Financing the Missing Middle: Small Business Finance in Africa
which has established a specialised small business leasing institution in Tanzania. Madeleine was one of the winners of the G20 SME Finance Challenge. She previously worked in the UK venture capital industry, and is a former McKinsey consultant. She spoke at the recent Business Action for Africa, DFID, IDS event in London. The missing middle […]
Empowering Women through the Coca-Cola Value Chain
Photo: Regina Maria Silva Gomes, Recycling Cooperative Founder, Brazil The CSR Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School and Business Fights Poverty Release New Study of The Coca-Cola Company’s 5by20 Initiative Women’s economic empowerment is a powerful development driver. For instance, Goldman Sachs estimates that closing the gender gap in 15 high potential emerging markets could […]
Helping Women Overcome Cultural Norms to Become Innovative Entrepreneurs
With a focus in economic development in Africa, I decided to spend my summer interning with a nonprofit organization in Ghana. The organization addressed development issues from the aspect of women empowerment, by creating a global market for the goods produced by women entrepreneurs. They were seamstresses, bead makers, and batik makers; batik is an […]
Ten Education Lessons from Tunisia
g.Maarifa aims to develop human capital in emerging markets where it is usually hardest to do so. We develop customizable and interactive platforms that increase access to educational and training content via mobile phones. Our platforms: deliver content, evaluate through testing, track performance, and manage data on a range of mobile phones. I went to […]
A Unique Opportunity to Reach the Rural BoP
The significance of harvest time for farmers is not going to shock many but less obvious, perhaps, is its importance for those trying to reach the rural BOP. Through its social enterprise, SunnyMoney, SolarAid has now reached over 3 million people with pico (<10 watt) solar lights, selling over 670,000 in East Africa and eradicating […]
Education and the Global Jobs Challenge
In preparation for the recent 2013 Annual Conference and 10th Anniversary celebration, the Global Business School Network produced a research paper, putting the global employment crisis into context, titled “Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship: A Snapshot of the Global Jobs Challenge.” Employment has always been a central issue in development. In recent years we saw a […]
Transforming India's Urban Waste Management System
When India changes its urban waste management system, it matters. Ashoka Fellow Ravi Agarwal has spent the past two decades moving mountains… of rubbish. He is counting on the youth to give the final push. With global waste measured in millions of tonnes, it is easy to question whether recycling your water bottle or daily […]
Transforming India’s Urban Waste Management System
When India changes its urban waste management system, it matters. Ashoka Fellow Ravi Agarwal has spent the past two decades moving mountains… of rubbish. He is counting on the youth to give the final push. With global waste measured in millions of tonnes, it is easy to question whether recycling your water bottle or daily […]
Enterprise-Driven Innovation in South Africa
Encouraging and fostering entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as the best way to empower communities and bring about social change. Large corporations are joining in cross-sector collaborations with public bodies to support impact investment projects that accelerate social and environmental improvements. SABMiller has long placed Enterprise Development at the core of its long-term Sustainable Development strategy. […]
Celebrating Successful Impact Investment in South Africa
Enterprise Development is at the core of SABMiller’s long-term Sustainable Development strategy, helping create jobs and develop entrepreneurial skills in poor communities around the world. Encouraging Enterprise Development is a key SABMiller sustainable development priority – and well integrated into day-to-day business – for it is enterprise-driven innovation that can act as a change-maker for […]
Building Infrastructure for Under-Served Markets
Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award In just three years, Sharad Tandale has created a successful infrastructure engineering company employing 175 people and providing a range of services to meet the huge demand in the neglected and underserved small towns and rural areas of India. Sharad’s business, Innovation Engineers […]
The Future is Yours
Every day, when watching the news, we see pictures of famine and floods, droughts and demonstrations, confronting us with the effects of increasing resource scarcity, climate change, food security, civil unrest and poverty. We see the increasing numbers of people left behind. Many wonder how on earth we are going to address all these challenges. […]
Building Schools & Delivering Quality Education in China
Interview with Huaping Yang, Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award Spirited entrepreneur Huaping Yang has overcome failure to launch an education business which today enables hundreds of students to work towards achieving their goals. Chinese company Chengdu Aosite Education (AST) is a three-pronged after-school tutoring chain for students of […]
Building Schools & Delivering Quality Education in China
Interview with Huaping Yang, Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award Spirited entrepreneur Huaping Yang has overcome failure to launch an education business which today enables hundreds of students to work towards achieving their goals. Chinese company Chengdu Aosite Education (AST) is a three-pronged after-school tutoring chain for students of […]
Forging a Sustainable Future in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka’s Northern Jaffna District, a region ravaged by 30 years of war and unrest, Prinson Thuraiaiya’s unique brass foundry business (producing castings from waste metal) encompasses entrepreneurial spirit, sustainability and a positive social mission. This is Prinson’s story…. I was born into a poor family. I keenly engaged in school education hoping to […]
It's Africa's Time: Encouraging Inclusive Business Models in Africa
While Africa’s challenges are well documented, there’s an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory. And yet Africa’s wealth disparities are amongst the biggest in the world and over the long run this will undermine economic growth, productivity and the development of markets. Economic growth alone is not enough. As a result […]
It’s Africa’s Time: Encouraging Inclusive Business Models in Africa
While Africa’s challenges are well documented, there’s an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory. And yet Africa’s wealth disparities are amongst the biggest in the world and over the long run this will undermine economic growth, productivity and the development of markets. Economic growth alone is not enough. As a result […]
Project Inspire: MasterCard & UN Women Support Youth Involvement in Women Empowerment Projects
This year marks the third year since we launched Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World – a digital initiative dedicated to inspiring young people to build sustainable projects that will benefit disadvantaged women and girls in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East or Africa – together with the Singapore Committee for UN Women. Aimed at […]
Project Inspire: MasterCard & UN Women Support Youth Involvement in Women Empowerment Projects
This year marks the third year since we launched Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World – a digital initiative dedicated to inspiring young people to build sustainable projects that will benefit disadvantaged women and girls in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East or Africa – together with the Singapore Committee for UN Women. Aimed at […]
Youth Unemployment in Sierra Leone
The high rate of youth unemployment is one of the challenges the Business Booster is designed to tackle. Now that my time in Sierra Leone is almost over, having spent 10 weeks surrounded by locals at home, in the office and during my free time, and inspired by the theft of my laptop two days […]