A surge in investment in solar power is bringing down costs of the alternative energy source, but affordability problems still dog hopes for the 1.6 billion people worldwide without electricity.

The sun supplies only a tiny fraction -- less than one tenth of 1 percent -- of mankind's energy needs. But its supporters believe a solar era may be dawning, boosted by western funding to combat oil "addiction" and climate change.

Governments from Japan to Germany and the United States are helping the public wean themselves off fossil fuels.

Latin America’s poorest women once had few options for bettering their circumstances, but an organization called Pro Mujer has opened up a new world of opportunity by providing small loans and other services.

Naseema, 36, fled to Kabul with her family in 1999 after the Taliban set fire to their village in northern Afghanistan. Like many residents of the mountainous country's northern regions, Naseema's family built a one-room shack in Kabul's mountains, where thousands of the city's poor live in illegal tenements.

A top banker called on commercial banks to downscale to the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ for sustainable economic development – sustenance of the poor and stressed the great importance of banking with the poor.

The plea was made by Chandula Abeywickrema, Deputy General Manger, Banking and Network Management, Hatton National Bank making his presentation at the recently held Annual Convention of the Association of Professional Bankers, Sri Lanka.

ABN AMRO Bank India today announced that its Microfinance division has succeeded in providing basic financial support to over five lac underprivileged households in India. The total ABN AMRO Microfinance loan portfolio has seen tremendous growth, crossing Rs 200 crores in a short time span of four years.

Initiated in September 2003, these services have provided financial aid to more than 540,000 households while maintaining a “nil” non performing asset portfolio till date. The Microfinance operations achieved break even in the first year itself and continue to be profitable.

At Mumbai's suburban railway stations big multinational financial institutions are distributing leaflets in regional languages urging people to come and borrow without any hassles of providing security. This is quite a dramatic leap for lenders who for years have been insisting on a security worth twice the loan amount and two guarantors before releasing even a single rupee.

Consider the following five countries: China, India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico. With a combined population of approximately 2.9 billion people, they have nearly 10 times the U.S. population. Their combined gross domestic product approaches $5.8 trillion—nearly half the U.S. GDP. Several of the economies are growing at breathtaking rates: approximately 11% last year in China and more than 9% in India, far exceeding the 3.3% U.S. growth rate.

Kurt Hoffman from the Shell Foundation says we should celebrate the growing acceptance that the private sector has a key role to play in international development - but says there is still a long way to go.