"Quando as empresas pensam em fazer boas compras, consideram planejamento, gestão de estoques, equilíbrio de tempos e momentos, condições de pagamento, evitar desperdícios, organizar a documentação e, o mais importante, a escolha de fornecedores, que envolve um dos canais de abertura da empresa a relações com outras empresas, outros empreendimentos. É a oportunidade de fazer com que boas compras sejam também boas relações e, assim, sejam boas desde uma perspectiva mais ampla: para as empresas sim, mas também para os fornecedores, para a sociedade e para o meio ambiente."

Esta guía ofrece una metodología inicial para emprendedores y Organizaciones de Apoyo a Emprendedores (ESOs, por sus siglas en inglés), destacando cómo identificar los criterios y atributos que sitúa un emprendimiento en la categoría de transición dual, esta se refiere a ntersección entre transformación digital y los retos que se tienen ante cambio climático, esta intersección crea retos y oportunidades.

"Este reporte captura los hallazgos de seis laboratorios de aprendizaje encaminados a formas prácticas de medición  de trabajo decente y calidad laboral  en pequeñas y medianas empresas, facilitados por The Good Economy.

Los laboratorios de aprendizaje enfatizan la importancia de soluciones de medición prácticas y de claridad conceptual al medir el trabajo decente. Este reporte busca proveer un panorama general de los contenidos discutidos, recursos útiles y mejores prácticas compartidas durante cada laboratorio."

Currently there are over 500 townships in the South Africa, whose combined land mass surpasses that of Johannesburg and Durban combined and which are home to an estimated 40% of South Africa’s urban population. While more is understood about the small and growing businesses (SGBs) in metropolitan areas, less is known about the entrepreneurial ecosystems in the townships and how to support the primarily micro, necessity-based businesses that operate there. This report focuses on identifying the key actors implementing programmes to support entrepreneurs and small businesses operating in townships in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and Western Cape Provinces, the challenges the entrepreneurial support providers face, and the opportunities to strengthen this ecosystem.

Since its founding in 2009, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) has tracked the state of the small and growing business (SGB) sector globally through its bi-annual State of the Sector reports.  One of the most dynamic markets for small business growth is South Africa. The South African entrepreneurial ecosystem requires innovative solutions to increase the available finance, improve access to markets, reduce bureaucratic burdens, and strengthen the capacity of small businesses and start-ups. This report examines the state of the SGB sector in South Africa as of 2023 by assessing the amount and type of financial support available to enterprises, the type of capacity development offered, and trends in the policy landscape that affect the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The report concludes by highlighting the activity of ANDE and its member

India presents significant opportunities for new businesses to create value by leveraging agricultural, food and biomass waste. Agricultural biomass, which primarily consists of post-harvest crop residue and waste from livestock, is the largest source of waste in India – the country generates approximately 350 million tonnes annually. Agricultural and biomass waste generation is also expected to increase as food production increases, especially for staple and cash crops like rice, wheat, maize and cotton. Biomass is used in diverse applications from fodder for cattle and household cooking to the production of biogas, manure and renewable fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel.

Biomass caters to a substantial portion of India’s rural energy demand, fulfilling approximately 80% of it. Low-cost biomass solutions play a particularly significant role in rural settings, where small-scale energy needs predominate. Conversely, more sophisticated biomass technologies are used in applications such as energy generation or fuel production, especially for large-scale operations. These opportunities relate to improved collection, waste-to-energy solutions, and diverse biomaterials.

South African politicians frequently refer to entrepreneurship as a potential solution to the economy’s significant unemployment problem. In reality, many entrepreneurs need to come from townships. Numerous reports address challenges faced by South African entrepreneurs. What distinguishes this report from extant studies is that this report features the voices of entrepreneurs and entrepreneur support organisations (ESO) to vividly portray township entrepreneurs’ challenges through in-depth interviews. This report also aims to elucidate the factors that contributed to the success of exemplary township entrepreneurs despite existing challenges and other strategies that ESOs can employ to guide more entrepreneurs to emulate these success stories.

India is a significant player in the global e-waste landscape, contributing approximately 4.1 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) in 2022, which accounts for approximately 7% of the world's total e-waste output. In 2021, one-third of India's e-waste was managed through formal and informal channels, with 80 to 90% of e-waste management operations handled by the informal sector. By 2030, India's e-waste output is expected to escalate significantly, reaching approximately 9 million tonnes (based on our estimates), which would represent about 11% of the global e-waste forecast for that year (82 million tonnes). India’s e-waste and LiB recycling sector offers multiple avenues to create value through innovative business models. The key opportunities range across advanced metal and rare earth extraction, integrated recycling, interim recycling for high-demand metals, second-life electronics and batteries. These cascade into specific opportunity areas across the value chain, which are summarized in this report.

