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Yunus Was Right — Credit is Indeed a Human Right, and Savings is Important Too: Why the Microfinance Sector Must Avoid the ‘Circular Firing Squad’ and Promote Multiple Approaches to Financial Inclusion
August 31, 2023

Yunus Was Right — Credit is Indeed a Human Right, and Savings is Important Too: Why the Microfinance Sector Must Avoid the ‘Circular Firing Squad’ and Promote Multiple Approaches to Financial Inclusion

Alex Counts, financial inclusion pioneer and founder of Grameen Foundation, took issue with Jeffrey Ashe’s recent NextBillion article, “Yunus Was Wrong—Savings, Not Credit, is a Human Right.” He argues that, instead of seeing the world through an “either/or” lens, the financial inclusion sector should embrace multiple tools, including credit, savings, insurance and more — and he urges today's changemakers to avoid promoting one social innovation at the expense of others.
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Closing the ‘Subjective Impact Gap’: How Social Enterprises Can Motivate and Retain Talent by Overcoming Doubts About Their Impact
August 28, 2023

Closing the ‘Subjective Impact Gap’: How Social Enterprises Can Motivate and Retain Talent by Overcoming Doubts About Their Impact

Social enterprises often struggle to recruit a skilled workforce, leading many to attract workers by promising a rewarding job that makes a difference. But as Andreana Drencheva at King’s College London explains, workers don't always experience this sense of positive impact — something she terms the "subjective impact gap." She explores how this issue can affect staff morale, recruitment and retention, and shares five ways social enterprises can address it.
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Sweeter Prospects for Cocoa Farmers: A Recent Study Shows How Formal Land Rights Improve the Financial Outlook for Smallholders in Cote d’Ivoire
August 25, 2023

Sweeter Prospects for Cocoa Farmers: A Recent Study Shows How Formal Land Rights Improve the Financial Outlook for Smallholders in Cote d’Ivoire

Cocoa is one of the world’s most prized foods, but the smallholder farmers who produce it typically live in poverty and often lack formal rights to the land they're farming. Scott Graham and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA International explore how a partnership between global chocolate companies and other industry and development sector players is strengthening farmers' property rights in Cote d’Ivoire — the source of 45% of the world’s cocoa — thereby aiming to improve their financial health and resilience.
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Navigating the Customer Engagement Cycle in the World’s ‘Mobile-Only’ Continent: How to Reach African Customers in a Shifting Online Landscape
August 22, 2023

Navigating the Customer Engagement Cycle in the World’s ‘Mobile-Only’ Continent: How to Reach African Customers in a Shifting Online Landscape

Customer engagement has evolved over the years, as businesses' focus has shifted from continually acquiring new customers, to building long-term relationships with existing ones. But as Ayodeji Balogun at Terragon explains, businesses in Africa often struggle to foster this long-term engagement due to the complex nuances of the market — including the unique ways customers use digital tools. He explores how businesses can leverage mobile technology to optimize customer engagement in Africa, while navigating the market’s specific needs and challenges.
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The Jobtech Landscape in Africa: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities in a Critical Sector
August 17, 2023

The Jobtech Landscape in Africa: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities in a Critical Sector

What really is the future of work in Africa? Michelle Hassan at BFA Global, and Chris Maclay and Bethany Hou at the Jobtech Alliance argue that it will be driven by the growing use of technology to enable, facilitate or improve people’s work opportunities, productivity and livelihoods — an emerging sector that’s collectively known as “jobtech.” They share new insights into the key players, business models, trends and opportunities across Africa's jobtech industry.
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Yunus Was Wrong — Savings, Not Credit, is a Human Right: Here’s How the Financial Inclusion Sector Can Shift its Focus
August 14, 2023

Yunus Was Wrong — Savings, Not Credit, is a Human Right: Here’s How the Financial Inclusion Sector Can Shift its Focus

After playing a key role in the early development of the microfinance sector, Jeffrey Ashe went to Bosnia in the mid-1990s to consult on a new microfinance project. In those days, microcredit was widely viewed as a silver bullet that could end poverty, but while working in Bosnia, he learned that informal savings groups were already providing an effective alternative to formal loans in the local community. Ashe has spent the subsequent decades studying and supporting savings groups in countries around the world. He shares research that illuminates these groups' vast global impact, and argues that they could achieve far more if the financial inclusion sector supported them.
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The Global Digital Health Monitor: A New Resource Advances the Digital Transformation of Global Health Systems
August 3, 2023

The Global Digital Health Monitor: A New Resource Advances the Digital Transformation of Global Health Systems

COVID-19 catalyzed the scaling of a variety of digital health interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). But as Patricia Mechael at HealthEnabled points out, this has not translated into the sustained digital transformation of healthcare in many of these markets. As broader technological advancements create a strong enabling environment for digital health in LMICs, she explores how a new resource, the Global Digital Health Monitor, can help these countries strategically advance their digital health transformation.
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The Sleeping Giants of the Green Economy: New Research in India and Kenya Shows How Small Businesses Can Lead the Way in Addressing Climate Change
July 25, 2023

The Sleeping Giants of the Green Economy: New Research in India and Kenya Shows How Small Businesses Can Lead the Way in Addressing Climate Change

Given the scope of the climate crisis, and the extent to which the private sector is contributing to it, it's clear that businesses must play a central role in the global response. Abigayle Davidson at ANDE and Patrick Obonyo at IKEA Foundation argue that small and growing businesses (SGBs) are critical yet underutilized drivers of innovative solutions to the world’s growing climate-related challenges. They share new research from ANDE that explores SGBs’ role in advancing the green economy in India and Kenya.
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As an open forum for development through enterprise, NextBillion’s original content consists of guest-written articles contributed by entrepreneurs, executives, researchers and others working in emerging markets business. Guest writers can publish up to four articles per year, free of charge. If you’d like to discuss a potential guest article, contact our editors.

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