Celebrating Purpose-Driven Excellence

Home-grown rice is critical to food security across Africa, but high temperatures and erratic rainfall, attributed to climate change, have created a “rice crisis.”  Senegal’s unique solutions include empowering women to support the country’s National Rice Self-Sufficiency Program. Women now play a key this sustainability strategy, and their leadership has created a new generation of activists pursuing economic and social equality. 

In East Africa, battery-powered motorcycles are steadily replacing their oil-guzzling predecessors. Ampersand, an electric motorbike start-up in Rwanda, is Africa’s first electric vehicle and EV energy company.  Its e-motorbikes, powered by lithium-iron-phosphate batteries that Ampersand manufactures, cut emissions. The company is leading an energy transition that capitalizes on the billion-dollar market for electric two- and three-wheel vehicles and the energy that powers them. 

Delivering a healthy baby requires good prenatal care, including ultrasound machines — but high cost equals short supply in African nations like Cote D’Ivoire. Without the backing of a bank loan, this and other medical equipment is out of reach, resulting in lack of access to health care services. The Africa Medical Equipment Facility, an innovative partnership, helps small and medium-sized healthcare providers In Africa secure loans to purchase or lease needed medical equipment.

Imagination and inspiration shaped a pilot program in Brazil that trains refugees to be woodworkers, but the government agencies, international organizations, and private-sector businesses behind the plan had an even more ambitious idea: employing the new woodworkers to help convert abandoned commercial buildings into “green” residential apartments they rent at a discount. This story shows how creative problem-solving can transform refugees’ lives and revitalize urban communities.

In Malawi, efforts are underway to ensure access to reliable, affordable internet and to train the workforce for a digital future. Investments in digitalization could lead to an increase in productivity growth for African businesses, raising wages and creating jobs. Companies and regulators are searching for ways to overcome the high price of smartphones and expand internet access so that small businesses can benefit from the tech innovations emerging across Africa.

The “Mighty Mahseer,” Pakistan’s national fish, is central to the livelihoods of communities along the Poonch River. Although decades of poor river conditions endangered the Mahseer, a new approach to sustainability has boosted their number and revitalized natural resources. By spotlighting the voices of local teachers, conservation activists, government officials, and business leaders, this immersive story shows how the community’s attitude toward sustainability changed.