending and alternative lenders increasingly unable to meet the scale or speed that global trade requires.

Source

PR Newswire (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Finance, Technology

Region

Global

Tags

artificial intelligence, business development, international trade, MSMEs, scale, supply chains

Spill Games Raises $3.1 Million to Build a Systems-Led Global Mobile Gaming Company From India

Spill Games, a Bengaluru mobile gaming startup, raised USD 3.1 million Seed funding led by Centre Court Capital and PeerCapital to scale its systems driven casual games portfolio.

Source

Storyboard18 (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Investing, Technology

Region

Asia Pacific

Tags

creative economy, media and entertainment, scale, startups

Dodai Closes $13 Million Series A to Scale E-Mobility in Ethiopia

Over the next 12 months, the company aims to reach 3,000 battery swapping users supported by 30 battery swapping stations across Addis Ababa.

Source

Africa Private Equity News (link opens in a new window)

Region

Global

Tags

business development, decarbonization, e-mobility, employment, innovation, scale

Press Release: Turn.io Launches the Chat for Health Accelerator 2026, Scaling AI and Voice for Primary Healthcare

The programme is designed for organisations already delivering sustainable primary healthcare at scale across Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Source

Turn.io (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Health Care, Technology

Region

Global

Tags

artificial intelligence, healthcare technology, NGOs, scale

Africa’s Firms are Not Growing—New Data Reveal a Jobs Challenge

Across 48 Sub-Saharan African economies, a firm that has operated for nearly three decades employs barely twice the workers it had at birth. The gap relative to high-income economies is large, structural, and costly.

Source

World Bank Blogs (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation, WASH

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Tags

business development, data, employment, global development, manufacturing, scale