the mif blog

More than one-quarter of the world’s 7.3 billion people are between the ages of 10 and 24, according to a recent UN Population Fund Report. That means there are more than 1.8 billion youth—a historic high—who are actively looking for a job or will be soon. For the most part, developing countries are on the receiving end of this demographic boom, which creates promising opportunities to strengthen the quality of their workforce in order to boost their productivity and economic competitiveness. Unfortunately, most developing countries have not been able to capitalize on this demographic dividend.

Let's start with a simple puzzle. Using only the information provided below, can you determine whether the final statement is true or false? 

Throughout the world, the idea is gradually catching hold that including women in businesses and in positions of leadership results in more creative and more complementary work teams. The belief is that women’s vision helps businesses go further, and making them participants in the world of work creates better managed and more successful businesses. The result is the so-called “gender dividend.” 

When most people hear the word “unicorn,” images of a majestic white horse with a glistening, magical horn spring to mind. However, in business jargon, unicorns refer to privately held startups with market valuations of more than $1 billion—think Uber, Snapchat, and Airbnb—which operate across a range of sectors and are united in using technology as the basis of their business model.

The English-speaking Caribbean has its own particular brand of microfinance.