investment

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at Georgetown University, which featured TLG Capital and members of Quality Chemical Industries Limited (QCIL). QCIL is the first World Health Organization-approved pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in sub-sarahan Africa. Their goals, which include expanding accessibility of antimalarial and antirevtrovirals by guaranteeing affordability and quality drugs.

Their state-of-the-art facility looks like it could be found in any technology park in a "developed" country. I had the privilege of watching a full-length video tour of the facility at the event. Though I do not have access to that film, here is a shorter clip which is styled as a welcome video for visitors.

You can see the high level of detail paid to maintaining a highly sterile and secure facility. Be sure to check out some other photos of the facility. The products they manufacture are Duovir-N, the antiretroviral for HIV/AIDS treatment and Lumartem, the combination drug which is used to treat malaria (also know as ACT).

If you've ever wished you had your own Social Enteprise but don't have the time to start one just yet, now you can own one, literally. Check out Ashoka Fellow Tamzlin Ractliffe's SASIX, the South African Social Investment Exchange--the South African Social Enterprise version of Wall Street.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. You can 1) Search (by sector, province, or even by funding status--funded, partially funded, as well as unfunded); 2) Invest; and what is truly innovative is 3) track the social impact of your project.

I was interested in the Mount Ayliff Schools Maths and Science Improvement Project. On the page you can see the risk rating and the impact (see the graphs above for sample).

This one is new so there aren't any reports yet, but by viewing what seems like a sister school, you can see the reports over time covering how much has been spent and on what, as well as a review on the impact evaluation methods that are being utilized.

I was surprised to see that many projects had no shares left!

Photo: Mahabir Pun brings the Internet to his community in Nangi, Nepal

International aid agencies have increasingly turned to technology as a means of promoting prosperity in developing countries. Bilateral organizations like DFID, SDC, USAID, as well as multilateral organizations such as the World Bank have specifically directed aid towards the development of information technologies. For example, the Information and Communication Technologies for Development initiative (ICT4D) has encouraged the use of mobile phones and computers to facilitate improvements in education, health care, agriculture and other vital sectors within the developing world.

Despite their purported benefits, however, such initiatives face major criticisms.  Some critics question the effectiveness of tech-based projects and argue that the poorest of the poor are not beneficiaries of such schemes.  In particular, they note the lack of infrastructure in rural areas upon which most technologies depend.