NextBillion - A WDI Publication

The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development

Learning from Experience

The DCED is a forum for learning about the most effective ways to create inclusive and resilient economic opportunities – aligned with the SDGs and grounded in practical experience in Private Sector Development (PSD).

This website is the leading knowledge hub on all aspects of PSD.

Conplus Meeting invites researchers, engineers, scholars, and professionals from the world to participate in the International Conference on Sensors and Sensing Technology (ICSST2026), to be held in Florence, Italy from June 15 – 17, 2026.

The African continent’s largest and most influential connectivity event. Join influential global business leaders and African policymakers at the event that sets the agenda for the next 12 months and beyond.

88% of attendees at last year’s event discovered new and valuable business contacts. All sub-regions of Africa gathered at one event.

Huge international presence with high-level attendees from 94 countries and territories represented last year.

This year, fintech and security each get a dedicated summit following MWC’s increased focus on verticals. Other summits include 5G and GSMA Open Gateway.

2025 sees the addition of the Ministerial Programme – a platform for high-level discussions on socio-economic development through mobile technologies and the impact of our industries on the UN SDGs.
Discover the showfloor packed with new technologies, products and solutions that address today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

The Summit will be graced by Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Hon’ble Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Government of India, and various other dignitaries.

At a time when India is working to build a self-reliant battery ecosystem, this Summit will bring together policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, startups, financiers, and other ecosystem stakeholders to shape the next phase of India’s clean technology transition.

Hosted by Battery360 in partnership with WRI India, ARCI, the Critical Minerals Association (CMA), and the Net-Zero Energy Transition Association (NETRA), the Summit will explore key opportunities and challenges across India’s battery value chain, including battery manufacturing, critical minerals, production technologies, recycling and circularity, reverse logistics, end-of-life systems.

Click here for the agenda

Time: 09:30 AM – 05:30 PM in New Delhi

Extreme heat is one of the fastest-growing risks for cities and communities, with the greatest impacts often felt by low-income households, informal settlements and people with limited access to safe cooling.

Cool Talks spotlight innovative solutions, policies, and partnerships across the sustainable cooling landscape. From passive cooling and refrigerants to finance, technology, and just access, each session brings together global experts to exchange knowledge, inspire action, and accelerate progress toward a cooler, more resilient future.

This UNEP Cool Talk will explore findings from new research led by University of Michigan in Brazil, Colombia and Burkina Faso about how passive cooling interventions can reduce indoor heat exposure in vulnerable settlements. Taking place shortly after Heat Action Day and World Environment Day 2026, the discussion will connect evidence on indoor heat with practical city and community action, from housing improvements and passive cooling to urban planning, heat governance and implementation through Beat the Heat.

Speakers:

Ekta Jhaveri – Moderator & Program Manager, Climate-Health William Davidson Institute

Eva Gurría – Partnerships and External Relations, NBSAP Accelerator Partnership

Aynur Kadihasanoglu – Senior Urban Specialist, Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre

Elsa Lefèvre – Programme Management Officer, Subnational Climate Action·United Nations Environment Programme

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker – Associate Professor, Urban Planning·University of Michigan

Julian Constantino Carvajal – Legal Consultant, Unidad Administrativa Especial de Servicios Públicos

Gabriel Harp – Director of Research and Creative Practice Development·University of Michigan

Access the agenda here.

Time: 15:00 – 16:00 CEST / 09:00 – 10:00 AM ET

Register Here

World Agri-Tech’s South America Summit spotlights the vast potential the region holds in scaling innovation and driving the global transition to sustainable and climate-smart farming practices.

With a regional content focus and international delegation, the summit offers a platform for sharing best practice, making new connections, and forming long-lasting business relationships.

The African Youth SDGs Summit is Africa’s largest youth forum on the Sustainable Development Goals. Launched in 2017, the Summit has evolved to bring together a multi-sector coalition of youth, development experts, government and UN entities, NGOs and the private sector to create the Africa we want together.

Once again, the African Youth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit will be held both virtually and physically. We look forward to welcoming participants across Africa and around the world to connect and participate virtually, alongside a limited, in-person gathering of participants in Accra,Ghana.

Connect, network, and learn from a pan-African audience and contribute to an inspiring and constructive debate on the role of youth in the SDGs. Africa’s future is ours if we reach for it together. Are you in?