Women's Power in Agriculture
A salesgirl dressed as a cowgirl waits for clients in a cattle showroom in Depok, West Java province, Indonesia, Oct. 18, 2012. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni When it comes to women’s economic empowerment, we tend to hear only about the two ends of the spectrum: high-flying women who’ve made it to the top in the macho world […]
Women’s Power in Agriculture
A salesgirl dressed as a cowgirl waits for clients in a cattle showroom in Depok, West Java province, Indonesia, Oct. 18, 2012. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni When it comes to women’s economic empowerment, we tend to hear only about the two ends of the spectrum: high-flying women who’ve made it to the top in the macho world […]
The Remarkable Progress of Inclusive Business
The first flagship report of Business Call to Action (BCtA) reviewing 5 years, shows strong evidence of progress made by BCtA member companies in providing benefits to people at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) while delivering commercial success. It also maps key challenges found in each sector for companies that engage with the low-income […]
Securing Growth with Depth
In the push for African states to collaborate with business for economic transformation, this report offers fresh, promising ideas for the “how.” Economic transformation, as we champion it at the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), is growth with DEPTH. That is, growth with diversification, export competitiveness, productivity increases and technological upgrading, all leading to […]
Partnering for Impact
Despite growing optimism about Africa’s economic prospects, progress is fragile and incomplete. Growth has yet to benefit many Africans, with almost half the population still living on less than $1.25 a day. With almost 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, Africa has the youngest population in the world, and with that number expected […]
Why We Need Innovative Financing
Innovative financing’s “bridge” role in economic, social, and environmental development As the development agenda comes under the spotlight at this week’s UN General Assembly in New York, one thing will become clear: the future we want – a future that meets the needs of people and the planet – will require investments estimated in the […]
Barclays, Intrapreneurship and The Intrapreneur Lab
On 16 September, Milan Samani, Director of the Intrapreneur Lab, interviewed Mark Thain, Vice President, Social Innovation, Barclays, and Damian Payiatakis, Director of Strategic Development, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management. The conversation covered Barclay’s approach to supporting intrapreneurship and innovation, and their experience with The Intrapreneur Lab – a collaboration between Business Fights Poverty, Accenture […]
Life in the IBM Corporate Service Corps in China
Born and raised in Balotra, a moderate town in Rajasthan in the West of India, entrepreneurship was part of my heritage. I grew up surrounded by people who’d set up their own businesses and so when I finished my undergraduate degree in engineering I felt the call of business and made my way via advanced […]
USAID Promotes Inclusive Business for Development Goals
The Business Call to Action interviews Ricardo Michel, Director, Centre for Transformational Partnerships, US Global Development Lab at USAID Ricardo Michel is responsible for the overall strategic direction to best use local and global public-private partnerships for accelerated sustainable development. Previously, Michel served as acting director for the Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, where […]
Overcoming Barriers to Internet Connectivity
The Business Call to Action interviews Abdullah Orkun Kaya, CEO of TTNET TTNET was founded in 2006 and has become one of Turkey’s leading internet companies. The company plays a pioneering role in the communications industry with its mix of digital products and services, and also in developing responsible business models. Offering a combination of […]
Making a Better Life in Business
Mbuotidem Okorie dreamt of having his own business, but his disability forced him to beg for a living without hope of work in Nigeria. A Shell programme supporting young entrepreneurs has helped him and others achieve their ambitions. Without the use of his legs, and having no wheelchair or work, paraplegic Mbuotidem Okorie struggled to […]
Occupy, Entrepreneurship and Why Businesses Must Evolve
In September 2011 what started as a social movement in a public space at Zuccotti Park in New York City, became an opportunity for those unsatisfied with the way things were to speak out and demand change. At the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors (which, by the way, is full of activists who first […]
Running the Numbers, and Having a Transformative Impact
Children attending school in the elements of Africa without shelter, electricity or modern teaching tools Over the last 30 years I have found it useful to constantly and obsessively “Run the Numbers” when I look at any business opportunity. I try to do this in a way that quickly strikes to the heart of any […]
Improving Smallholders Farmers’ Access to Fertilizers in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa represents 10% of the total global population, yet cereal crop yields are only one-third as high as in developing Asia and one-tenth as high as in the United States. Because of such low agricultural productivity – the lowest in the world, the continent spends roughly US$35 billion a year on food imports. The […]
Collaboration: The Essential Key to Intrapreneurism
Today I interviewed Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative, and Milan Samani, Director, The Intrapraneur Lab, about the connection between partnership and intrapreneurship. Listen to the full audio below. Some of the questions we talked about were: What is it about partnerships that can be so important to intrapreneurs? What are the main challenges […]
Once A Victim, Then A Survivor, Now an Entrepreneur
I often recount that when I started HERA France I incorrectly believed that I did not know a single woman around me who had been a victim of violence. Now I can firmly say I know many. And I am not speaking of the women who are enrolled in my program, but of the countless […]
Moving to the City
Every second, two people move into a city. Across the world, that’s a million people every week. Many are in search of a better life but, when they arrive, what they find is not what they were expecting. The world is driven by self-interest and nowhere is this more evident than in cities. Behaviour is […]
Participatory Market Research: New Target Group Insight
Photo Credit: Claudia Knobloch Sawing a bed in half to create bunks that will fit in a small room may seem strange at first glance, but look deeper: Furniture on offer in Brazilian stores does not meet the needs of low-income customers. As a result, these consumers either modify what’s available, or spend more money […]
Design Expo Report 2014
The Direct Impact of Microfinance
Would you invest in a business if you knew it could make 210% net profit in less than 12 months? When staff at Friska, a small business based in Bristol, decided to provide a loan of £140 via Deki to Lydia Nyirongo in Malawi, they believed the loan would help Lydia change her life. What […]