Youth Innovations for Employment in Africa
“As an entrepreneur, there is the tendency to think that money is what gets things done,” said Olumide Adeleye, the founder of the Twim Academy in Ibadan, Nigeria, a school of media and creative arts. He has a different take on what’s required when starting a business—he launched his as a first-year college student, with […]
Young People Addressing Youth Employment
Ashoka Changemaker African business and political leaders, including Zambia Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda, have described Africa’s youth employment challenge as a “ticking time bomb.” The deepening gap between young people’s skills and the needs of employers has been linked to education systems that simply are not up to snuff, but also to a general lack […]
Three Ways Businesses Can Boost Sustainable Development
What does a procurement manager in Managua have to do with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Or a Kenyan farmer’s mobile-phone plan with the World Economic Forum’s development discussions? When it comes to long-term development solutions – well, everything. Given the increasing involvement of the private sector in developing countries, ordinary aspects of doing business […]
How We Can Help Smallholders Feed the World
The world’s population is expected to number more than 9 billion people by 2050, and to feed them agriculture will have to grow by 60%. It’s an expansion that can only be fuelled by investment – to the tune of $83 billion. Growth generated by agriculture is up to four times more effective at reducing […]
Sport as Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls
Head, Education and Girls Programmes, Standard Chartered No single entity can address an international development challenge in isolation. Effective interventions require a suite of resources, networks, expertise, and experience, and no one institution has the human and financial capital required. The challenges girls and women face are no exception. Any sustainable, truly impactful effort to […]
New Corporate Volunteering Hub to Fight Poverty
At the recent Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, the UK Development Minister Justine Greening announced that she is backing a new volunteering initiative for businesses and the development community. The Hub, set to launch in early 2015, will be run by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Speaking during Economic Development day alongside World […]
Access to Cash Doesn’t Solve All the Problems
CARE International’s approach to SME development includes access to finance as an important element. But we also believe that it is essential to adopt a systemic view of the market system and of the socio-economic situation of the individuals and communities with whom we work. Our financial inclusion strategy includes the provision of credit, savings, […]
The Changing Face of African Innovation
Africa has great resources and untapped potential, however, the lack of funding acts as a significant barrier to entrepreneurship and innovation. In order to fully utilise our resources, we need meaningful investments to provide inclusive prosperity on the continent. The Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) 2015 is an annual competition founded by the Africa Innovation […]
Making a Better Life in Business
Mbuotidem Okorie dreamt of having his own business, but his disability forced him to beg for a living without hope of work in Nigeria. A Shell programme supporting young entrepreneurs has helped him and others achieve their ambitions. Without the use of his legs, and having no wheelchair or work, paraplegic Mbuotidem Okorie struggled to […]
Occupy, Entrepreneurship and Why Businesses Must Evolve
In September 2011 what started as a social movement in a public space at Zuccotti Park in New York City, became an opportunity for those unsatisfied with the way things were to speak out and demand change. At the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors (which, by the way, is full of activists who first […]
Improving Smallholders Farmers’ Access to Fertilizers in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa represents 10% of the total global population, yet cereal crop yields are only one-third as high as in developing Asia and one-tenth as high as in the United States. Because of such low agricultural productivity – the lowest in the world, the continent spends roughly US$35 billion a year on food imports. The […]
Participatory Market Research: New Target Group Insight
Photo Credit: Claudia Knobloch Sawing a bed in half to create bunks that will fit in a small room may seem strange at first glance, but look deeper: Furniture on offer in Brazilian stores does not meet the needs of low-income customers. As a result, these consumers either modify what’s available, or spend more money […]
Africa: The Time to Invest Is Now
The Africa of 20 years ago is not the Africa of today, and even the Africa of 10 years ago is barely recognizable. While much of the world stagnated in the last five years, the African continent experienced high economic growth and positive equity capital and trade flows. In truth, the future has never looked […]
Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement
In 2006, the Indorama Corporation acquired the Eleme Petrochemicals Company (IEPL) from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, as part of a government-led privatisation programme. Indorama is an Indonesian-based manufacturer of petrochemicals and associated downstream products that operates in 19 countries. Located just outside Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta, IEPL is a 360 hectare site, […]
Credit Suisse – Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative
Credit Suisse, through the Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative (MCBI), enable microfinance institutions to develop the people, products and processes which are needed to serve the financially excluded. Social impacts MCBI projects have trained over 13,000 microfinance industry staff and improved financial services for over 2.3 million individuals, resulting in improved livelihoods, access to health, nutrition […]
Three Ways to Bridge the Employability Gap
What are the skills needed for employability in the 21st century economy? And what innovative models are needed to deliver these skills to students? In early 2012, Results for Development Institute (R4D) embarked on a research study that examined the skills needed for employment in Africa and Asia. This two year project, funded by the […]
A Networked Approach to International Development
The ever increasing – and much delayed – focus on impact measurement in international development is leading to some hard questions about how best the industry needs to be shaped. We all know that international development needs to become more responsive to local needs, less dependent on large head offices and in short, more effective. […]
Innovation: Africa’s Great Leap Forward
In terms of innovation, Africa’s outlook is more positive than ever and the continent is leapfrogging its global counterparts in various sectors. The amplification of GDP growth in some parts of the continent (such as Nigeria) and the overall stability of African economies during the worrying economic downturn of recent years speak volumes for Africans’ […]
Voices from the South and the Post-2015 Agenda
The second Bridging the Gap for African Women in business conference was held in Kampala Uganda on 6 March 2014. The conference was part of this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations organized by the charity Let Them Help Themselves Out of Poverty and aimed to engage African Women in Business in a conversation on the […]
Mobile as a Catalyst for Learning & Skills Development
In the first of our blog series, we spoke about the fundamental benefits and impact of mobile in development. Mobile – in terms of social impact – is key to facilitating 3 essential elements: communication, action and measurement. In this article, we go more in-depth; focusing on how mobile is a catalyst for learning and […]