With only five years left until the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the United Nations has launched the MDG Report 2010 calling for accelerated progress to reach the 2015 deadline. As the UN Specialized Agency for Tourism, UNWTO is firmly committed to fostering the tourism sector’s contribution to development.
Nigerian micro-finance banks can now get as much as N1 billion loan to finance small scale businesses in the country through a new partnership between the Suisse Bank Plc of London,Smart Links Limited of Dubai and the African Capital and Business Support Limited.
The loan being offered by the partnership is interest free for the first one year and subject to repayment in four years thereafter,the Vice Chairman of ACBS,Benjamin Aduli said yesterday in Abuja.
World leaders put the finishing touches on plans to build a more stable global economy on Sunday but backed away from one-size-fits-all pledges as two years of crisis give way to an uneven recovery.
The G-20 is the premier forum for our international economic development that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.
The micro-finance sector in Ghana and Nigeria has received a boost through a 40 million Euro fund, which was launched by Goodwell Investments of The Netherlands, Alitheia Capital of Nigeria and JCS Investments from Ghana.
Offbeat financal avenues find buyers slowly but steadily. With the global meltdown behind, European debt crisis ahead, global economists are busy pondering new sectors like microfinance, carbon finance, water credit and so on to find hope for market expansion.
The ubiquity of the credit card and the impact of the recession mean the move to use a mobile phone to make payments and conduct banking is likely to be a slow and tortuous affair in Europe.
MEPs gave the green light for EU funding to help Europe's unemployed start up small businesses. Credit will be made available to budding entrepreneurs through a "microfinance facility" funded partly from the existing Progress programme and partly from unallocated money in the EU budget.
Online sites like Babyloan or Kiva have taken the idea of lending small sums to help lift people out of poverty to create a direct personal link between lenders and borrowers.
NAMIBIA's first micro-finance bank is a reality after the Bank of Namibia (BoN) yesterday granted Fides Bank Namibia a permanent banking licence.
The aim of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation is to promote creative and innovative approaches in different sectors of human activity and contribute to better equip the European Union for the challenges ahead in a globalised world. During this Year, a series of seven Brussels debates are jointly organised by the European Commission and the EPC in Brussels.
China’s ambitious wind and solar plans represent a direct challenge to Europe’s claims of world leadership on cutting carbon emissions. China is planning a vast increase in its use of wind and solar power over the next decade and believes it can match Europe by 2020, producing a fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources.
International financiers ramped up efforts to stave off economic recession in Africa with the establishment of a $15 billion fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises that have been the main drivers of growth in the continent over the past decade. The fund, an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the French Development Agency (AFD), and Development Bank of Southern Africa, will support intra-Africa trade, boost lending to agribusiness, and finance key infrastructure that supports businesses across the continent.
For centuries, Britain has been a leader in finance and banking. Today we are setting out how we can remain world leaders. Not at the expense of others, but in partnership with them. And not by returning to business as usual, but by reforming, renewing and championing our financial sector so that it is ready and able to seize future opportunities.
Russia will ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to carry out a study on the potential for a new international reserve currency, Kremlin aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Tuesday. China and Russia, the world's No.1 and No.3 reserve holders, have been pushing for a discussion on making greater use of the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket.
A few years ago, Ahmet Bubalku of the Kosovar village of Zabel i Ultë borrowed 3,400 euros, to build up a small farm.
The microfinance institution START, established and funded by Islamic Relief, lent him the money. It enabled Ahmet to buy seeds to grow potatoes, tomatoes and onions and rear chickens and a cow. Ahmet says without this loan he wouldn't be able to feed his three children.
We recently learned that Denmark plans on building the world’s largest wind farm. With a net installed capacity of 209 MW, Horns Rev 2 (companion to Horns Rev 1) will provide power to 200,000 homes. The North Sea offshore wind farm is scheduled for completion later this year.
Parliament adopted a legislative report on a proposal to support the growth of microcredit institutions in the EU. The report drafted by Zsolt Laszlo Becsey (EPP-ED, HU) was approved by 574 votes in favour, 23 against and 12 abstentions.
The combined effects of the financial crisis, increased protectionist policies, continued rich country subsidies, and climate-induced changes in patterns of agricultural production are likely to hit developing countries hardest.
Thanks to the confluence of these factors, a long-term solution to the global food crisis has not been reached, experts agreed at two recent summits on agriculture. But producers in some poor countries that lack strong links to the international market may not yet be feeling the full effects of that price drop. In some cases, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, prices remain high for key staples.
The Swedish Finance Supervisory has given preliminary approval in the form of a real banking license to video game maker, MindArk PE AB. Within a year, a person will be able to enter the online sci-fi video game Entropia Universe to conduct some real-world banking business -- forever changing the concept of online banking. Set on planet Calypso, there will be no lines, no hassles, and always the experience you'd expect with a friendly service from virtual bank tellers who never change.
Recently the EU has decided to tax such locations and even swiss banks would have to have taxes applied to them. This news is very recent and it is uncertain in which direction this news would take us. Nonetheless there are always banks out there such as in South America that are not subject to this rule.
While world markets are teetering in a global banking meltdown, another banking drama is playing out in Switzerland that could end the way private banking has been done there for centuries. U.S. tax authorities have challenged long-standing Swiss banking secrecy laws, demanding that UBS AG release the names of 52,000 Americans suspected of opening secret accounts to evade taxes.
The bank will be the product of a fusion between NEF (France), Banca popolare etica (Italy) and Fiare (Spain). it will take the form of a European cooperative.
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