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Corporate Watch recently released a provocative report on the upcoming G8 summit to be held in Scotland this July. The G8 has had some important things to say about development and the role of private enterprise, especially in Africa under the UK's presidency. The report, Bringing the G8 Home, puts some important issues on the table such as ecological health, social justice, and transparency -

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Last night, I attended a panel session co-organized by the UN Foundation and Vodafone, the huge multinational telco based in the UK but active worldwide. The session highlighted a report recently released by Vodafone entitled, Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones. At the session, the report's authors discussed the impact of mobile telephony (a huge business) on development. Len Waverman, Chair of the Economics Department at London Business School, conducted an econometric study showing that mobile phone systems have a positive effect on economic growth - and that this effect is twice as strong in developing countries. The report also includes work by Diane Coyle's Enlightenment Economics that demonstrates the power of mobile telephony to build social capital. All in all, it was a very interesting event, further cementing for me that mobile telephony can enable economic and social development in low-income countries. For more, read the report.

I'm currently in Kathmandu researching an innovative e-commerce company called Thamel.com.  The business allows the Nepalese diaspora to purchase gifts online that are produced and delivered locally to their relatives back home.  By doing so, all the money spent is kept in the local economy, thereby creating jobs.  The company is now about to launch a new service in partnership with a local bank, which would allow family members living abroad to secure housing and car loans, as well as a variety of insurance plans, for their relatives back home. 

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