South Africa faces significant economic challenges, with youth disproportionately affected by high unemployment rates and limited economic participation. Townships, home to a significant portion of the unemployed population, are now focal points for addressing youth entrepreneurship as a solution. However, sparse data on township youth entrepreneurial activity hinders effective support strategies. This research indicates that proximity issues, such as isolation and lack of access to information, are key barriers for both youth entrepreneurs and business development support providers. Current support efforts often lack relevance and fail to target high-growth potential businesses. To improve outcomes, there's a need to shift focus towards reaching more youth entrepreneurs and tailoring interventions to their needs.

This guide focuses on the management and handling of municipal solid waste (MSW) from its initial collection to how it is processed and dealt with at landfills and dumpsites. It also covers some solid wastes with lower-value recycling potential or volumes, e.g., biomedical waste, paper waste, and base metals from non-electronic waste sources, such as aluminium and copper. Managing the close to 60 million tonnes of MSW that India generates annually is a daunting challenge. 90% of that waste is apparently collected but lower levels of processing – around 50% – show a significant amount is either not processed or remains unaccounted for, highlighting inefficiencies in waste management systems. Projections indicate a staggering increase in MSW generation, nearly tripling to 165 million tonnes by 2031. There are significant opportunities to improve waste processing and resource recovery in India’s MSW sector through decentralization, automation, and logistical improvements.

This guide is intended as an explanatory memorandum surveying the current legal landscape and market standards in South Africa concerning impact investing as well as the current viable impact investment options. This guide will be useful to, amongst others, South African debt and equity investors, grant-makers, foreign investors, incubator/accelerator portfolio managers, small and medium enterprises and social enterprises. The guide examines the laws and policies governing impact investing in South Africa, as well as different types and sources of financing that can be accessed for impact investment, and introduces a term sheet and “dos and don’ts” in carrying out negotiations and drafting term sheets.

India grapples with a substantial plastic waste challenge. In 2021, according to government data, the country generated nearly 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily, amounting to approximately 4.1 million tonnes over the year. However, other estimates state that the actual figures are more than double, with an estimate from a recent Nature paper, stating that India generated 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2023. A significant portion of that waste, approximately 75%, consists of three primary polymers: polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with the remainder coming from other polymers such as polystyrene (PS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The key opportunities for plastic circularity in India are emerging around enabling higher-quality recycled outputs, packaging solutions and circularity in traditionally hard-to-recycle segments, such as flexible and multilayer plastics. These cascade into specific opportunity areas across the value chain, which are summarized in this report 

The Thomson Reuters Foundation champions economies that are equitable, participatory, and sustainable, with a focus on environmental respect. Impact investing is crucial for addressing social and environmental inequities but remains underutilized in Southeast Asia. To bridge this gap, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) partnered with TrustLaw, the TRF's global pro bono service, to enhance understanding of local impact investing regulations in 7 different countries in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Special thanks go to A&O Shearman, DFDL, Mayer Brown, MahWengKwai & Associates, and SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan for their pro-bono support. This guide aims to assist social enterprises, incubators, and investors in navigating local regulations and fostering greater investment in regional startups and their social missions.

Every day, Kenya produces over 24,000 tons of waste, amounting to 8.8 million tons annually. Most of this waste is currently mismanaged, with more than 75% of waste in Kenya being incinerated or disposed at dumpsites. Moreover, Kenya is home to two of the world's 50 largest landfills – Dandora in Nairobi and Kibarani in Mombasa – highlighting its significant waste management challenges. Mismanaged waste in Kenya poses several environmental and health risks, which local actors are yet to comprehensively address. The proximity of landfills to residential areas in Kenya negatively impacts the quality of life of nearby communities and poses severe health risks by contaminating local land and water resources. In addition, waste incineration releases toxic pollutants into the air, water and soil and produces hazardous ash that can contaminate the environment and pose health risks to nearby communities. This study identified 16 small and growing businesses (SGBs) providing integrated waste management services. Employing a mixed-methods approach to conduct a deep dive into the integrated waste management sub-sector in Kenya.