Stories from Quick Reads and Economics & Business
Why the Start-Up Pitch in Zimbabwe Is a ‘Waste of Time’
Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha, a communications officer for HIVOS (full disclosure: HIVOS is one of Global Voices’ sponsors) explains why Zimbabwe must ditch the start-up pitch: The start-up pitch, which involves making a rapid fire presentation of an idea followed by a question and answer session involving selected judges, is increasingly a...
Iraqi Startups One Year After the Rise of ISIS
Ahmed Marwan shares stories about a few Iraqi startups one year after the rise of ISIS, at Wamda. He explains: But what is more uncertain than calculating the success probability of a startup working in a city less than 50 km away from the turmoil caused by ISIS? That is...
‘Films for Action’ Website Shares List of Top 100 Documentaries ‘We Can Use to Change the World’
After years of promotion and reviews of documentaries devoted to social change, the site Films for Action released a list of what they consider to be the 100 most influencial and provocative. From critiques to manistream media to the corporate world, passing through the ideas and solutions proposed in and by...
African Startups Win FinTech for Agriculture 2015 Competition
Two African startups have emerged winners of a regional competition organised by Village Capital: Village Capital today announced the first winners of its innovative program, East Africa: FinTech for Agriculture 2015. The program supports entrepreneurs in making financial services more affordable and accessible for smallholder farmers and other underbanked individuals...
Here is Why Nairobi is Africa's Most Successful ICT Hub
Elvans Kidero explains the secrets behind Nairobi's success in ICT sector in Africa: Where is Africa’s ICT hub? Is it South Africa, Nigeria or Nairobi, the capital of Kenya? By growth, it would have to be Nairobi, with my county’s ICT sector expected to grow by 15 per cent this...
Documentary ‘Too Black To Be French’ Wants to Start an Honest Conversation on Race in France
“Too Black to Be French” is a documentary made by Isabelle Boni-Claverie, a French-Ivorian writer and filmmaker. Boni-Claverie's goal is to provide unexplored ideas and start a conversation on French society's inequalities and discrimination. The documentary includes commentary and analyses from renowned Francophone thinkers such as Eric Fassin, Pap Ndiaye, Achille Mbembe, Patrick...
Kenyan Blogger Defamation Case Highlights the Need for Education
Shitemi Khamadi argues that a case where a telecommunication provider, Safaricom, has sued a Kenyan blogger Cyprian Nyakundi for defamation highlights the need for education on the law and Internet in Kenya: The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) in whose mandate is to promote online local content has been running...
Angani: First Operational Cloud Service in East Africa
Last month, Angani launched first operational cloud service in East Africa: Angani, the first fully automated cloud infrastructure company in the region, today officially launched their cloud and hosting services. Angani also announced their partnership with local data center operators that will make it safe and cost effective to provision...
Your Post-Election Guide to Cashing in on Nigeria's Oil Wealth
Nigeria's election means a political reshuffling, including key positions in the oil industry. Tolu Ogunlesi provides a funny, informative guide so you too can cash in on the oil wealth.
Tracking Infrastructure Damage in the War in Yemen
Hundreds of people have been reportedly killed in fighting in Yemen since Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against the country on March 26. Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco,and Sudan, Saudi Arabia started an airstrike operation, dubbed Decisive Storm, against Houthi fighters who took control of...
Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators
The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...
Bermuda's 99%
The economic gap appears to be widening in Bermuda and one blogger has been paying attention. A week ago, after the Bermuda Telephone Company announced that it was considering introducing new – and more expensive – residential high speed broadband internet products and a high-end restaurant launched a $1000 per...
Russia's Internet Ombudsman Advocates for Storing User Data Abroad
Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev has proposed allowing foreign Internet companies to store Russians’ personal data abroad with the permission of the owners.
Here Are Kenyan Technology Companies That Were Funded in 2014
Do you know Kenyan technology companies that got funded in 2014? Erik Hersmann lists them in this blog post: Early stage capital Angani – Public cloud computing provider BRCK – Rugged, wireless WiFi device CardPlanet – Mobile money payment system aimed at business and NGOs iProcure – Software for optimizing...
Unlawful Deals by 5 Biggest Ebola Contractors in Sierra Leone
Five companies are said to have misappropriated funds for fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone: Here are the 5 companies who were awarded the biggest contracts to provide goods and services to Sierra Leone’s ebola response as listed in the Ebola Funds Audit Report covering the period from May – October...
Kenyan Blog OilNews Among World’s Top Oil and Gas Websites
Oilnews Kenya has been ranked as top blog in Africa on matters oil and gas, Kachwanya reports: The website recently launched as first of its kind in Kenya aiming to give Kenyans insight in the oil and gas industry opening up information platform for explorers, investors and stakeholders in...
VIDEO: How Palm Oil is Causing Environmental Destruction in Indonesia
The team of Coconuts TV went to south Sumatra in Indonesia to document the impact of the burning of peatlands and forests to make way for the expanding palm oil plantations. The burning of forests in Sumatra is causing the displacement of endangered species in the island; and it also...
Online Entrepreneurship: Interview With Ana Bizarro from ‘Acción Alegría’
Andrea Collazo, who we already know from her blog Profesora de Informática (Computing teacher), shares an interview with entrepreneur and creator of accionconalegría.com, Ana Bizarro. Bizarro's website aims to provide support to “entrepreneur parents, with children and no time, this is, people who are responsible for their lives”. There is...
Do You Read Ecolabels When Shopping?
Rut Abrain Sanchez on her blog Esturirafi defines and identifies legal and volunteer product labels. Among the latter we find ecologic labels, “so manufacturers show us they are abiding by a series of requirements and for the consumer to be able to identify products environmentally more sustainable”. There are Type...
Colombian Economic Deceleration, Is the Government Aware of This Situation?
On a review of what is going on with Colombian economy, Daniel Bustos writes on his blog Trayectoria Económica an analysis of what he calls ‘skinny cows’ or lean times. Although the economy is still standing thanks to public and private investment and the construction industry, the oil barrel price...
Infographic: 5 Facts About Sri Lanka’s Tamil Community in the North
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a civil society think tank in Sri Lanka, has recently conducted a top line survey on “Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka 2014“. The results show that difference of opinion on the reconciliation still exists between the Tamil and the Sinhalese people after the Sri...
