Improving Conditions for People and Businesses in Africa’s Cities Is Key to Growth
WASHINGTON, February 9th, 2017 — Africa’s cities are growing in population – adding the size of another Nigeria to cities by 2025 – so have a critical role to play in their countries’ economic growth, says a new World Bank report released today....
GEN Announces Pioneering Entrepreneurial Mindset Study
Mindset Study to Answer Questions to Help Create Best Practices for Entrepreneurial Ecosystems WASHINGTON – February 15th, 2017 – The Global Entrepreneurship Network announced a new collaboration with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, in partnershi...
French fund launched to invest in African startups
AfricInvest and Bpifrance have partnered to launch the French African Fund (FFA), a cross-border investment fund dedicated to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa and France. January 19th, 2017 – A pool of diverse i...
Resource-efficient and cleaner production audit bears fruit in Viet Nam
24th January 2017 – In recent years, rapidly developing industrial zones have brought about socio-economic development in countries such as Viet Nam, but there have also been environmental downsides, as many of these parks do not have waste-appropri...
Europe: renewable sources in 2016
Renewable energy and clean technology (clean tech) could be a good opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe, but many are the challenges to be faced. Almost 90% of new power in Europe from renewable sources in 2016 Wind energy o...
Women Entrepreneurs Are ‘More Ambitious and Successful’ Than Men
Successful women entrepreneurs are not only matching their male counterparts – in several ways, they’re outperforming them. That’s according to the 2016 BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report, for which Scorpio Partnership consultancy surveyed about...
Improving Governance Is Key to Ensuring Equitable Growth in Developing Countries
WASHINGTON, January 30 th, 2017 – A new World Bank policy report urges developing countries and international development agencies to rethink their approach to governance, as a key to overcoming challenges related to security, growth, and equity. The 20...
SMEs must go borderless to widen customer reach
DUBAI, January 23 th, 2017 Firms using digital platforms outperform traditional exporters In today’s increasingly globalised world, SMEs have to compete globally. As a central pillar in the world economy, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) pl...
Seven European banks join forces for blockchain platform for SMEs
January 6, 2017 – Seven European banks – Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Natixis, KBC, Rabobank, Société Générale and UniCredit – have agreed in principle to develop a blockchain-based shared platform for domestic and international commerce for SMEs. T...
Microfinancier targets SMEs sector
January 12, 2017 – Microfinancier Microcred Zimbabwe is targeting the unbanked and those in the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) offering loans ranging between $150 and $50 000. Currently, 70% of the adult population is unbanked while there are 5,...
