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”

This story originally appeared in our January 27, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Educate! will create the first social enterprise curriculum to be scaled to a national level.

When Jean Paul Amani was fleeing the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) he found a young girl named Alice Munguiko. He carried her across the border to Uganda. In 2006, both Amani and Munguiko were recipients of scholarships from Educate!, an educational foundation based in Colorado and Uganda.

Today, Amani volunteers with Think Humanity, a US-based organization working to improve the lives of refugees in Africa in the Kyangwali refugee camp in Uganda. Along with several other refugees and fellow Educate! students, he started COBURWAS. COBURWAS, a community organization, partnered with Think Humanity to build an orphanage, counsel members of the community and raise money to send more than 30 students to school. » Continue reading “How to Teach a Nation”

This story originally appeared in our January 27, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Living Goods is bringing affordable healthcare products to the homes of residents throughout Uganda.

By Jonathan Kalan

“Hold on. I think [Gertrude] has stopped to sell some drugs,” said Betty, the Kawempe Branch Manager for Living Goods.  I stopped for a moment to check my surroundings. Normally, hearing that in an African slum would make me feel slightly uncomfortable. But not this time. I was in Tule, a slum in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, shadowing Living Goods Community Health Promoter (CHP) Gertrude Nambaliwa as she made her daily rounds checking on newborn infants and selling health products to her community. » Continue reading “Door-to-Door Healthcare”