The Power Of Partnership And The Complexity Of Creating Meaningful Change
It started with people and the idea that we, at Coca-Cola, could marry our business interests and expertise to make our products available, acceptable and affordable with the ever growing potential of African agriculture. It seems like a simple transaction for farmers to grow, buy and sell food. However, the reality is a complex one […]
TechnoServe: Laying The Foundation For Sustainable Change
In eastern Uganda, the members of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association once let their mangoes fall to the ground and rot. Buyers considered the local variety, the Sena, to be too low-quality for pulping and juicing. As a result, farmers never cultivated mangoes as a cash crop. Project Nurture, a partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, […]
Getting Paid – The Value of Using Mobile Payment Systems
In several developing and emerging markets, the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions (‘mobile money’) is now widely accepted, including by those at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP)*. The largest telecoms provider in Africa, MTN, transfers close to $208 million across their networks every month, according to its CEO Themba Khumalo. […]
The Power of Partnership and Creating Meaningful Change
It started with people and the idea that we, at Coca-Cola, could marry our business interests and expertise to make our products available, acceptable and affordable with the ever growing potential of African agriculture. It seems like a simple transaction for farmers to grow, buy and sell food. However, the reality is a complex one […]
My Experience as a Mentee in the Mentoring Women in Business Programme (Part 3)
Dumpling Dreams was previously just an “idea”, but over the past year became an implementable and actionable plan. After I returned from the UK, my mentor and I firstly needed to brainstorm about how to raise the start-up capital necessary to put this dream into motion. December 2012: Lenovo group launched their “For Those Who […]
Realizing Africa’s Wealth: Building Inclusive Businesses
Inclusive Business, Impact Investment, Pro-poor economic growth, value chain approaches and improving ecosystems are just a few buzz words floating around in current development debates. They all have one overarching key question in common: How to bring previously excluded people into the marketplace and share economic benefits with low-income communities? The UNDP major report “Realizing […]
Transforming Solar Pumping to Eliminate Rural Poverty
What if we could harness the limitless power of the sun to carry water to the crops of millions of small poor farmers around the world? If I want to water my petunias, I turn on the tap outside my house, hold my thumb over the end of a battered green hose, and water away. […]
My Experience as a Mentee in the Women in Business Programme (Part 2)
At the same time I met my mentor, I came across a potential study abroad opportunity in the UK, the “China-UK Arts Management Professional Development Programme” run by the British Council. The programme fit perfectly with the type of work I was doing. Until then, I had never been abroad. If selected, I would be […]
Entrepreneurship in Colombia
Entrepreneurship in Colombia from Business Fights Poverty on Vimeo. Fundación Bavaria
China's Silent Army – A Review
As I write this, the ever-growing dominance of China is often in the news – and not always in a good way. From Australia, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, writes in the New Statesman that ‘for the first time since George III, a non-western, non-democratic state will be the largest economy in the world. […]
China’s Silent Army – A Review
As I write this, the ever-growing dominance of China is often in the news – and not always in a good way. From Australia, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, writes in the New Statesman that ‘for the first time since George III, a non-western, non-democratic state will be the largest economy in the world. […]
Creating Opportunities in Rural East Africa
For most young people in rural communities in Africa, opportunities are scarce. With only 28 percent of Africa’s labor force holding stable wage-paying jobs, and most of those concentrated in urban areas, rural life can appear to offer little prospect for advancement. On a recent trip to Kenya, I met 26-year-old Alice Micere from Njukiini, […]
My Experience as a Mentee in the Mentoring Women in Business Programme (Part 1)
I work at Hua Dan in Beijing and Sichuan Province which is a non-profit organization dedicated to using theatre to bring out the full potential in people, to encourage them to lead their own lives and their communities with courage, confidence and creativity. I prioritize working with and for migrant women as well as children, […]
Four Tips for Becoming an Intrapreneur
Sometimes, the hardest part about becoming an intrapreneur is just getting started. Intrapreneurs improve existing systems by advocating for CSR, sustainability, shared value, or engaging with the community. They are internal innovators who innovate within a larger company or organization, as opposed to within startups – which are generally expected to be more innovative. I’m […]
Using education to sustain Africa’s growth
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report tells us that sustained economic growth across Africa is due, at least in part, to institutional reforms in the health and primary education sectors. Education increases economic growth, helps families and communities to prosper, and empowers people to gain employment and live healthier, more fulfilling lives. In the […]
2013 Series: Measuring Impact, for Impact, London
On Wednesday, 1 May, Business Fights Poverty convened an event with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Business Innovation Facility on “Measuring Impact, for Impact” in London. The event was hosted by Standard Chartered. The event was moderated by Simon Maxwell, Senior Researcher, Overseas Development Institute. The speakers are listed below, along […]
Education in India: Time for a Bold New Experiment
Strategy Director, ARK International Public and private schools are failing to give children in India a good education—we need an alternative approach. It rained hard last night in Delhi, and the narrow street in one of the city’s slum colonies—home to no less than four private schools—is ankle deep in mud. In one school at […]
Delivering on Africa's Promise
Africa is forging ahead. Sustained growth – despite the global downturn – has strengthened its leaders’ resolve to stay on a path of reform, even if sometimes the pace is slower than one might wish. Its businesses are beginning to build brands capable of competing internationally. Its consumers are spending more and creating opportunities for […]
Delivering on Africa’s Promise
Africa is forging ahead. Sustained growth – despite the global downturn – has strengthened its leaders’ resolve to stay on a path of reform, even if sometimes the pace is slower than one might wish. Its businesses are beginning to build brands capable of competing internationally. Its consumers are spending more and creating opportunities for […]
Meeting Nutrition Commitments in Latin America
Nestlé Executive Vice President and Head of Zone Americas (AMS) Last week I attended the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Peru, where discussion will focus on the theme of ‘delivering growth and strengthening societies’. In a region where many countries shoulder what’s known as the ‘double burden’ of malnutrition, one way to strengthen […]