| The Bloomberg New Economy at B20 event in São Paulo starts tomorrow, and today's newsletter features some of the stories that fit its theme of "New Reality, New Rules." Plus: A report from Germany offers good news if you're dreaming of a four-day workweek. Please send newsletter feedback here, and if this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. Since 2018, Bloomberg has been convening dialogues among leaders in business and government to help bridge the divide between the Global North and the Global South. The initiative, called Bloomberg New Economy, aims to generate ideas and mobilize capital, know-how and technology to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. To coincide with its latest event, Oct. 22-23 in São Paulo, Bloomberg Businessweek presents stories of collaboration and cross-pollination, whether in e-waste or the Amazon, that bring new economies to life. Here's a sample:  E-waste at a scrapyard in Lagos. Photographer: Irene Galan/UNEP In Lagos, Nigeria, Tijjani Abubakar runs a surprising, and lucrative, business: He sells trash from one of the world's poorest countries to some of its wealthiest. The problem of rich countries dumping electronic waste in poor ones has been well-documented. What's far less reported is that there's a growing flood of digital detritus moving in the opposite direction, driven by entrepreneurs across the Global South. Vince Beiser, the author of Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future, takes us inside the network of unlicensed, untaxed scavengers and waste pickers who sell valuable e-waste to local brokers: The Surprisingly Lucrative Business of Recycled E-Waste  Operating an automated jacquard machine near Dhaka. Photographer: Fabeha Monir for Bloomberg Businessweek Rubana Huq's garment factory is a constant cacophony of hissing steam irons, swooshing fans and snipping scissors. In the vast industrial facility near Dhaka, Bangladesh, hundreds of women guide pieces of fabric through sewing machines, stitching clothing for the likes of H&M, Pepe Jeans and Primark. The scene evokes the growth strategy dozens of countries have followed in recent decades: factories employing legions of workers to produce goods for export, at wages that are low by Western standards but relatively generous in local terms. But as automation spreads, that playbook is less and less able to generate the economic expansion poorer countries need to raise standards of living. Kai Schultz and Shruti Srivastava write about how the old paradigms are changing: Developing Countries Can't Count on Manufacturing to Supercharge Growth  Illustrations by Matija Medved for Bloomberg Businessweek Catalyst: "An agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action," according to Merriam-Webster. What better way to describe the 16 inventors, entrepreneurs, visionaries, activists and investors who make up Bloomberg New Economy's class of 2024 Catalysts? They're trying to turn visions of a better world into reality. They include Philip Kauders of Brazil, who's using a data-driven platform to reforest the Earth; Kofi Owusu-Nhyira of Ghana, who's processing payments across Africa; Yihao Zhu of Hong Kong, who's developing electricity-free ways to cool buildings; and Catherine Hutchins and Aniyo Rahebi of Australia, who are creating waste-free, edible cups. Find more about them and the others here: The Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst List | 
No comments:
Post a Comment