Land Rights Open Economic Opportunities in Cabo Verde
In Cabo Verde, tourism comprises as much as 40 percent of gross domestic product. However, a lack of conclusive information about land rights and confusion over ownership has resulted in unauthorized land sales and delays and cancellation of public and private investment projects damaging the growth potential of the island nation. Residents have been wary […]
NGO Partnerships Give Businesses the Teeth to Be Social Activists
Let’s start with the obvious: your average ice cream company doesn’t have much to say about the refugee crisis in Europe. Equally obvious: Ben & Jerry’s is not your average ice cream company. We mix activism and a social mission in with our famous chunks and swirls. And we know that to drive real change, […]
Access to Energy Through Mobile Is Changing Lives
Over the last decade, the rapid growth of the mobile industry in developing countries has surprised observers. Access to mobile has increasingly outpaced access to basic services such as energy, water and sanitation. In fact, due to the slow expansion of the traditional energy grid, 1.2 billion people around the world still live without access […]
In Solar Supply Chain, Women Entrepreneurs are Key to Reaching Remote Areas
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 600 million people don’t have access to electricity. Eighty percent of them live in rural areas that have no grid electricity. Moreover, a dispersed population makes grid expansion financially and logistically challenging. With seemingly few alternatives, the majority of the population in the region turns to fuel-based energy such as kerosene for […]
A Low-carbon Economy: Technologically Possible, Economically Attractive
Climate change is real. Pacific Islands cannot get out of the way of rising waters. Arctic maritime ecosystems cannot escape warmer waters. People often cannot flee hurricanes in time. And even someone reading the news in an armchair may find it impossible to avoid reports on how a changing climate endangers the lives of us […]
Leveraging the Power of Skillanthropy
A conversation with Marco Ambrosio, North America Growth Strategist for SapientRazorfish. Javier Guerrero of Happy Punk Panda, a Salvadoran digital media company, came to New York through Bpeace’s Fast Runner Program. His top request? To meet with the top digital agencies includingSapientRazorfish. How did SapientRazorfish become a Bpeace Host Company? Before I came to SapientRazorfish, […]
A Paradigm Shift
By Stephanie Manciagli, Specialist of International Replicas for the Poverty Stoplight at Fundación Paraguaya Since the onset of the new millennium, there have been tremendous evolutions in human welfare. During the last two decades, development theories and strategies taken by international actors have integrated lessons learned from previous decades, recycling the themes that worked and […]
How to Achieve Financial inclusion through Data-free Mobile Banking
Two billion people, or 45% of the developing world’s adult population, do not have a bank account, other financial institution or mobile-money service.[1] Financial services are the lifeblood of an economy, giving households the ability to save, invest, and protect themselves against risk. The promise of digital technologies can give more people access to financial […]
Why Tackling Violence Against Women is Your Business
The recent surfacing of numerous sexual harassment allegations—including multiple allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace—have demonstrated how much work remains to be done to create genuinely inclusive workplace around the world. Business can no longer be in any doubt about its duty to stamp out violence and harassment at work. However, if there is […]
Designing for People, Not Problems, Will Help Us Tackle the Global Sanitation Crisis
Toilets have transformed the way we live today. From health, to safety, to convenience – being able to access a toilet from the comfort of our own home no longer seems like a luxury. That’s why to many of us, World Toilet Day – which takes place this week on 19th November – may seem […]
COP23: Deforestation and Gender Responsive Solutions for Agriculture and Food Security
Interview with Kennedy Ntoso, Head of Olam Cocoa Sustainability, Ghana This week, as policymakers, development agencies and researchers descend on Bonn for COP23 to discuss climate change solutions, a special focus will be given to gender, as seen by the ‘Gender-responsive solutions in the context of climate change for agriculture and food security’ session. To […]
Partnering for Healthier Cities
Urbanisation is a global trend – with distinct opportunities or complex challenges, depending on where in the world it is taking place. Every day across Africa, economic, climatic, and political factors force migration from traditional rural dwellings to makeshift urban neighbourhoods. These urban settlements often lack access to basic water and sanitation services, leading to […]
2 Billion People Can’t See Clearly. This Business Sees the Answer.
What if I told you we had a breakthrough solution that could access untapped potential in 2.5 billion people? That it could keep people safer and help children learn better? You might envision a fancy new technology, but this magic bullet is surprisingly simple: a pair of eyeglasses. Just this month, Williams-Sonoma Inc. and Target […]
How Financial Inclusion Can Move People Out of Poverty
By Nina Nieuwoudt, Global Product Development, New Consumers Around the world this week, governments, multilaterals, and companies are coming together to celebrate Financial Inclusion Week. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the progress that we’ve made in extending financial access to un-banked and underbanked communities, and also a time to take honest stock of how […]
Ploughing the Path in a Male-dominated Turf
Husnaara ran to her house smiling from ear to ear as if she could not get any happier. At that point nothing seemed impossible; she could become a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer, go to a good university. She could not wait to give her father the news about her Secondary School Certificate results […]
Food Processing as the Missing Link in Africa’s Value Chains
In 1998, Pauline Kamau started her maize-milling business with a few machines in her mother-in-law’s basement in Kenya. Soon, the business grew to fill a small factory. She hoped to supply her community with high-quality maize flour, which is the local staple food, but demand outstripped her production capacity: “It was a good problem when […]
Power Sector Reforms Spur Private-Sector Participation
Image above: Ivy Namasani makes a dress in her tailoring shop in downtown Blantyre, Malawi. Her store suffers from frequent power blackouts that hamper her ability to do business. As part of the Malawi Compact, MCC is supporting the Government of Malawi in its efforts to strengthen the country’s power sector and deliver reliable electricity […]
Good Nutrition Should Be Everybody’s Business
Good nutrition should be everybody’s business. That was the message that was echoed through the side meetings during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. At the inaugural ‘Goalkeepers’ event, hosted by Bill and Melinda Gates in New York during UNGA week, the challenge was extended to us all to track the progress we have made […]
Want to Change the World? Allow the Private Sector to Do What it Does Best
For the past week, the world has watched as heads of state and global business leaders convened in New York City for the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. The agenda was far from light. Topics ranged from food security to climate change to the refugee crisis to healthcare. The task at hand – achieving the […]
From Digital Divide to Inclusion: How to Make Digital Finance Work for India’s Women
Often heralded as a panacea for financial inclusion, digital financial services could exacerbate the gender divide, unless there is a concerted effort to develop women-friendly products and channels. Despite recent successes in India’s financial inclusion journey, Indian women still cannot access bank accounts, loans, and other financial services as easily as men. In 2015, only […]