Archive for Africa

This story originally appeared in our June 16th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

South Africa has legislated disability rights, but there is no consensus on what “disability” means. How can the country promote a more inclusive society?

In March 2010, the South African Parliament introduced the Social Assistance Amendment Bill, meant to build upon the country’s existing legislation on disability rights. Instead, it prompted a barrage of criticism from international legal channels regarding South Africa’s system of treating disability rights as a medical issue and not an inclusive social issue.

The government of South Africa had in the past drafted legislation that directly addresses disability issues, such as the Integrated National Disability Strategy in 1997, the Employment Equity Act in 1998 and the Social Assistance Act in 2004. The country’s Constitution also mandates equality for all persons with disabilities. In 2007, South Africa ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its optional protocol. But the big question is whether the country’s current set of laws supports the intent of its Constitution and the UN Convention., and whether the country is more inclusive as a result? » Continue reading “The Disability Definition”

This story originally appeared in our April 21, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Pre-paid mobile phone services are reaching markets that other technologies have not yet been able to penetrate. How can this model be leveraged in other areas of development?

For those at the bottom of the pyramid, income is not a certain entity. No fixed amount is deposited into their bank accounts – should those even exist – at the end of the month. Their income is changing—from month to month, week to week, even day to day.

Which begs the question: if a borrower’s cash flow is so uncertain, why do so many companies attempting to serve that demographic insist on fixed repayment amounts?

At least one technology, invented in the 1990s, attempted to work around that problem: pre-paid mobile services that allowed people with variable incomes and/or poor credit to use cell phones. Such consumers made an upfront payment of only as much as they could afford in return for wireless services. » Continue reading “Top Up the World”

This story originally appeared in our April 21, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Mobile money has been heralded as one way to leapfrog traditional banking for those at the bottom of the pyramid. We look at five countries that have wholeheartedly embraced the technology.

1. Kenya

Not only does Vodafone’s Safaricom serve more than 12 million through its M-PESA system, Kenya is also home to three other mobile money providers. Organizations are utilizing this technology to help women plan for pregnancy expenses and help farmers secure crop insurance. At the end of 2010, US$400 million—29% of the country’s GDP—was travelling through the M-PESA system each month. According to the Mobile Money Exchange website, while only 10% of the country could access finance, nearly 60% had access to a cell phone. » Continue reading “Where Mobile Money Matters”

By Bharathi Ramasubramanian

American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, in his work The Clash of Civilizations, famously stated that cultural and religious identities would be the main sources of conflict in the post-Cold War era. An assessment of conflicts over the past two decades, from the Bosnian crisis and the Rwandan genocide in the early 1990s to the ongoing crisis in Darfur and Israel/ Palestine, shows the accuracy of his prophecy.

A key to post-conflict reconstruction is the development and strengthening of local institutions. It is often the case that local civil society organizations relying heavily on foreign donors tend to adapt their work to outside demands. This dilutes reconstruction, and efforts become increasingly disconnected from their beneficiaries, members and communities. Effective post-conflict development requires a clear understanding of the dynamics of the conflict-torn community and some success stories prove that local communities know best how to create opportunity for themselves and rebuild their towns and villages. » Continue reading “Post-Conflict Development: From the Bottom Up”

The cover story in our recent issue about education looked at investment opportunities in affordable public schools—schools that charge less than US$12 (INR600) per month. In response to that article, Bongu Bharat posted an article to his blog that garnered the following comment from Dr Vibhu Pal:

Our Society runs two A P S near Delhi. Although the schools are doing good, we are facing some tough problems:
Since the fees is low, the schools have been branded of low brand value in spite of the fact that education wise our Schools are fully equipped – trained staff, infra structure on par with branded schools, every year 100% result of our Board classes etc. Good schools are measured with the fees being charged. » Continue reading “Changing the Public View of Affordable Private Schools”

Social media has been propelled to new heights after the revolutions in the Middle East earlier this year. We have written about the #18DaysInEgypt project that aims to chronicle the Egypt Revolution through new media—including social media such as Twitter.

But, how important a role does social media actually play in revolutions such as these? Last week, we took this question to Twitter, and asked: “Do you think social media is the new mouthpiece of political revolution?” Here are two thought-provoking responses we received as well as our views. » Continue reading “Is Social Media the New Mouthpiece of Political Revolution?”

Malnutrition is a serious concern in developing countries. In Kenya, Edom Nutritional Solutions has developed a premixed porridge and a maize flour product to combat malnutrition. Beyond Profit talked to Winstone Edward Odhiambo, the Co-Founder and Managing Director, about the unique product and its future.

What exactly is the Edom solution?

Our solution lays emphasis on preventive approaches to tackle the root cause of malnutrition by manufacturing a protein, mineral and vitamin rich precooked porridge product and maize meal flour and avail them to the malnourished through affordable retail distribution in rural areas, low market urban areas and smaller outlets in the villages in smaller packs of 250 grams that the majority millions in the bottom tier of the socio-economic pyramid can easily access and afford. » Continue reading “Premixed Porridge Tackles Malnutrition in Kenya”

The issue of property rights is an important, but often overlooked, aspect of poverty alleviation. Tackling the problem of how to improve access to and implementation of property rights poses real challenges to policy-makers and development practitioners because of the complexity of the issue and its controversial nature.

This special issue of Beyond Profit, produced with Ashoka Changemakers, looks at the challenge of providing secure property rights to the poor and disadvantaged around the world. Inside, you’ll find articles about women’s empowerment and property rights, innovations in technology use to strengthen rights and a funder’s perspective.

Download the issue here.

The Unreasonable Institute brings together 25 entrepreneurs with mentors and impact investors to help them jump start their enterprises. This year, 45 finalists were selected and final acceptance to the institute was based on an online fund-raising platform. Over the next two days, Beyond Profit brings you interviews with two of the enterprises that made it in.

Afroes Transformational Games uses mobile games to address issues of social justice in Africa such as children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, Gender Based Violence (GBV), conflict and disaster mitigation. The company has been contracted by the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund and United Nations for Women to create game campaigns. Beyond Profit talked to founder Anne Githuku-Shongwe. » Continue reading “Unreasonable Interviews: Afroes Transformational Games”

This story originally appeared in our February 24, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

The private sector can play a large role in providing education to the bottom of the pyramid.

By Irene Pritzker

While education is the key to poverty alleviation, governments and development agencies cannot keep up with the demand for efficiently run primary schools. In Ghana and other developing countries, to successfully include all children in the education system means working outside the traditional government education framework and embracing the private sector.

In Ghana, as with virtually every developing country, dissatisfaction with the government education system has given rise to the prolific growth of low-cost private schools. The schools are at the very bottom of the economic pyramid; in some cases the schools are nothing more than dirt floors with half walls or merely benches under a tree. These impoverished schools are disenfranchised and don’t receive any government funding, resources or textbooks. » Continue reading “The Power of the Private Sector”