Fighting Poverty One Toilet at a Time
A floating latrine at Chamakpur Haati, Bangladesh. Poverty is defined in many ways, but ultimately it remains a complex social problem. It has resulted in 2.5 billion people or one in three of the world’s population being left without access to adequate sanitation. Although safe water and sanitation forms just a single facet of this […]
Eco-Entrepreneurship and the Post-2015 Agenda
The Millennium Development Goals have shaped development cooperation in the last 15 years, and there has been progress towards eliminating poverty worldwide. Nevertheless, much remains to be done. The post-2015 agenda and Sustainable Development Goals will set ambitious targets not only to end poverty, but also to promote growth and well-being for all, protect the […]
A Call for Activism Around the SDGs at WEF Africa
“The generations to come will never forgive us if we fail to take responsibility.” This was the message shared passionately by Graça Machel during an event entitled Survive, Thrive, Transform: Ensuring Citizen Engagement in the Sustainable Development Goals held on Friday 5 June alongside side the WEF Africa Forum in Cape Town. Co-convened by the […]
Climate Resilience in Action in Nepal
“I remember when I was younger the water in fish pond outside my house came up to my waist – now it is dried up” – Manbir Khadka Manbir is a smallholder farmer from Kwanga village in the Rolpa District of Nepal. He says that increasing community income is critical to combat climate change. Without […]
The Environmental Implications of the Sanitation Crisis
Four million tons of human waste per year are dumped into Kenya’s waterways from informal settlements that lack access to hygienic sanitation. This waste pollutes drinking water and spreads disease far beyond the communities generating the waste. Providing hygienic sanitation sustainably means more than setting up toilets: it requires collecting the waste efficiently and treating […]
Post-2015 Development Agenda: Platforms for Partnership
This September, world leaders will adopt a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the year 2030. Reaching these ambitious goals will require multi-stakeholder partnerships between business, NGO, government, the UN and communities to function at a scale and quality that dwarf current efforts. The question of how countries can systematically […]
The Politics of Power
Sub-Saharan Africa has a long-term need for power infrastructure. The investment need is estimated at $40bn per year – a need that has to be filled so that the region can achieve sustainable economic development as there is a clear correlation between growth and electricity use. Members of our management have operated in the independent […]
Power Africa Partnerships for Development
It is clear that Africa has a very large shortfall in its power infrastructure. Although the continent accounts for a sixth of the world’s population, it generates only 4 per cent of its electricity. As many as 600 million people are without electricity, and 30 countries face routine power shortages. This has a huge impact […]
Using Platinum to Power Off-Grid Communities
South Africa like many developing countries faces an acute power shortage. The lack of reliable access to electricity is an impediment on economic growth, investment and development. Anglo American Platinum is deeply rooted in South Africa, where much of the world’s mineable supply of platinum is found. As a mining company, we are aware of […]
Developing Sustainable Power Projects
When you look at infrastructure investments in Africa, it seems that you often see this phenomenon – the London Bus Syndrome. You wait half an hour for a bus, then three come along at once. Things come together – the financial markets are more receptive, governments move forward on projects and suddenly everything is moving. […]
The Early-Stage Bottleneck
The spotlight on the investment opportunities created by Africa’s glaring infrastructure deficit has been getting ever brighter. Due to decades of under-investment in core infrastructure sectors, demand for infrastructure now massively outstrips supply, and that demand is forecast to continue. The United Nations estimates that the population of Africa is set to more than double […]
A Problem of Delivery: How to Power a Continent
On the one hand sits an urgent need for the electrification of Africa, with power infrastructure alone requiring an estimated $27bn a year in capital investment. On the other hand sits the stark reality: only around 30 large-scale (over 40MW) grid-connected independent power projects (IPPs) are in operation across the whole of the continent. Plenty […]
Using Power to Close the Equality Gap
Dr. Mima S. Nedelcovych, President & CEO of the Initiative for Global Development Last year 1.2 billion people in the world lived without electricity, half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. A lack of reliable and accessible power often has debilitating social and economic impacts. Businesses cannot efficiently expand while hospitals and schools are unable to […]
Closing Africa’s Energy Gap
The International Energy Agency estimates that more than 620 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity. In two-thirds of sub-Saharan African countries, less than 50 per cent of the population has access to power, while the average energy consumption per capita of the region is not enough to continuously power a single 50-watt lightbulb. […]
Investing Directly in Water Resource Management
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. Water is central to The Coca-Cola Company’s business. Of course, water is the […]
Using Mobile Apps and “Big Data” to Combat Water Losses
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. As social technology becomes more prevalent, governments are looking for ways to be […]
Engaging Employees to Deliver on WASH Goals
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. In 2008, Diageo announced a slate of sustainability targets that cut across carbon […]
Addressing WASH Needs Outside the Factory
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. Supporting suppliers with initiatives and programmes that improve their operations beyond auditing is […]
Helping to Create New Toilet Businesses in India
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. As one of the world’s fastest growing emerging economies, India presents a significant […]
Creating Business Value and Development Impact in WASH
This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. This week we’ll be running a series of leadership perspectives on the theme […]