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Africa’s COVID-19 Moment: How Youth Startups Are Addressing the Pandemic – And What They Need to Reach the Next Level
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a young and increasingly entrepreneurial population. As Ahunna Eziakonwa at UNDP and Eleni Gabre-Madhin at blueMoon explain, many youth-led African startups are repurposing their businesses or launching new operations to address COVID-19. They profile some of these young innovators, and lay out four ways the global development community can support them.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Investing
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The Blind Spot in Africa’s COVID-19 Response: Western Public Health Tactics Won’t Work – This Local Solution Might
The COVID-19 pandemic is primed to spread in Africa, and with just one doctor per 5,000 people, a major outbreak would overwhelm the continent’s health care systems. But as Anatole Manzi at Partners In Health points out, tactics like social distancing and hand-washing are not feasible in crowded slums and areas without clean water. He proposes a home-grown solution: training young people as community health workers.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Formal Insurance for Informal Labor: How Microinsurance Can Cover Young Workers in the Gig Economy
The gig economy is a growing source of employment for youth in emerging markets. But these workers often face a lack of social benefits, including access to insurance – and this vulnerability has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts at MSC discuss some innovative ways insurers can extend some of the formal economy's protections to these informal workers.
- Categories
- Finance
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Africa’s Youth Employment During a COVID-19 Recession: We Must Innovate to Achieve a Job-Rich Recovery
As COVID-19 ravages the global economy, how can we protect existing jobs and quickly produce new ones – especially in markets like Africa, where youth unemployment was already high? According to Stephen Hunt and Neil Fleming at the Challenges Group, tackling this issue will require the development sector to innovate – and recognize that some of its favored approaches aren't working.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship
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If Given $100, Half of Young Africans Would Use It to Start a Business, Survey Says
Social entrepreneurship was also a popular theme among young people in Africa, according to the survey, with 63% saying that their idea for a business or social enterprise would benefit those living in their community.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Afro-Optimism’ on the Rise Among Continent’s Youth, Finds Survey
Ivor Ichikowitz, chairman of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey, said the results “are a loud wake-up call to all the Afro-sceptics”.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Samasource CEO Leila Janah passes away at 37
Leila Janah, a serial entrepreneur who was the CEO and founder of machine learning training data company Samasource, passed away at the age of 37 due to complications from Epithelioid Sarcoma, a form of cancer, according to a statement from the company. She focused her career on social and ethical entrepreneurship with the goal of ending global poverty, founding three distinct organizations over her career spanning the for-profit and non-profit worlds.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Tackling Africa’s Youth Employment Challenge: Can Social Enterprise Play a Role?
Social enterprise is becoming an increasingly popular business model in Africa – a clear sign that the continent is gradually shifting from aid-led solutions to enterprise-led solutions. Yet despite their potential, social enterprise markets and ecosystems remain in their infancy, says Stephen Hunt at the Challenges Group. He explores how social enterprise can address one of Africa’s key development challenges: employment and job creation for young people.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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