Insights on Scaling Corporate Social Enterprise
On November 20 and 21 in Santiago, Chile, leaders and experts from the corporate, government, academic, consulting, civil society, and impact investing worlds came together for an engaging discussion on scaling corporate social enterprise. The Inter-American Development Bank believes such enterprises offer huge potential as sustainable drivers of development, growth, and job creation. But, like […]
Giving Through Consumption
The weakest in Africa are predominantly rural and constitute approximately 70% of the population. They are often forced out of their habitat to give way to large scale investments only to return to their ancestral lands as cheap labour earning wages that are barely sufficient for their basic needs. They go hungry in presumed resource […]
A New Programme to Bring out Innovation and Change
Do you remember some of your most productive learning moments as an adult? They likely involved solving problems that were relevant to your life or working environment, and in an informal atmosphere. Learning moments in the inclusive business field are no exception. I vividly remember some “accelerated” learning experiences like arriving in Rwanda with what […]
How to Create a Transformative Business Model
On 2 December 2014, the Business Call to Action (BCtA), in partnership with the Business Fights Poverty (BFP), hosted a webinar discussion addressing the question, How Do You Create a Transformative Business Model? During the webinar we discussed challenges and opportunities that companies face in developing, sustaining and scaling successful inclusive business models that achieve […]
Closing the Early-Stage Financing Gap for Entrepreneurs
Picture your favorite startup company operating in the developing world. It might be selling solar lanterns to off-grid communities, providing transportation services for agricultural commodities, or perhaps operating a chain of grocery stores. Regardless of its sector or location, like any startup it probably did not follow a direct path to scale and success. It […]
IFC’s New Report on Inclusive Business
About 4.5 billion people in developing countries are low-income, living on $81 a day or less. They are the so-called base of the economic pyramid and constitute a $5 trillion consumer market. However, the success of local businesses has often been lost in the discussion of ‘BOP business’ to date. While case studies abound on […]
Two Types of Inclusive Business
How does one break down and analyse an inclusive business portfolio as large and diverse as Business Call to Action’s? The 94 BCtA member companies that have set up inclusive business initiatives range from global corporate conglomerates set up many decades ago, to early-stage social enterprises operating in just one area. So when it came […]
Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Rashid is a farmer I met in the Marangu region around Kilimanjaro, like his father and grandfather as well as the thousands of other farmers in the region he farms coffee, bananas and a variety of other vegetables. With declining crop prices, the income he earns from these crops is negligible and most of his […]
Challenging Assumptions Start-ups Can’t Reach Scale
Can start-ups scale? Can social enterprises reach sufficient millions of people to really crack problems of poverty? This question has been around for many years. Now first answers are emerging. A crop of ‘breakthrough’ social enterprises are emerging. They are growing fast, securing investment and partners, and reaching millions of people. Of course they do […]
How a New Breed of Multinationals Can Root Out Poverty
The number of people now living on $2 a day or less is greater than the world’s total population in 1950, when the global fight against poverty began. Only business can marshal the resources (human and financial) and the incentives (profits and wages) to address this tragic reality at scale, and sustain the effort for […]
Emerge 2014 – Living with Purpose, and Other Highlights
Great minds from all reaches of the social entrepreneurship realm came together at Said Business School this weekend for an intensive, 2-day conference to discuss some of the arena’s most pressing insights, developments and issues. Lead by Oxford’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, in conjunction with Student Hubs, this year’s Emerge Conference saw several major […]
Closing the Information Gap on Impact Investment
Information, as they say, is power. Nowhere is this truer than in business and finance. Most new business ventures will involve an element of risk or a leap of faith. However, the better calculated that risk, or the more accurately measured the leap, the better the chance of success. Which is why, the Impact Programme, […]
Dangerous Ideas Wanted: 20 years of Fairtrade in the UK
The ever-quotable Oscar Wilde said: ‘An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all’. Twenty years ago, Fairtrade burst onto Britain’s shop shelves with just such a dangerous idea: that farmers and workers in developing countries should be paid a fair price, that they needed a better deal – […]
A Roadmap for the Base of the Pyramid Domain
More than ever, business and market-based approaches in general are seen as critical parts of the solution to global poverty. Governments, NGOs and businesses – from startups to multinationals – have largely accepted this premise. Now, it is time to start talking more about how we, as a sector, can collectively share – and debate […]
Harnessing Markets to Enhance Access to Nutritious Food
Herbert Smorenburg, Senior Manager Netherlands Office, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition The IFC estimates that the 4.5 billion people at the “base of the pyramid” (BoP) spend $2.3 trillion a year on food and beverages. Even farmers are net purchasers of foods, particularly during the lean season before the next crop is harvested. Yet, this […]
How Do We Achieve Scale in Markets for Nutritious Food?
There is unprecedented interest in building value chains and market-based solutions to make nutritious foods more accessible to the people who need the most, and drive better nutrition. Efforts are spanning conventional sectorial divisions: agricultural development programs are introducing nutrition targets, national-level fortification programs are being scaled up and enterprises are developing specially-formulated supplementary foods […]
Technologies and Services for the Base of the Pyramid
, FUNDACIÓN CODESPA In recent years, innovative inclusive economic development strategies have been explored by development agencies, NGOs and business sector. This path has led to the consideration of the poorest and most vulnerable population, the so-called Base of the Pyramid (BoP), as a huge collective with capacity to generate economic dynamics and assume a […]
The BoP: Are Some Sectors Doing Better than Others?
In which sectors is inclusive business flourishing? Which are showing strongest performance in terms of revenue or reach to the Base of the Pyramid? Why are Health and Energy initiatives reporting slow progress, yet demonstrating high reach? Is Financial Inclusion the easiest success story? It is early days to come up with any conclusive answers, […]
Three Things You Should Know About Broadband
In the past year, MIT and NASA have been working hard to make broadband connectivity available on the moon. The results have been so positive that your connectivity on the moon is actually better than in many countries on Earth, including the United States. And this same year, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, created internet.org, […]
Advancing Research on Sustainable & Inclusive Business
Citi Foundation, Tufts University and Business Fights Poverty Launch New Report: Growth for Good or Good for Growth? Study Explores How Sustainable and Inclusive Business Activities are Changing Business The Citi Foundation is excited to announce our partnership with the Institute for Business in the Global Context at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, and Business Fights […]