Most Influential Articles

NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles

It’s an annual tradition at NextBillion: At the end of each year since 2012, we’ve selected 12 of our most-read articles from the previous year, inviting readers to vote for the pieces that impacted them the most. We’ve posted each year’s winners below, and we’ll update this page every year going forward. Besides providing a multitude of insights and expert analysis from a diverse group of knowledgeable guest writers, these articles also offer a window into the trends, topics and debates that have animated the emerging markets business and social enterprise sectors for the past decade.

Guest Articles

Wednesday
April 24
2

Repair Technician Rodgers Mwamba repairing a solar light, Likumbi Primary School, Kapiri Mposhi, Central Province

June 5, 2023

Repairing Electronics: A Circular Economy Solution for Reducing E-Waste and Building Resilience in Rural Africa

The accumulation of electronic waste is an increasingly urgent issue around the world. And as Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid points out, Africa is ground zero for this problem, since a significant amount of e-waste created globally is shipped to dumpsites across the continent. She explores how repairing electronic devices can help address this challenge while also boosting the local economy, as shown by a SolarAid program that's training repair technicians in Zambia and Malawi to extend the lifespan of solar devices.

Sectors:

February 6, 2023

Taking Inspiration from Innovation: Key Insights from Eight Entrepreneurs Making an Impact in Emerging Markets

Whether they're working to increase smallholder farmers’ profits, promote water or sanitation solutions, or address other key needs in emerging markets, social entrepreneurs tend to face common challenges. That's why they must learn from each other if they hope to flourish. Brigit Helms at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship shares insights from eight entrepreneurs in Miller Center’s Clean Water and Climate-Smart Agriculture program, who discuss their innovations, the challenges they’ve overcome and the lessons they’ve learned.

Sectors:

May 29, 2023

Analyzing Menstrual Health and Hygiene Through a Market-Based Lens: A New Report Assesses the Landscape in the Global South

Around the world, roughly 1.8 billion people menstruate — and over 300 million are menstruating on any given day. Yet as Lucie Klarsfeld, Jeanne Charbit and Louise Berthault at Hystra explain, menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) is an overlooked topic in global development, and there's a lack of research about the market for menstrual products in the Global South. They share findings from a new Hystra report that addresses this knowledge gap by assessing the market for MHH solutions in eight emerging economies.

Sectors:

WASH

Sectors:

January 11, 2022

Where the ‘New Formal’ is the New Normal: Lessons on Innovation from India’s Artisan Economy

In India alone, over 200 million livelihoods are linked to the artisan economy, and the sector is a key source of employment for women and other marginalized groups. But according to Priya Krishnamoorthy and Aparna Subramanyam at 200 Million Artisans and Anandana Kapur at the Harvard Kennedy School, these largely informal creative businesses face systemic bias. They discuss the reasons for this lack of support, and explore a solution that leverages the advantages of informality and formality to empower these enterprises and the communities they serve.

Sectors:

Social Enterprise

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January 17, 2022

Savings-Led Digital Finance: The Dawn of a New Era?

The digital lending market surpassed $300 billion in 2020, with significant growth among emerging markets customers who access “instant loans” from their mobile phones. But according to Philip Acton and Finn Tiedemann at DreamStart Labs Inc., there are growing concerns about the risky practices used by some of these digital lenders. They argue that one solution may come from a new generation of “savings-led” digital finance apps that use clients' savings capacity as a proxy for their ability to repay loans – a development they describe as an important milestone in digital finance.

Sectors:

November 4, 2022

Can Access to Smartphones Bridge the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Research shows that mobile phones can be a useful tool in the fight against poverty, increasing both household income and consumption. But according to Amani M’Bale at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Graham A.N. Wright at MicroSave (MSC), to reach that potential, it’s important that these phones are able to bridge the digital divide, becoming accessible to, and used by, the underserved people they can benefit the most. They share several factors that can increase — or limit — the usage of smartphones and other mobile devices in sub-Saharan Africa.

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About

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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