Corporate Council for Africa introduction

Sunday 10 MAY 2009         20:45  - 22:00 EST

Session Attendees:         Nishi Andra, Vivek Nath Olivia Campos, Taylor Hickem, Brigitte Silver, Kenneth Simons

 

Next Session

SUN 17 MAY 21:30 – 22:30 EST

Moderator

this week 10 MAY : Taylor

Weekly Update

Kenneth Simons – Program analyst for Corporate Council for Africa - welcome!

Discussion Topics

Corporate Council for Africa - a non-profit that promotes US business investment into Africa

 

 Trekking for Kids. – Organization that organizes hikes, and helping orphanage projects in various parts of the world

 

Ideas for focus areas

–        women’s issues (fertility, equal rights) may not be as good a use of engineering skills

compared with working on water sanitation projects

-         rural electricity distribution infrastructure is important, because it allows for more productive hours in the day, among other things

-         engineering training resources are also in short supply – working on engineering training curriculum would be a worthwhile effort

-         some organizations are offering cheap solar panels ~ $100 for Africa projects – mcc.gov

-         gas flaring is damaging to the environment, waste of natural resources and an opportunity for engineers to help

New Affiliated Organizations

Millennium Challenge Corporation

http://www.mcc.gov/

 

Trekking for kids

http://www.trekkingforkids.org/

 

One laptop per child

http://laptop.org/en/

 

Conversation Transcript: (available at SustainableAfricaGroup documents)

Brookings Institute - Africa Growth Initiative

http://www.brookings.edu/projects/africa-growth.aspx

The Brookings Institute

http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/12_malaria_cohen.aspx

Free Distribution Or Cost-Sharing? Evidence From A Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment

Health Care, Africa, Global Health, Global Economics, Economic Development

Jessica Cohen, Development Economics Research Fellow, Global Economy and Development 
Pascaline Dupas, Assistant Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College

It is widely believed that cost-sharing—charging a subsidized, positive price—for a health product is necessary to avoid wasting resources on those who will not use or do not need the product. We explore this argument in the context of a field experiment in Kenya, in which we randomized the price at which pregnant women could buy long lasting anti-malarial insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) at prenatal clinics. We find no evidence that cost-sharing reduces wastage on those that will not use the product: women who received free ITNs are not less likely to use them than those who paid subsidized positive prices. We also find no evidence that cost-sharing induces selection of women who need the net more: those who pay higher prices appear no sicker than the prenatal clients in the control group in terms of measured anemia (an important indicator of malaria). Cost-sharing does, however, considerably dampen demand. We find that uptake drops by 75 percent when the price of ITNs increases from 0 to $0.75, the price at which ITNs are currently sold to pregnant women in Kenya. We combine our estimates in a cost-effectiveness analysis of ITN prices on infant mortality that incorporates both private and social returns to ITN usage. Overall, given the large positive externality associated with widespread usage of insecticide-treated nets, our results suggest that free distribution to pregnant women is both more effective and more cost-effective than cost-sharing.