What are the most promising Base of the Pyramid business models in Latin America?
Housing, education and banking, increasingly through mobile technology, are three of the fastest growing areas for private companies doing business with the Base of the Pyramid. Thanks to creative and also profitable new business models, low-income Colombians living outside the formal banking system are buying homes and appliances like fridges and washing machines on credit, […]
Empowering women at scale requires a strong business case and partnership
Coca-Cola, like many other businesses, recognises that our business growth journey in emerging economies will only be sustainable if the benefits of growth reach all members of society, especially those who traditionally have been marginalised, including women and young people. As a business, we believe that there is no better investment than women, both to […]
Event Audio: Empowering Women through Business -Bridging the Financing Gap, Cape Town
On 10 May 2013, The Coca-Cola Company and Business Fights Poverty convened a breakfast event, taking place in the margins of the Africa World Economic Forum, to explore how to strengthen support for women entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on enabling access to finance. A compelling social, economic and business case for investing in the […]
Business, the MDGs and Beyond, May 2013, Cape Town
On 8 May 2013, Business Fights Poverty and the Overseas Development Institute convened an event in Cape Town to explore the role of the private sector in shaping and delivering the post-2015 development agenda. As the world starts to explore what framework might replace the MDGs, it is important to integrate the views of those […]
Strengthening Inclusive Business Ecosystems
Before we started our recent research on Project Nurture, we had thought of the partnership as a relatively straightforward, three-way relationship among The Coca-Cola Company, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and TechnoServe. Between 2010 and 2014, Coca-Cola and the Gates Foundation would contribute $11.5 million to TechnoServe, which would in turn build the capacity […]
How Using Mobile Payment Systems Can Increase Your Revenue And Help You Keep Track Of Sales
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
The Challenge Of Selling To Consumers At The BoP
What do dairy cooperatives, micro-finance institutions, post offices, mobile phones, boys on bikes and women who walk all have in common? They are all potential channels to reach consumers at the base of the pyramid (BOP) with products ranging from agro-information to water-filters, including lighting, medicine, stoves and household goods. The challenge of selling to […]
Sustainable Sourcing: Unilever Challenges Its Own Value Chain
This week we announced that more than a third of our agricultural raw materials are now sourced sustainably. This is a significant milestone on our journey towards a target of 100 percent by 2020. Currently, our sustainable sourcing figure stands at 36 percent – up from 24 percent in 2011. We are very proud of […]
Creating Sustainable Business through Social Intrapreneurism
The world needs more change-makers: men and women who don’t just see things as they are, but who imagine things as they might be – and do something about it! This last few weeks, it felt as though another category of change-maker is starting to get real traction: the social intrapreneur. Social Intrapreneurs are people […]
An Industrial Concept for the BoP: Affordable Fire and Earthquake Resistant Houses
The recent earthquakes show that not earthquakes are killing most people but the insufficient built houses. Glass reinforced pipes are very popular in the gas, oil and water industry as they are heat resistant, lightweight and almost indestructible. They consist of sand (50%) polyester resin (30%) and glass fiber (20%). With diameters up to 4 […]
2012 Series: Adapting Business Strategies to Reach the BoP
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, […]
Discussion: What can social intrapreneurs learn from social entrepreneurs?
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 […]