Dear newsletter subscriber,
We are all familiar with the romanticised founding stories of Silicon Valley’s super-rich: “ordinary” students (mostly men) have a brilliant idea, tinker away on it in their student halls or someone’s garage and then end up founding Meta, Apple, Google or Microsoft. Ingenious idea, grand vision, a company worth billions: these are the heroes of our time celebrated in the business world.
Yet the outcome in many cases is anything but heroic: just think of the disastrous effects the algorithms of firms like Meta and X are having on the world of information.
Most of the truly exemplary start-up narratives don’t involve valuations in the billions, don’t happen in Silicon Valley – and rarely get told. Especially in the Global South, innovative firms are plugging genuine supply gaps and stepping in when the governments fails to deliver. These are companies founded by people who aren’t just interested in profit but hope above all that their business ideas will solve real-world problems.
Their stories likewise begin with innovative ideas, often born at home or university. In our new monthly, you can read for example about Imma Guixe from Ethiopia, who developed recyclable menstrual hygiene products on her sewing machine at home, and about Romita Ghosh in India, who is using artificial intelligence to combat malnutrition. In an interview with D+C, a fund manager from Singapore explains why the countries of the Global South are underrated as investment and growth markets.
Please feel free to share your opinions, criticisms and suggestions by emailing us at euz.editor@dandc.eu. |
|
|
|
|
Kind regards,
Eva-Maria Verfürth
editor-in-chief at D+C |
|
|
Our latest Digital Monthly:
|
| Innovative businesses as drivers of change |
|
|
Syria’s start-ups: building innovation from the rubble
|
|
|
Romita Ghosh uses AI to fight malnutrition
|
|
|
© picture alliance/Fotostand/Herber
|
|
We spoke to Jennifer Ho, fund manager at the Singapore-based venture capital fund Integra Partners, and asked her how investment decisions shape societies. She explains why disadvantaged communities can be attractive to investors and offers some advice to founders looking for funding.
|
|
|
In 2026, this date marked Fat Cat Day – the point at which the CEOs of the 100 companies in the UK’s main stock-market index had already earned more than the average worker makes in a whole year. This is according to calculations by the High Pay Centre think tank, which estimates CEOs’ median pay at about $1780 an hour.
Assuming they work 62.5 hours a week, those bosses would have overtaken the UK’s annual median wage by noon on the third working day of the year. In countries like Brazil, the gap is even starker: according to a joint analysis by Oxfam and the International Trade Union Confederation, it would take an average worker 490 years to earn the equivalent of a CEO’s annual salary.
|
|
|
Despite the rest of the world still attempting to reach climate commitments set in previous years, Bhutan, a small country in the Himalayas, is ahead of the curve. Due to rigorous dedication to its own constitution and the well-being of its citizens, Bhutan has managed to become the first country in the world that is carbon negative. With its founding laws emphasising that 60 % of the country’s land must be preserved for forestry, it has created the ideal circumstances for maintaining low CO₂ levels.
In addition, its national philosophy, Gross National Happiness (GNH), views environmental sustainability and economic development as complementary goals, rather than competing priorities. By expanding its definition of progress to include what is elsewhere seen as a limitation, Bhutan has shown that a more inclusive approach can achieve greater success.
|
| What has also caught our interest |
|
|
Be honest: How many times have you listened to it during this World Cup already?
|
“Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira featuring Freshlyground is the feel-good Football World Cup anthem with a very non-feel-good paper trail: Journalist Tim Cohen digs into how “Waka Waka” became the breakout song of the 2010 South Africa World Cup – and why the promised charity proceeds remain murky. Cohen points to an early email from Sony Music framing the release as a charitable project: “all net profits” were meant to go to African charities, with participating artists supposedly helping to choose the beneficiaries. South African band Freshlyground say they were never asked – and that neither Sony nor FIFA has provided a clear breakdown of earnings despite years of requests. Meanwhile, the song’s longevity (billions of views, ongoing streams) makes the unanswered question more pressing, not less.
|
|
Supply chains that manufacture poverty – and three ways to break the cycle
|
About one in five employed people globally still live in poverty – and this piece in The Conversation argues a big reason is the way global supply chains are built. Powerful lead firms (supermarkets, global brands) set prices and conditions; suppliers stay competitive by squeezing the one “flexible” cost they can control: labour. The article adds an uncomfortable twist: well-meant standards and certification schemes can backfire when they raise producers’ costs without raising what buyers pay – pushing farms and factories toward more seasonal work, heavier workloads and fewer benefits (with South Africa’s fruit exports as the cautionary tale).
The constructive part is the trio of case studies that suggest a different route: Nando’s PERi Farms (chilli smallholders in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique), Mountain Harvest (coffee in Uganda, with attention to women seasonal sorters) and Fair Trade in Tourism (South Africa) show that progress comes from fairer value distribution as well as long-term partnerships and collaboration. In short: living wages are possible – but only if sourcing practices change.
|
|
As temperatures continue to climb around the world, South Africa has found an unlikely tool to adapt to extreme heat, as reported by The Guardian: roof paint. HeatNexus, a network of research projects, has uncovered the benefits of infra-red reflective paint in keeping houses cool.
The paint has been proven to keep houses three to four degrees cooler during the hottest times of the day. The difference to people’s health is significant. Cooler homes can improve sleep quality and reduce the health risks associated with sleep disturbances, such as impaired mental health and an increased susceptibility to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This simple and cost-effective measure already helps to improve the well-being of vulnerable groups during the hottest periods of the year.
|
|
|
.png) |
The Western Union Global Fellowship is a fully funded, 16‑week programme for entrepreneurs and community leaders who are from and/or working with highly marginalised, refugee and forcibly displaced communities in the US, Costa Rica, India, Philippines, Lithuania, Argentina, Italy, Brazil or Peru. Fellows receive training and mentorship. As a core element of the programme, they design and deliver a 1-3 day “Basecamp” – a hands-on workshop for their local community – supported with resources and a stipend. |
|
|
|
| The AI for Good Global Summit 2026, hosted by the International Telecommunication Union, takes place from 7-10 July 2026 in Geneva. It brings together governments, UN bodies, industry, academia and civil society to turn AI into practical solutions for global challenges, while advancing skills, standards and partnerships. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
To unsubscribe the newsletter, please click here.
Imprint
Publisher information: ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL gGmbH Service für Entwicklungsinitiativen
Publisher: Fazit Communication GmbH, Pariser Straße 1, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)69 7591-3110 | Email: euz.editor@dandc.eu
Webseite: www.fazit.de | Managing Directors: Jonas Grashey, Hannes Ludwig |
|
|
|
