Pharmaceuticals in East Africa
By CDC In 2010, CDC committed €12m to the AfricInvest Fund II, which in turn made a €6.8m investment in Kiboko Holdings Limited, a manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceuticals. The benefits of a thriving local pharmaceutical manufacturing sector are manifest – skilled employment, potential for lower-priced products, technology and knowledge transfer. Domestic production in Uganda, […]
Financial Inclusion: Reaching Over 1.2M People In Rural India
By CDC In India approximately 75% of poor people live in rural areas and face limited employment opportunities outside the agricultural sector*. Access to financial services will help people move out of poverty, but the geographical challenges in bringing banking to a large rural population are significant. There are currently 180 million people in India […]
Bitcoin: A Force for Positive Change?
Sex, drugs, thugs and thieves — that’s pretty much been bitcoin’s story since it arrived in 2009. But is bitcoin truly all doom and gloom? What if instead bitcoin isn’t the end of the world, but rather an opportunity for change? Bitcoin is new and it’s a little strange. It’s virtual “money” that people trade […]
GSK and Save The Children Healthcare Innovation Award
The GSK and Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award is back, do you know of an innovative solution that’s helping to save the lives of young children in developing countries? Then GSK and Save the Children want to hear about it. A year ago in Malawi, a tiny baby was born prematurely at seven months, […]
Why Impact Measurement Is Important For Your Business
I recently had the opportunity to to represent IGD on a panel titled “Transformative Technology” at the Agribusiness & Food World Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, where conversations focused on the changes that are sweeping African agriculture. My co-panelists, representing Vodafone, Standard Bank, Google Inc., Columbia University, and the International Trade Centre (ITC), highlighted […]
Mobile4Development And The Triple Bottom Line
George Soros heralds Africa as the last bright light on the economic horizon. It is boom time for companies wanting to grow their market share – and mobile is the only true mass media channel in Africa to speak of. Juxtapose the Triple Bottom Line principle and the well accepted term “doing good is good […]
Enterprise Development – Empowering Social Visionaries
“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”—the closing lines to William Ernest Henley’s 1875 poem ‘Invictus’ are indelibly inked on South Africa’s consciousness. During his incarceration on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela recited Henley’s poem to other inmates, drawing inspiration from its message of self-reliance. Today, Mandela’s example inspires […]
Australia’s Foreign Aid Program and the Private Sector
Today Julie Bishop launched Australia’s new foreign aid policy. Central to the Foreign Minister’s address at the National Press Club was her opening statement that our foreign aid program will have two main goals: human development and private sector development. Human centred development makes sense. We all understand the imperative to meet basic human needs […]
BT Group plc – International Disaster Relief
BT uses its products, services and people to help restore communications in disaster-hit areas, and via their MyDonate platform supports fundraising for the Disaster Emergency Community (DEC) and other charities. Social impacts £21.5m was raised through MyDonate to support the DEC appeal following Typhoon Haiyan. Supported fundraising by processing cash donations to the DEC and […]
UPS Humanitarian Relief Programme
UPS’ Humanitarian Relief Programme uses pre-approved funds, Logistics Emergency Teams and their own expertise and supply chains to assist disaster relief efforts around the world. Social impacts UPS made $7.5 million in humanitarian relief funding, technical support and in-kind services in 2013. 250 humanitarian shipments across 46 countries were made in 2013 and 16 weeks […]
GSK – 20% Reinvestment
Unilever International Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty 2014 – Big Tick, Shortlisted GSK has committed to reinvest 20 per cent of profits made in least developed countries (LDCs) back into those countries to develop health infrastructure through training frontline health workers. Social impacts 41 programmes in 34 LDCs across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Haiti. […]
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 […]
Development Challenges And Business Opportunities
Though the importance of the private sector role in economic growth has long been acknowledged, it is only in recent years that the full range of players and activities related to the private sector have started to be wholly embedded in development strategies and programmes. A recent major shift in the landscape of international development […]
A Guide To Working With Informal Financial Institutions
Amid the growing interest in building effective and scalable solutions to meet the financing needs of the world’s 450 million smallholder farmers, organizations rarely pay much attention to the thousands of informal financial institutions that can be found in rural communities throughout the world. Instead, discussions on ways to close the estimated $400 billion gap […]
Seeking Innovative Ideas to Improve Eye Health Globally
Do you have an innovative idea that could improve eye health worldwide? The deadline for applications for the eXcellence in Ophthalmology Vision Award (XOVA) 2014 (www.xovaprogram.org) is 30 June 2014. The XOVA is a scheme, sponsored by Alcon and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, that provides funding to support initiatives aiming to address unmet needs in eye care. […]
Taking The “Product” Out Of Product Design
Social entrepreneurs are driven by passion. We are people who have bold ideas to solve huge challenges, and have almost singular vision to the execution of our idea. Our products are our babies- we know every dimension, every line of code, or every component because we have spent many long evenings debugging, tinkering, sketching, and […]
Creating Access to Safe Drinking Water
Access to safe drinking water is a significant problem globally, with over 784 million people worldwide lacking access[1]. Waterborne disease is a leading cause of illness in developing countries, contributing to the death of approximately two million children every year. Sub Saharan Africa is the worst affected region, where 40% of the population is still […]
Maximising Impact through Co-Creation
Over 70% of Tanzania’s population, or 35 million people, lives in rural areas and faces daily problems, from water availability to lack of electricity, that could be alleviated with appropriate technology solutions; however, most technologies are designed and manufactured abroad and fail to truly address the needs of rural Tanzania for 3 main reasons: These […]
Delivering Cutting Edge Micro-Irrigation Technologies
I’m excited to share with you an inspiring private/ non-profit collaboration between Toro Irrigation, a US-based world leader in irrigation equipment design and manufacturing and International Development Enterprises, an international non-profit organisation with over 30 years of experience developing markets for agriculture products and services that benefit smallholder farmers. Through the partnership, an innovative drip […]
Improving Economic Conditions For Smallholder Farmers
Xylem’s Saajhi Stepping Pump was created to significantly enhance the daily operations of rural smallholder farmers across the globe. The Saajhi pump features self-priming diaphragm technology, small overall dimensions, a tilt and transport design, and simplified maintenance to ensure efficient use for all farmers. The design not only makes Saajhi easy to use but also […]