Overcoming Barriers to Internet Connectivity
The Business Call to Action interviews Abdullah Orkun Kaya, CEO of TTNET TTNET was founded in 2006 and has become one of Turkey’s leading internet companies. The company plays a pioneering role in the communications industry with its mix of digital products and services, and also in developing responsible business models. Offering a combination of […]
Supporting Women in Business and Creating Jobs in Uganda
Photo: CDC/DFCU BACKGROUND Accessing finance is a problem that many women face in Uganda. With property passing from male to male, women struggle to offer collateral to lenders. A study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) found that only 9 per cent of commercial credit in Uganda goes to women. However, nearly 40 per cent […]
50 Years of Backing SMEs and Creating Jobs in Uganda
Photo: CDC/DFCU “Fifty years is not a short time by any means, but CDC has stuck with DFCU for 50 years. Even through the difficult times they’ve been with us. This is very important, for us to have a long-term shareholder who is committed and dedicated to the growth of DFCU, and who believes in […]
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 […]
Once A Victim, Then A Survivor, Now an Entrepreneur
I often recount that when I started HERA France I incorrectly believed that I did not know a single woman around me who had been a victim of violence. Now I can firmly say I know many. And I am not speaking of the women who are enrolled in my program, but of the countless […]
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 […]
Easing the Economic Cost of Malaria – With a Vaccine
The interplay between health and economics is unavoidable, particularly when it comes to the impact of malaria on sub-Saharan Africa. Not only does malaria carry a heavy human cost, but it has a heavy economic burden too. Malaria claims around 600,000 lives a year, mostly young children in Africa. This is devastating for families and […]
The Direct Impact of Microfinance
Would you invest in a business if you knew it could make 210% net profit in less than 12 months? When staff at Friska, a small business based in Bristol, decided to provide a loan of £140 via Deki to Lydia Nyirongo in Malawi, they believed the loan would help Lydia change her life. What […]
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 […]
Employee Volunteerism Ignites Social Innovation At GSK
Photo: Lisa Kenyon, PULSE Volunteer at AMREF- Kenya By Ahsiya Posner Mencin, Ph.D. Director, PULSE Volunteer Partnership How do you capture the fresh insights and ideas that about 100 high-performing GSK employees develop each year as a result of their PULSE assignments? This is a question that the PULSE Team and I have asked ourselves […]
Selling Sanitary Toilets To The Rural Poor
In our imperfect world, many people live in market systems that are broken – they don’t provide access to the basic things people need to live. iDE is a mechanic of broken markets. We try to look at every component of the market system to see how it can run better to benefit the individual. […]
Improving Healthcare Access in Developing Nations
Outside Kenya’s capital Nairobi lies the small farming town of Embu, which is filled with roadside stalls where farmers sell their mango, potato and rice crops. This remote region, nestled near the hills of Mount Kenya, is the setting for the second phase of the Familia Nawiri (Healthy Family) initiative, one example of a Novartis […]
Going The Extra Mile For Health
In the distant corners of Africa, entrepreneurs deliver goods and services across bumpy roads, crossing brimming rivers and rickety bridges, climbing steep hills and descending treacherous valleys. It is a classic story of conquering odds to reach the unreached. This story once inspired a potent question: If a company can deliver soft drinks to the […]
A Nation’s Coming Of Age: Malawi At 50
Last month was a very significant one for the country known as Africa’s ‘Warm Heart’. Fifty years on from the birth of Malawi’s independence, July provided a poignant moment to evaluate the progress that’s been made across the past five decades. But the anniversary is an equally important time to take stock of the challenges […]
No Smoke Without Fire!
What happens when an engineer meets a climate change expert ? This is the story of One Earth Designs, a social enterprise that develops sustainable solutions responding to the need of the rural communities in the Himalayas. The Global Alliance for Clean Stoves states that “exposure to smoke from traditional stoves and open fires – […]
From 'Poor' To Customer
Today, communities in rural India are still viewed as “poor” and not as customers. Ajaita Shah, founder of Frontier Markets, has decided to transform that vision. With Frontier Markets, she offers sustainable and clean energy products to the Bottom of the Pyramid. After working in micro-finance, Ajaita Shah started questioning the traditional approach to servicing […]
From ‘Poor’ To Customer
Today, communities in rural India are still viewed as “poor” and not as customers. Ajaita Shah, founder of Frontier Markets, has decided to transform that vision. With Frontier Markets, she offers sustainable and clean energy products to the Bottom of the Pyramid. After working in micro-finance, Ajaita Shah started questioning the traditional approach to servicing […]
Bridging The Skills Gap
Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Education is also the strongest tool to lift people out of poverty. The founders of Avanti, a social venture based out of India, are working to bridge the skills gap and empower millions of children to transform […]
Making Health Care Possible in the Most Impossible Place
Possible Health is a non-profit tackling the issue of health care in a very challenging environment. Based in a rural area of Nepal, Possible Health’s mission is to prove that it is possible to deliver high quality health care services at a very low cost. Mark Arnoldy, 27, founder of Possible Health, is a serial […]
The Benefits of Localisation
By CDC In West Africa, the name Vlisco evokes heritage, quality and individuality. Established more than 160 years ago, the Vlisco Group’s textiles are at the heart of fashion in West and Central Africa. The company designs, manufactures and distributes 70 million yards of branded fabrics annually through its operations and retail presence in Côte […]