Author: Katie Groe

KAMPALA, Uganda – The Connect to Implement Development project’s (C2iDev) 10-week training session for Uganda’s 27 entrepreneurs began 13 April 2015. It promised to capitalize ideas and spread optimism. Business expansion training came from the Business Development Center Uganda (BDC), which partnered with C2iDev. The session was located in Kampala, where 10 entrepreneurs were later given a chance to pitch their business and win capital. C2iDev won recognition by the World Bank Group’s 2015 Youth Innovation Fund to provide development opportunities for entrepreneurs. Africa’s youth outnumbers all other continents and is expected to grow from 200 million to 330 million…

NEW YORK — Women entrepreneurs need to access capital and grow the economy. If more women were included in the labor force with substantial income and managed more prosperous businesses, developing countries would likely witness an impact on GDP growth equal or better than fully developed countries. The Goldman Sachs Foundation and World Bank aim to reach 100,000 women in developing countries with the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility. In 2008, the Goldman Sachs Foundation’s 10,000 Women program was dedicated to finding women in emerging countries to advance their businesses. Across 43 countries, a network of 90 nonprofit and academic partners…

HANOI, Vietnam – In 1990, two of every five people in Vietnam did not have access to clean drinking water. Twenty-five years later, Vietnam supplies clean water to 90 percent of its population. UNICEF, the Unilever Foundation, World Bank and Global Environmental Funds (GEF) have strengthened rural and urban enhancements for water and sanitation. Government commitments have exceeded the expectations of Millennium Development Goals. In 1990, tap water and protected wells were found primarily in cities. With 80 percent of the population living in rural locations, tap water was nonexistent. Virtually 54 percent had access to clean water and 31…

LAGOS, Nigeria — The Nigerian economy thrives off business expansion. In the past, countries such as America and the United Kingdom have hesitated to conduct business with Africa due to a fraudulent history. With middle and high social classes on the rise, Paypal is teaming up with young startup company MallforAfrica. The goal is to make online payments optional for the African market and safer for Kenyan consumers. Entrepreneurs need to grow and ensure market value. M-Pesa, the mobile app with 20 million users (which is half the population of Kenya), employs 80,000 agents. Even this mobile payment system is…

NAIROBI, Kenya — As President Obama finishes his tour of Ethiopia, he illustrates that “the goal is to drastically increase the productivity of smallholder farmers all throughout Africa.” The U.S. Government’s Feed the Future program has reached 1.3 million children in Ethiopia and helped decrease child stunting by nine percent between the years of 2011 and 2014. The White House put food security at the top of the U.S. global agenda. Undernourishment pertains to 53 percent of child deaths in Ethiopia. Out of 89.4 million people living in the country, 30 percent live below the poverty line and 44.2 percent…

WEST BENGAL, India – According to UNICEF, in 2014 about 2.5 billion people did not have access to proper sanitation methods. This leads to various issues, such as the spread of disease, women’s insecurity, and human indignity. The state of Nadia, Hooghly, and Burdwan are considered to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) as of April 2015, and the state of Bihar is soon to pick up the habit. West Bengal initiated the Nirmal Bangla Mission in hopes to create an ODF state by 2017. In 18 months, Nadia is the first district to succeed. The World Bank’s Rural Water Supply…

WEST AFRICA – Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are among the poorest countries in Africa and have been struggling with Ebola for years. West Africa has been under strenuous conditions in which economic, political, educational and medical opportunities are scarce. Ebola is lethal, and since it has mostly been eradicated in Liberia, conditions in the country have improved. This is thanks to five vital tactics used by West Africans and foreign governments. 1. Get to Know Ebola Understand what happens when the disease strikes. Ebola symptoms begin within 2 to 21 days after infection. It copies the symptoms of malaria and the…