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A Chinese company has developed the first computer costing around 1,000 yuan (125 U.S. dollars) using a Chinese-made Godson II CPU, and plans to put the computers into industrial production in June.
--Could you give a couple of examples of recent innovations that you feel are really exciting?
Calvert Foundation announced today that it invested a total of $1 million during the first quarter of 2006 in Davis, California-based MicroCredit Enterprises (MCE), a not-for-profit, anti- poverty business venture that leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to people -- mostly women -- living in extreme poverty in developing countries. The microloans promoted by MCE are provided at low rates that avoid the crippling costs and heightened risk of failure that result from the predatory loan rates of 35-40 percent that typically are forced on women entrepreneurs in such circumstances.
The investments in MCE were part of $3 million in total disbursements from the Calvert Foundation in the first quarter.
Calvert Foundation Executive Director Shari Berenbach said: "Support for more -- and more affordable -- microloans to women in developing nations is an important way that our investors can channel Community Investments to lift whole communities out of poverty. Women in too many nations remain underserved by conventional banking channels, even though micro-enterprise and small business growth is essential for economic stability of families, communities and entire nations. In addition to our support during the first quarter for MicroCredit Enterprises, we also continued to strengthen our domestic portfolio by directing close to $750,000 to help build affordable homes and finance small businesses across the U.S."
MicroCredit Enterprises CEO Jonathan C. Lewis said: "The affordable capital we are able to secure through Calvert Foundation's investment enables us to reach a wider range of clients. The impoverished loan recipients we serve generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans, they create and build home-based businesses. MicroCredit Enterprises is deeply committed to reaching microfinance institutions in developing countries that serve poorer, more rural, more isolated women and their children. Typically, these are individuals struggling to get by on a $1.00 per day or less."
In addition to the $1 million directed to MicroCredit Enterprises, the following Calvert Foundation investments also were made during the first quarter: MI-BOSPO ($250,000, providing microloans for Bosnian women recovering from the conflict there in the 1990s); OikoCredit ($326,396, for international microcredit initiatives); Montana Community Development Corporation ($200,000, for support of small business loans in this rural state); Latin America Challenge Investment Fund, SA - LACIF ($600,000, for microfinance support); Equal Exchange, Inc. ($200,000, to a coffee company that helps fair trade coffee farmers by purchasing directly from farmers and eliminating the middlemen, thereby securing higher wages for the farmers); and McAllen Affordable Homes, Inc. ($500,000, for low-income housing in the Texas border area).
The organizations that Calvert Foundation's investors support range from coffee cooperatives and affordable housing developers to international microfinance intermediaries.
Calvert Foundation channels community investment capital on behalf of over 2,400 individual investors who purchase Community Investment Notes. These investors create significant social impact with their investments while receiving a fixed return of their choice, between 0-3% depending on term. Investments are professionally managed to deliver high social impact and protect investors from loss through rigorous screening portfolio diversification and credit enhancements.
Cross-sector partnerships – such as those between business and non-governmental organisations, or business and government – are an increasingly popular way for companies to contribute to society.
But making partnerships work can be difficult. Establishing clear rules of engagement and building trust is often a problem.
CSR offers a middle way; a sustainable path between unbridled capitalism with its mixed consequences on the one hand and rigidly regulated economies plagued with artificial and stifling limitations on the other, argue David Chandler and William B. Werther, Jr.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents nothing less than a debate about the future of our society.
Future Capital, a majority-owned company of Pantaloon Retail, is chalking out a massive foray in the next few months into the manufacture and retailing of financial products, based roughly on a Latin American model.
Termed ‘Project Moneybazaar’, the format will focus on tapping the middle and mass end of the consumption market with a retail credit plan that will offer everything from credit cards, auto and consumer durable finance, mutual funds, insurance, money transfer, financial planning, microfinance and mortgages.
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The research for the project is being undertaken by Rupa Purushottaman who will combine anthropology and economics by mapping cultural consumption trends and behaviour and suggest different strategies for different cities. For instance, the company is planning specialised kiosks to tap the urban poor, in places such as Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum.
“Our focus is on creating a capacity to consume and will be based on the proprietary data derived from our daily interaction with the consumer. Offering bundled pricing for consumers who should be extremely comfortable walking into our formats should not be intimidated by any purchase plan. It is a progressive model and will be consumer-oriented and not product-oriented like the current range of financial products available,” said Samir Sain, CEO of Future Capital.
Continue reading Future Capital to Foray Into Retail of Financial Products
(Via MicroCapital)
Sub-Saharan Africa
A pregnant woman at home alone in her remote village in Sierra Leone unexpectedly went into a difficult labor and, with no access to a doctor or medical facilities, a minor medical emergency could have taken a tragic turn.
Sesay's story was recounted in an interview on Wednesday with Celtel's chairman, Mohamed Ibrahim, who said, "You cannot underestimate the effect a cellphone can have on the lives of people who live in conditions where there are no roads, no transport networks and no postal service."
It has taken an extraordinarily long time to get this far, when in the late 80s and 90s it was only Mobitel that provided the mobile phone facility, which only the rich could afford. With Areeba coming aboard, the pricing of mobile phone services out of the reach of many people continued. Think of this. Just two years ago, One Touch chips were going for 1.2 million cedis (USD $129). One needed a letter of introduction and prayers to be able to secure a One Touch chip. Today all one needs is 30,000 cedis (USD $3.4) to buy a One Touch chip by the roadside.
ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, today announced the creation of Columbia Microcrédito, partnering with Argentina’s Banco Columbia to deliver financial services to the country’s entrepreneurial poor.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Celtel International BV, Africa's third-largest mobile-services provider, has agreed to buy 65% of Nigeria's Vmobile for just over $1 billion, Celtel's Kuwaiti parent said.
