Author: Webmaster Business Fights Poverty

Microsoft for Africa

Claire Lee, Head of Partnerships, Emerging Business Team, Microsoft Corporation The latest plan for Microsoft in Africa is all about enabling African youth realize their full potential. AliFaramawy, Corporate VP in MEA area, says: “For years, we have led the way in Africa: we opened many offices, hired hundreds of people, built a partner network, […]

Demo Africa

Six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies over the past decade are in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, Internet usage across Africa has grown faster than on any other continent in the world. The awakening of the African economy provides an opportunity for global and African entrepreneurs and enterprises to forge partnerships for mutual […]

Creating Sustainable Business Through Social Intrapraneurism

Of course it’s not all plain sailing and driving change bottom up, inside out, is tiring and often frustrating. The big disadvantage which intrapreneurs have over entrepreneurs is having to deal with the corporate immune system – the cultural anti-bodies which the corporate will unleash in the form of risk management processes, bureaucracy, short term […]

Sustainable Intensification: Reframing the Future of African Agriculture

Global discussions on agriculture policy can be a complex maze for organisations to navigate with emphasis shifting between a range of development priorities – from greater productivity and improved market access to climate change mitigation/adaptation and protection of land, air, water and biodiversity resources. Is there a system which helps us to find the synergies […]

Green Growth- The Role of the Private Sector

The question that traditional, public policy focussed development practitioners used to ask was “does the private sector matter for development”? Looking at the data, the answer is an overwhelming yes. Just by looking at small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) we can see that they contribute to 50% of jobs and 90% of all enterprises in Africa […]

Ian Lobo: From good to great – how to scale up successful programmes

One of the challenges in the international development sector relates to what is sometimes described as “pilot paralysis”. If that’s an unfair description of the fact that many successful development programmes seem to get stuck at a relatively small scale, then perhaps we can agree it’s a cause for concern that not enough impactful programmes […]

Linzi Moore: The ‘HOW’ behind Cross-Sector Partnerships

Richard Bostock, IMA International The challenge I have been a big believer in the power of cross-sector partnerships to positively impact development for a while now. However, the more research I did on the subject, the more complex the whole thing became. I wanted to find out the practicalities of HOW to make partnerships work… […]

The ‘HOW’ behind Cross Sector Partnerships

Richard Bostock, IMA International The challenge I have been a big believer in the power of cross-sector partnerships to positively impact development for a while now. However, the more research I did on the subject, the more complex the whole thing became. I wanted to find out the practicalities of HOW to make partnerships work… […]

Getting into International Development

The International Development sector is notoriously hard to get into, especially for those like myself who are mid-career and have no experience outside the commercial world. If you are interested in getting into the sector, but not sure how to go about it, here’s how I did it. Where it all started Like many people, […]

Reducing Child Labor & Forced Labor: Best Practices for Responsible Businesses

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), an estimated 215 million children toil in child labor around the world, and another 21 million people are trapped in forced labor. Today’s businesses have a critical role to play in reducing this problem, in partnership with governments and civil society groups. It’s the right thing to do, […]

Reducing Child Labor & Forced Labor: Best Practices for Responsible Businesses

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), an estimated 215 million children toil in child labor around the world, and another 21 million people are trapped in forced labor. Today’s businesses have a critical role to play in reducing this problem, in partnership with governments and civil society groups. It’s the right thing to do, […]

Street children: the problem on our conscience and our doorsteps

Every five minutes, a child in the UK runs away. Today is International Day for Street Children, and a pertinent time to reflect on what this means for people, business, and society. “Street children” can be found in prosperous Western Europe as well as in developing countries. Perhaps this is the first myth we need […]

Join Diamonds for Good

The diamond and jewelry industry is engaging in innovative strategies to increase consumer awareness of its efforts to fight poverty and to promote sustainable economic development in nations where diamonds are mined and extracted. Local, regional and international businesses continued to affirm the strategic importance of demonstrating a commitment to corporate social responsibility. Seven years […]

Improving Healthcare through Game-Changing Business Models

What better way to improve healthcare than through game-changing business models that have the potential to transform the industry? Ashoka Changemakers and Boehringer Ingelheim are partnering to find ideas that allow businesses throughout the world to Transform Health Systems. Finding innovative ways to change how healthcare is delivered and sustained is critical if the industry […]

Announcing the Winners of the NextBillion Case Writing Competition

In October 2012, the IFC lent Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional Tbk (BTPN) $100 million to finance small and micro enterprises, including women entrepreneurs. The financing, which was six times the amount IFC provided to BTPN in 2009, marked a significant milestone for the Indonesian bank. But just a few years earlier, BTPN President Jerry Ng […]