News stories by Adam Robert Green

The microfinance industry is expanding at breakneck pace, with more banks and private equity firms now entering the fray. Yet there is growing unease about the naive assumptions, and evangelical predictions, of its advocates.

A proposed anti-counterfeit trade deal between 10 countries and the European Union (EU) could create 'a new set of barriers to the export of generic medicines to low income countries'.

The 3.75 billion dollar World Bank loan for a new a coal-fired power station in South Africa is essential for economic growth in neighbouring low income countries, according to Dr Mohamed Abdelrahman, energy advisor for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a programme of the African Union.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published the first details of a proposed financing framework, dubbed the 'Green Fund', intended to mobilise 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to help developing countries cope with the consequences of climate change and mitigate further emissions.

The European Commission (EC) is increasing the pressure on the East African Community (EAC) to sign the free trade deal known as an economic partnership agreement with the EU.