whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1. No way out; ducking the Eskom bullet
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ther way, tax increases cause prices to rise and this effects the poor more than anyone else. In order to finance state-owned businesses, government needs to raise money from taxpayers just as the ec...

2. Simba the Saviour?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...s well as Minister of Youth. His most significant and controversial appointment was that of Minister of Finance in 2000. This was an appointment which, to many, was to be the turning point for an e...

3. Trevor Manuel and the "Plunder of Skills"
(Analysis/Analysis)

Trevor Manuel, South Africa's long-serving Minister of Finance, has had a busy time of it. When he hasn't been demanding reform at the IMF, he has been lecturing the US and Western Europe on

4. Investment cannot happen if the market isn't private
(Analysis/Analysis)

...uo;. Government has also declared their unhappiness with Mittal Steel and decided that it is important to finance a state-owned competitor. Having sold off Iskor they want to have another go. The s...

5. South Africa's two tiers
(Analysis/Analysis)

... to plug holes in government's job creation strategy. From Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, all seem to recognise that the informal sector is here to sta...

6. The war of informal markets against central states; a bellwether of support
(Analysis/Analysis)

...allow them to send foreign currency via email, SMS or even money-wire services. Gideon Gono, the Zimbabwe finance minister, can raise interest rates to the moon but he will be unable to reign in spen...

7. Start your business in Johannesburg but hire your advisor in Cape Town
(Analysis/Analysis)

... says Hermann Jeuschenak, Director of Ratings at Whythawk. Gauteng entrepreneurs secure significantly less finance (R 42 000 per business relative to R 233 000 in the Western Cape), are less likely to...

8. The Jimmy Wales interview: Wikipedia and Lessons in Globalisation
(Analysis/Analysis)

...his point, as the service is free, Wikipedia relies exclusively on the donations of benevolent citizens to finance its operations.  Last year they spent $ 1 million.  This year they expect t...

9. Hedging and bundling; improving the efficiency of microlending
(Analysis/Analysis)

...cing solutions work in an aggregated credit model. Grameen has perfected the model but, largely, all microfinance banks work in the same way. A self-help group comes into being; impoverished women (...

10. From Linux to Mozilla: donations mean that open-source isn't really free
(Analysis/Analysis)

...or it. People will only pay for it once it's perfect. Consider this new form of venture capital Crowd Finance or Crowd Development. Many open-source products are getting to the point of commerc...

11. Demonstration Enterprise Development Consultant B
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...ies and Procedures: A Client Service Perception: A Client Service Support: BBB Client Finance Solutions: A Client Investment and Survival Rates: B Link to overview of ra...

12. Demonstration Enterprise Development Consultant A
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...ies and Procedures: AA Client Service Perception: A Client Service Support: AA Client Finance Solutions: BBB Client Investment and Survival Rates: A Link to overview of...

13. Demonstration Table of Ratings
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

... Current Overall Score Last Reviewed Outlook Management & Infrastructure Finance & Sustainability Operational Effectiveness Demonstration Hea...

14. Development organisations need to engage with ratings agencies
(Analysis/Analysis)

...en Bank, recent elevation in winning the Nobel Peace Prize has dramatically increased the interest in microfinance solutions to poverty.  Organisations across the globe are reinventing themselves...

15. Lies, damned lies, and curriculum vitae; or why ratings may be the future of education
(Analysis/Analysis)

...opment spending.  This morning, at the Deloitte Budget Breakfast, Crispin Sonn of Old Mutual Personal Finance became the first to voice a concern that will grow louder and louder, "There are...

16. General Scorecard Overview and Summary
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...ummary Rating: Outlook:  Individual Scorecard Summary  Management & Infrastructure: Finance & Sustainability: Operational Effectiveness:   Score...

17. A story of an African Orphan
(Analysis/Analysis)

...se most state organs view these institutions as being removed from the community, and they are not keen to finance what they feel should be a measure of last resort. There is still a stigma for chil...

18. "On your left is an Orc fighting a Troll" - travels in hyper-reality offer lessons for the poor
(Analysis/Analysis)

...then Wikineur.org has dozens of ideas that cost less than $ 100 each to set up.  If even that little finance is a problem then Kiva.org, an innovative service in which people lend money from aro...

19. Western Cape economic development support agencies lack the capacity to halve unemployment
(Analysis/Analysis)

... plan produced by an enterprise development consultant calls for loans of R 165 000, while banks prefer to finance an average of R 233 000 per business.  "Development organisations are not e...

20. Enterprise Development and Employment: Experiences in South Africa and South Eastern Europe
(Analysis/Analysis)

...essing the unemployment problem. Some of the trends already emerging include issues surrounding access to finance, support for small business, and the impact of industrial restructuring. As a gener...

21. So how exactly do you invest in the Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...companies, to statistical reports on market trends, to specially hired consultants.  The free flow of finance in capital markets depends on independent and impartial trend analysis and institutio...

22. Enterprise - Ratings and Scorecard overview
(FAQs/Rating FAQs)

...Policies and Procedures: Client Service Perception: Client Service Support: Client Finance Solutions: Client Investment and Survival Rates: Score Summary AAA - A ra...

23. Ithala and The Corruption Of Development
(Analysis/Analysis)

...politicians and bigwigs without clear business incentives to do so.   Which comes first, business or finance?  If you're the government of a failing economy with little business activit...

24. Checklist for Assessing Organisation Ability
(Events/Events)

...vestigation into any development organisation: Is the organisation a start-up or an established entity? If finance is to be raised is it for a project or to refinance existing debt? What is the sense ...

25. Guide To Volunteering
(Analysis/Donation Tips)

...e until it can hire more staff. Evaluate their programs Once you are satisfied with the organisation's finances, invest some time exploring the charity's programmatic successes. Weed out those...

26. Research Reports, eBooks and Ideas
(Static Content)

...no good reason at all. Wikineur: the thousand rand challenge Wikineur.org Microfinance and microenterprise are now recognised as being foundational to generating the econom...

27. Section 51 Manual for Whythawk Development CC
(Static Content)

...Author contracts Subscriptions records Sales records Stock records Production records Remuneration records Finances: Annual financial statements Assets inventory Tax records III. Form of request &amp...

28. Research Reports, eBooks and Ideas
(Static Content)

...no good reason at all. Wikineur: the thousand rand challenge Wikineur.org Microfinance and microenterprise are now recognised as being foundational to generating the econom...

29. Section 51 Manual for Whythawk Development CC
(Static Content)

...Author contracts Subscriptions records Sales records Stock records Production records Remuneration records Finances: Annual financial statements Assets inventory Tax records III. Form of request &amp...

30. Internet:Finance News
(News Feeds / Finance)

http://headlines.internet.com/internetnews/fina-news/news.rss