Moving to the City
Every second, two people move into a city. Across the world, that’s a million people every week. Many are in search of a better life but, when they arrive, what they find is not what they were expecting. The world is driven by self-interest and nowhere is this more evident than in cities. Behaviour is […]
Engaging the Private Sector in the Post-2015 Agenda
Philippe Scholtès and Tim Wall consider the new forms of partnership required to implement innovative business models that respond to commercial imperatives, while also delivering on the development front. In the last two decades, increasing economic growth rates in many developing countries have reshaped the global economy and opened up new opportunities for learning and […]
The Universe Of Education Innovation And What’s Ahead?
One year ago, our team at the Center for Education Innovations (CEI) set out to increase our understanding of the universe of education innovations serving the poor around the world. We wanted to capture the scale, scope, and impact of promising programs, policies and practices, and share our findings as a public good, so that […]
Is The Global Digital Divide Still Widening?
Three billion unique mobile subscribers? Yes, it is a huge number. To learn that another mobile SIM is activated every passing second around the world is overwhelming. And today mobile technology is the easiest entry point to the internet too. Looking at thisICT uptakewe tend to believe that the digital divide – the gap in […]
Seven Reasons To Be Optimistic About Africa
This piece originally appeared on the World Economic Forum’s blog. When I meet young Africans who have graduated from overseas universities, I am struck by their excitement for Africa. They have a vision for their countries of origin, and a passion to return to, and invest in, their homelands. This new desire for engagement is […]
Saving Lives at Birth
What does a garage mechanic from Argentina, a team of students from North Carolina, and a group of doctors in Kenya have in common? They are all pushing the boundaries of innovation to save the lives of women and newborns during their most vulnerable hours — from the time of labor to the 48 hours […]
Innovation To Promote Financial Inclusion
Having a bank account and access to banking services such as saving and borrowing is taken for granted in middle and high income countries. These services are not available in large parts of Africa, where millions of people continue to be excluded from the banking system. Kenya’s Equity Bank is helping to bridge this gap. […]
Expanding Broadband Using Wimax Technology
By CDC Nigeria, with a population of over 155m people, had been starved of extensive telecommunication services until 10 years ago when the industry was liberalised. Since then, mobile phone use has grown impressively – from just 400,000 in 2001 to over 90m GSM subscribers in June 2011 – the highest in Africa. The country […]
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. […]
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 […]