Great article in Jakarta Globe on how a new mobile startup Ruma is helping to increase income for thousands of poor women in Indonesia through business transactions they are performing on their mobile (cell) phones. Ruma is creating a supplemental income opportunity for agents in rural districts of Indonesia using the mobile phone that they… Continue reading Increasing BOP income through mobile phones
Matt Bishop of The Economist recently interviewed prolific inventor and global poverty innovator Paul Polak about his views on how best to reduce poverty on a large scale for base-of-pyramid (BOP) populations (< $2/day PPP income). A few highlights on Paul’s comments from the below video interview: We will not make a meaningful impact on… Continue reading BOP-focused businesses need to reach 100 million customers
Walt Ratterman died during the earthquake in Haiti. “He has personally brought light to thousands of people around the world.” Read about his work and see pictures
Norman Borlaug, aged 95, died this past Saturday. In 1999, the Atlantic Monthly estimated that his efforts (along with the people he trained and institutes he founded) had saved more than one billion lives … almost all in developing countries. [Thanks to Gregg Easterbrook who posted op-ed piece today.] You’re probably asking … what the… Continue reading The man who saved 1 billion lives
Congratulations to VillageReach for leading the successful fundraise of $1.4M from Oasis Capital, here a European social venture fund to expand their African social business, Vidagas. I have previously written about Vidagas and how they have innovatively developed a commercial business to become the largest distributor of propane gas in northern (mostly rural) Mozambique. Seattle… Continue reading Vidagas raised $1.4M for social business
I was introduced recently to VillageReach, an innovative non-profit headquartered in Seattle which is focused on addressing one of the largest issues in healthcare delivery systems in emerging countries … delivery to the local clinic. Most of us in developed countries just assume that the pharmacy/clinic will have the medicine when you need it. You… Continue reading Going the last mile to save lives
One of the key metrics tracked closely by microfinance institutions (MFIs) is the percent of the loan portfolio at risk (PAR) after 30 days. That is, what % of the loans outstanding are in arrears more than 30 days. This is viewed as an important indicator of the “health” of a loan portfolio and the… Continue reading Zero defaults not good for innovation
Photo by me of rural microfinance center meeting near Bangalore, India in September 2007. The gentleman in the middle is the loan officer from Grameen Koota MFI. The woman to his right is the elected center leader for this group of 30 women. The others were part of our Unitus Partner Expedition trip which my… Continue reading Increasing Microfinance Productivity
Defeat Poverty 