NextBillion brings together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers, and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise.
Our Staff Writers and Editors offer insights on the latest news, events, interviews and other happenings from the development through enterprise and base of the pyramid universes
October 29, 2008 — 10:52 am
At NextBillion.net, we follow the various universities leading innovation in base of the pyramid strategy and research. It gets better when this research leads to actionable, practical solutions for development. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is becoming a center of...
September 25, 2008 — 01:26 pm
American Express recently unveiled the top 25 projects selected as semi-finalists for Members Project, the online initiative that invites cardmembers and the public in general to come together and submit, discuss and vote for projects to make a positive impact on the world, which American...
August 18, 2008 — 03:05 pm
I was recently pointed to GreenMango - an interesting project and winner of the Echoing Green Fellowship. GreenMango is based out of Hyderabad and profiles small time, base-of-the-pyramid owned businesses such as plumbers, carpenters, tailors, mechanics and electricians. The data and service is...
July 10, 2008 — 02:05 pm
This is part 4 of our series reviewing Michael Edwards' Just Another Emperor and the concept of 'philanthrocapitalism', which will conclude next week with remarks from other members of the NextBillion.net team. Follow the links to read part 1, part 2 and part 3. The close-knit...
June 10, 2008 — 02:22 pm
Microfinance, in its for-profit avatar, is attracting capital, talent, blogposts - you name it - and a fair bit of criticism. So when Alex Counts, President & CEO of the Grameen Foundation proposed his vision for Reimagining Microfinance in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, he targeted...
June 6, 2008 — 12:01 pm
If you are a manager at a NextBillion enterprise, pause and ask yourself: What attracted you to development through enterprise?What attracts members of your team to this sector?It's interesting to see how employees bring diverse motivations. Understanding what drives them is key to retaining...
April 28, 2008 — 07:05 am
India's growth depends on its ability to significantly revamp its dismal education sector, which suffers from problems of outreach and quality. A recent study shows that the public education sector may be beyond saving. A possible solution comes in the form of sustainable investments in a...
April 25, 2008 — 08:51 am
In recent years, the capital markets have infused millions of dollars into the 'development sector.' While we applaud the growing interest in development through enterprise, the question arises: are there enough quality investees? Or, more simply, is too much money chasing too few...
March 25, 2008 — 11:21 am
Via NextBillion ally Reuben Abraham, I was pointed to James Surowiecki's recent article, What Microloans Miss in The New Yorker. Surowiecki points out that while microfinance does a tremendous amount of good, there are also real limits to what it can accomplish. With over $25 billions of...
March 12, 2008 — 09:57 am
Soon after we explored the role of Technology in BoP success, Derek pointed me to an interesting article in The Economist: Technology in emerging economies. The article makes a distinction between technology adoption and technology diffusion -- and argues that emerging economies are better at...
