Supporting Jobs In Dhaka
“My father was sick and I had to support the family. I have a younger brother and sister who go to school.” Rupa Sewing Operator, Ananta Apparels HAVING A JOB When Rupa’s father fell ill, she found she had to earn an income to support the family to supplement the income earned from her father’s […]
Supporting Rural Employment
BACKGROUND Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with over 70% of its population living below the poverty line. It is also ranked 163 out of 189 on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, making it even harder for businesses to flourish and drive economic growth. The lychee industry is a […]
Vehicle Finance For Entrepreneurs That Can't Access Bank Loans
By CDC Lalu Ram bought a tractor for US$8000 with a loan from Au Financiers, a non-bank finance company based locally in Jaipur. Farmers like Lalu Ram would find it almost impossible to obtain a loan from a ‘traditional’ bank as they often do not have the proper documentation.With the use of a tractor, Lalu […]
Vehicle Finance For Entrepreneurs That Can’t Access Bank Loans
By CDC Lalu Ram bought a tractor for US$8000 with a loan from Au Financiers, a non-bank finance company based locally in Jaipur. Farmers like Lalu Ram would find it almost impossible to obtain a loan from a ‘traditional’ bank as they often do not have the proper documentation.With the use of a tractor, Lalu […]
Linking Small Holder Farmers in Africa to Global Consumers
The first investment made by CDC’s new equity investment team was made in the autumn of 2012 when CDC provided US$32.5m to the founders of Export Trading Group (ETG). ETG is an African agribusiness with operations in crop buying, warehousing, distribution and merchandising that employs over 7,000 people. THE FIRST EQUITY INVESTMENT UNDER NEW STRATEGY […]
Job Creation In Kenya
“Now I have a steady income there is no hassle of meeting my financial obligations to the family or to dependents. In Africa, if you have a job, you usually have a lot of dependents, not only your family.” Christopher Wangul has been working at Athi Steel for more than 14 years. HAVING A JOB […]
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, […]
Inspiring a New Generation of Intrapreneurs
Photo Credit*: Tim Maynard/VSO July 7th 2014: Public debate on the role of the private sector in poverty alleviation is longstanding, but there is no doubt that the lines between the private, public and non-profit sectors are becoming more blurred. Recently, Gib Bulloch, Executive Director of Accenture Development Partnerships, blogged on the Huffington Post about […]
Growing Responsibly: Olam's Corporate Purpose
By Sunny Verghese, CEO and Group Managing Director of Olam International There’s a temptation for companies entering milestone years, as we just have with our 25th anniversary, to lionise past achievements and eulogise key milestones. We’ll certainly and justifiably be doing some of that. But to only do that would be to miss the point. […]
Growing Responsibly: Olam’s Corporate Purpose
By Sunny Verghese, CEO and Group Managing Director of Olam International There’s a temptation for companies entering milestone years, as we just have with our 25th anniversary, to lionise past achievements and eulogise key milestones. We’ll certainly and justifiably be doing some of that. But to only do that would be to miss the point. […]
Lighting Rural Communities in Africa and Asia
Panasonic Corporation, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) today with a commitment to improve the quality of life for the people in Africa and Asia by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing greater access to energy. The company plans to provide one million solar lanterns as a […]
How Can Markets Identify The Better Farmers?
The answer to this question is not trivial. In fact, it might mean the difference between a healthy, vital and sustainable agricultural sector and a poor, desperate and very unsustainable one. Ashoka Fellow Lucas Simons explains. In the next 40 years we need to almost double our food production to feed our fast growing world […]
Intensifying Mobile Money Usage
Despite the usual protestations that their country is not like Kenya, that they are not as dominant as mobile operator Safaricom is in its home market, and that their regulator is not as flexible as the Kenyan one has proven to be, most mobile money providers that I have seen largely follow the early M-PESA […]
Can Good Research Promote More Investment In Nutrition?
The nutrition sector is at a critical point in its development. Scientists and economists are in agreement nutrition is critical to good health and economic growth. New platforms like the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, have seen more than 50 national governments develop nutrition strategies, and new pledges to nutrition were announced at the Nutrition […]
Milk For Sale Not Just Survival
I never thought I could become consumed by the size of a plastic bag of milk, but it was a huge part of my life during the 2 years I spent in Mzuzu, Northern Malawi. The Mpoto Dairy Farmers’ Association (MDFA) became my home community while I volunteered as their marketing advisor and I still […]
Bouygues UK – Emergency Architect Partnership
Bouygues UK send volunteers to work with Emergency Architects in Haiti using their skills to help local people rebuild services and their lives. Social impacts Bouygues has assessed and evaluated work needed on 3,360 homes, re-housed 1,378 families and refurbished 15 community centres. It also refurbished ten health centres, giving 574,500 people access to healthcare. […]
Shell – Relief & Rehabilitation For Haiyan Victims
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, Shell mobilised immediately to provide relief and support long-term rehabilitation of the affected communities. Social impacts $3.5 million in funding and in-kind support provided immediate assistance for basic necessities (water, food, medicine, shelter), as well as sustainable livelihood opportunities, access to energy, environmental protection and community redevelopment programmes. Regional […]
Shell – Relief & Rehabilitation For Haiyan Victims
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, Shell mobilised immediately to provide relief and support long-term rehabilitation of the affected communities. Social impacts $3.5 million in funding and in-kind support provided immediate assistance for basic necessities (water, food, medicine, shelter), as well as sustainable livelihood opportunities, access to energy, environmental protection and community redevelopment programmes. Regional […]
Allen & Overy LLP – Mitigating The Impact Of Disasters
Allen & Overy has developed a suite of legal tools which countries can use to deal with issues that arise in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Social impacts Allen and Overy’s resources have been used by policymakers in Afghanistan, Argentina, Botswana, Cook Islands, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Pakistan, […]
Allen & Overy LLP – Mitigating The Impact Of Disasters
Allen & Overy has developed a suite of legal tools which countries can use to deal with issues that arise in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Social impacts Allen and Overy’s resources have been used by policymakers in Afghanistan, Argentina, Botswana, Cook Islands, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Pakistan, […]