The Future For Africa Is Trade Not Aid: Celebrating the UK-Africa Investment Summit
What is the current landscape for trade and investment in Africa? Africa has substantial economic potential. The IMF estimates that Africa is home to eight of the world’s 15 fastest growing economies. By 2050, over 2 billion people will live in Africa and one in four global consumers will be African. These thriving, young, innovative […]
Fintech Opens New Opportunities for Private Sector to Support Cash Transfer Aid in Developing Countries
A new global network of blockchain-based community currencies, announced very recently, demonstrates how fintech is creating new ways for public and private sector partners to work together to help the most vulnerable. The two-year project will test, develop and distribute eVouchers, or Community Inclusion Currencies, held in mobile wallets on feature phones in some of […]
Invictus: A Reflection from Kelley School of Business and Indiana University
Like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela’s life has become a rallying cry for justice, equality and peace. His story is well-known; after decades of imprisonment, he becomes the President of South Africa. As he is leaving prison, he realizes that to not forgive means that he will continue to be in prison and so his presidency is […]
What Will Last Mile Distribution Look Like in 2025? Six Predictions for an Emerging Sector
Beneficial household products such as solar lights, improved cookstoves, water purifiers, nutritional supplements and agricultural inputs can play a significant role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. But these products can’t make an impact if they don’t reach the last mile customers who could benefit from them. And since they often live in rural communities […]
It’s Time We Understand All of a Business’ Impacts on People and the Planet
Many of us are entering the new decade with a sense of urgency as well as possibility. Whilst we know more and more about the global threats to society and the environment, we are increasingly made aware of the opportunities to actively contribute to positive change. This awareness is reflected in the way that we […]
Sustainability and Profitability Can Co-Exist. Here’s How
There is an urgent need for businesses to look beyond the bottom line. Businesses with ESG principles built into their strategy, can mitigate risk and drive profitable growth. The onus lies with business leaders to figure out the right balance between short-term and long-term priorities. As part of my routine interactions with colleagues, industry peers, […]
Top Stories of 2019
While the social impact and business agenda is shaping up for 2020, we first wanted to share the most popular stories we published in 2019 with you. A huge thank you to the authors featured in this list and to all of you who made contributions. We hope these stories inspire you and welcome your submissions this year*. 10 Seven Key Learnings for Corporate Partnership Leads in […]
10 People Who Inspired Me in 2019 and Make Me Optimistic for 2020
We are fast approaching the darkest day in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice on 22 December. For some, it is tempting to read that as a metaphor for this moment, with the forward march of national populism and continued foot-dragging on climate change. But do not despair. All around us in 2019 have been […]
10 Trends That Should Be on Your Board’s Radar
Ten things that caught my attention on the topic of business and social impact: 1.Climate change goes social: Global CEOs rank it as the biggest threat to business. But it has taken Greta Thunberg leading six million people to strike for the climate on one day to generate a feeling of real action. The global […]
A Year at the Intersection Between Business and Social Impact
Fortunately for me, there was a role on offer supporting Katie Hyson, Director of Thought Leadership and the host of one of the ‘’. I didn’t think twice about accepting. I never imagined I would find myself working at the intersection between business and social impact, and the past twelve months have been beyond eye-opening. […]
Positive Impact Tool – Shape the Future of Investor Impact Measurement
Introducing the Positive Impact measurement tool. The UNEP FI wants businesses to help shape how this tool is developed further. Hear from Careen Abb in this exclusive presentation to find out more about how the tool works. Your feedback will help shape the future of this work. Note, the UNEP Finance Initiative’s Positive Impact tool […]
Appropriate Technology for Serving the ‘Last Mile’ – The Need for Simple, Flexible and Scalable Solutions
Technology Challenges With the widespread proliferation of mobile phones, most of the leading FMCG players have attempted various initiatives to use technology to reach and gain visibility of mass-market businesses. However, while mobile phones are a true game-changer, common misconceptions have plagued many of these initiatives: Assumption 1: Mobile Phone = Mobile Data The majority […]
Harnessing the Power of Businesses to Advocate for Change
Improving social responsibility requires broad, holistic engagements that reach beyond company walls to influence stakeholders and decision-makers, fostering cross-sector partnerships to drive change. With their size and reach, multinational companies are in a position to influence their peers, investors and political leaders to step up the action for sustainable development. By cooperating with each other, […]
Welcome to Business Fights Poverty Magazine Issue 4: Delivering Impact
Adjusting the Lens on Inequality
2019 has been a transformative year for the inequality debate. From the historic broadening of the Business Roundtable’s view on the role of a corporation to the protests taking place in Chile, Haiti, Lebanon and elsewhere, a common thread is the need to address inequalities in human development and the sense of unfairness they can […]
Working With Business to Stop Corruption
Bribery and corruption scandals have a major impact on every aspect of a company, from fines and reputational damage to internal issues such as the erosion of staff morale. Furthermore, bribery creates an unequal playing field, syphoning billions out of markets and takes a huge toll on the world’s poorest people. A world without bribery […]
Nestlé’s System to Tackle Child Labor Works – Now We’re Scaling It Up
Our system was successful in tackling child labor in just over half of cases in the 2019 reporting period. Strong progress, but now we’re going further. What underlies the successes we’ve had, and how can we improve? Well, the system’s strength stems from the fact that we’ve built it from the ground upwards. Our 1,640 […]
Better Coffee, Better Prices: Improving Farmer Livelihoods through Quality Improvements
The hillsides surrounding Besheshe village in western Ethiopia are covered in coffee gardens and wild coffee trees growing under the forest canopy. Generations of farmers there have depended on this coffee to eke out a living. The varietals near Besheshe are unique, with the potential to produce the kind of flavors that discerning coffee drinkers […]
Reaching the Elusive Last Mile – Challenges of Digitizing Indirect FMCG Distribution Channels in Emerging Markets
With over 400 million business not connected to the digital economy and an annual “offline” trade of $5 trillion (Based on World Bank Statistics), today’s global consumer facing companies realize that reaching the ‘elusive last mile’ is key to their bottom line and ongoing growth. However, despite many efforts, ranging from partnerships with NGOs and […]
Social Innovation: The Answer to Progress
Innovation is not just about new ideas and methods, it’s about the new ways of thinking that lead to them. It’s also about new data models and being open to change that can improve products and services. In fact, at Salesforce.org, our most trailblazing products came from ideation and co-creation with customers, volunteers, interns and […]