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Andy Lieberman: Social Entrepreneurs, Not Charities, Will Help the Next Billion Out of Poverty
This week the world hits 7 billion in population, just 12 years after we reached 6 billion. Virtually all of these new billion live at the so-called Base of the Pyramid -- that segment of humanity that, by virtue of economic and political circumstance, struggles to meet basic food, water and energy needs on incomes of around $2 a day. Here at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, we are confronting this problem every day and have come to the conclusion that the old ways...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Ivory Coast to Raise Profits for Cocoa Farmers
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - A major restructuring of the cocoa sector is under way in Ivory Coast, officials announced Thursday in reforms they say will give a boost to the country’s growers by guaranteeing them a minim price. Agriculture Minister Sangafowa Coulibaly said the government will create a state-controlled company in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, which will guarantee farmers 60 percent of the international cocoa price. At a news conference where he...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Should We Be Focused on Rural Areas in the Developing World?
Microfinance -- the practice of personal small loans to spur creativity in developing nations -- has well-known rural roots . Of late, I had assumed that the practice had become a city-based endeavor, in concert with other programs, targeting the world’s burgeoning urban populations. Time spent in Africa earlier in the year did not change that perception. However, after following up with community economi...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The MasterCard Foundation and MIT Partner to Support Entrepreneurship in Africa
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 27, 2011) - The MasterCard Foundation and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are pleased to announce a strategic 10-year, $21 million grant to support emerging entrepreneurs focused on Africa and developing regions. "The Legatum Center uniquely combines entrepreneurial leadership, technological innovation and grassroots development to be...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Women Lead the Way in the Struggle Against Swaziland’s HIV Crisis
Siphiwe Hlophe’s shrewd, enterprising spirit is apparent within moments of meeting her. "You work for Comic Relief?" she says. "Brilliant! I might walk away from this meeting with some money." Hlophe, a Swazi woman living with HIV, wants the money for the charity she directs, Swaziland for Positive Living (Swapol), which supports rural communities affected by HIV. Her resourcefulness is striking in a country where women are denied the right to re...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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In Famine, Vouchers Can Be Tickets to Survival
The town of Dhobley, Somalia, sits at the gateway of hell. Just west of Dhobley is the border with Kenya, and the road to Dadaab, which hosts a giant complex of refugee camps; Dhobley has become the last stop in Somalia for a growing stream of desperate, starving people in flight from famine. In Dhobley, as well, drought has ruined crops and felled cows. There is no government to help. The town is a battleground; control of Dhobley has teetered between the Shabaa...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Battling Poverty With Tiny Bits of Cash
Bishoftu - At the outskirts of this town, 45 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Aselefech Desalegn fights the flames she uses for baking enjera, Ethiopia’s staple flatbread. Like millions of poor Ethiopian women, she is also constantly battling to feed her children. In recent years her livelihood has been supplying enjera to hotels in the town. "Except for the chair you see over there, all you see in the house comes from Buusaa Gonofaa," she says, referring to t...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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GBF, LGT Venture Philanthropy Partner to Employ iCats Program
The Grassroots Business Fund (GBF), a global organization that provides investment capital and capacity building to businesses that create economic opportunities at the base of the pyramid, announces that it will be partnering with LGT Venture Philanthropy ( LGT VP ) to employ their iCats Fellowship Program. Chosen through a selective application process, iCats Fellows will be placed with GBF’s portfolio companies. Two GBF iCats Fell...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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