Region: India

Topics: AccessEntrepreneurshipHealthReproductive Rights

In many parts of India, women still struggle against the taboo of their periods and often don’t have the hygiene products they need. Now, female entrepreneurs are taking matters into their own hands and producing the products themselves.

Region: Zimbabwe

Topics: BusinessCorruptionEntrepreneurshipPolitics

Furniture workers make up a large portion of Zimbabwe’s informal economy. But in this particular manufacturing complex, their livelihoods are in danger from constant fires that the authorities can’t address.

Region: Sri Lanka

Topics: Entrepreneurship

In Sri Lanka, women often don’t ride overnight or long-distance buses alone because of the threat of sexual assault. To help address this fear, one local man came up with the option to book a “lady seat” for long-distance travel – at no extra cost.

Region: Democratic Republic of Congo

Topics: BusinessEntrepreneurship

Refrigerated beverages and recharged cellphones are among the benefits of a local businessman’s efforts to bring electricity to Komanda. But breakdowns are common, many can’t afford the use of generators, and residents criticize the national government for failing to provide an infrastructure plan for the region.

Region: Sri Lanka

Topics: Entrepreneurship

Traditionally, women in Sri Lanka do not fish for a living. But in Jaffna, where many men died, were wounded or went missing during the civil war, Rasathurai Sarojathevi is teaching a group of 20 women to earn their livings from fishing. Even when the rains don’t cooperate, local women are taking the lead in earning for their families.

Region: Argentina

Topics: BusinessEntrepreneurship

Argentina’s youth-unemployment rate is above average for the region, and many students graduate only to find a market unsuited to their skills and qualifications. But some young Argentines are taking matters into their own hands: When they can’t find a job, they create one.

Region: Zimbabwe

Topics: Entrepreneurship

Many commuters in Harare rely on “kombis,” or commuter omnibuses, as their preferred means of transport. But a rise in physical assaults by bus “touts” has left many riders fearful. One tech entrepreneur is looking to change that.

Region: Democratic Republic of Congo

Topics: Entrepreneurship

Violence and instability have forced millions in DRC to abandon their homes in search of a more stable life elsewhere in the country. With little aid available, one woman says she had no choice but to innovate.

Region: Zambia

Topics: BusinessEntrepreneurship

An earlier strategy of tailoring education to help students gain white-collar jobs wasn’t working, because there were only so many of those to go around. Since 2014, the government has tried another approach – skills-based learning – in an effort to curb widespread unemployment among the youth.

Region: Democratic Republic of Congo

Topics: Entrepreneurship

Blaise Shamamba's small plant in Goma makes these decor products from local materials rather than relying on expensive imports to stock his shop. But capital is hard to come by, and inadequate facilities limit both production and the opportunity to compete.