Why Corporation Tax will Never be Boring Again
At a roundtable discussion on responsible tax earlier this week, a senior tax executive wished out loud for the return of the days when corporation tax was boring. His comment was light-hearted, but neatly captures the current climate. Corporate tax avoidance is scarcely out of the news. As governments struggle to fund basic services, people […]
Interview with Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash, Bangladesh
Katie Allen interviews Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash, mobile money provider in Bangladesh. Q1: Many of us have heard of the M-Pesa phenomenon that achieved great success in East Africa, but bKash remains under the radar. How is BKash different from other mobile money providers? Kamal Quadir: In terms of customer experience, bKash is no […]
Extending Financial Access to Young People
Violet is 21 years old, married and a mother of two. She is also the owner of a steelworks business where her husband is one of her employees. When she speaks of expanding her business, her voice is full of confidence and hope, undeterred when others make jokes about how she manages her husband. Violet […]
Financial Inclusion: Hybrid Models for a Complex World
Fashion, fish and financial inclusion. What connects all three? In Bangladesh these are all part of an evolved structure put in place by BRAC that combines community empowerment with sustainability and shared values. BRAC is synonymous with business and market-based solutions in Bangladesh, where the breadth and scope of our work is felt at a […]
Defeating Malaria and Reinforcing Health Systems
In the fight against malaria, we are finally seeing real progress – the result of many years of hard work. This year however is a critical juncture, bringing opportunities to consolidate and accelerate progress already made against the disease. Over the coming months, the World Health Organization and the Roll Back Malaria partnership will publish […]
Women are the Crux of Africa’s Development
Recent estimates state that women provide approximately 70 per cent of agricultural labour and produce about 90 per cent of all food in Africa. At the same time, women and girls reinvest an average of 90 percent of their income in their families, compared to 30 to 40 percent for men. It is clear that […]
The One Thousand and One Questions on Business Ethics
What is an ethical business? Bernardo Toro, an advisor to the Avina Foundation, said it clearly and with humor during the opening ceremony of the Latin America Impact Investing Forum (FLII) which took place in Mérida, México at the end of February: “It is a business that doesn’t prey on people; one that creates real […]
Trader Standards Get a Make-over
Do you have a flattering angle that you prefer for photos? Do you turn your head slightly toward the camera, nose down? Do you like looking wistfully off to the right? Among Fairtrade campaigners, a worryingly large number of people seem to think their best angle is in a banana suit. But at Fairtrade, we […]
Using Mobile Money for School Fee Payments
Sometimes it seems like everyone is talking about mobile money. Last week Jim Kim said that he sees mobile money as a path to give financial …. Bill and Melinda Gates boldly bet that mobile money will help the poor transform their lives in the next 1…. We responded with a piece on how NGOs […]
Is Agribusiness or Agroecology the Future of Africa?
In a recent blog on Business Fights Poverty, Gem Kodhek claimed that ‘the future of Africa is agribusiness,’ highlighting how it is a growing area of investment and represents an exciting future for the continent. Indeed, large amounts of global capital are being invested, including the AECF challenge fund competition which will award grants and […]
A Sustainable Garment Industry in Cambodia?
Cambodia is proving to be the next tough test case for multinationals’ supply chain weaknesses Without a doubt, the garment industry is the peg on which Cambodia’s economy hangs: 350,000 young workers are employed in making the shirts and shoes, hoodies and underwear, skirts and jeans found in stores such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, […]
Pathways to Smarter Digital Financial Inclusion
The limitations of what may be termed the push era of digital financial inclusion are becoming increasingly apparent. We have seen strong outreach by a relatively small number of very powerful players —mostly telcos and some large banks— to recruit customers onto their digital transactional platforms. In some cases, where the client proposition has been […]
Unlocking Business Potential of Small-Scale Agriculture
Today’s farmers face an uphill battle. The uncertainties of climate change further complicate more familiar problems such as land degradation, land scarcity, and younger generations leaving agriculture. Many farmers in the developing world already face erratic climate conditions that frequently devastate their crops and herds and prevent them from investing in more productive agricultural technologies. […]
Evolving to Inclusive Finance
Transformative impact requires a range of financial services and products. It comes from a holistic approach, and that’s our strategy at Citi. Over the past decade, Citi, in partnership with governments, institutional clients and non-profit organizations, has attempted to build an inclusive financial infrastructure that enables long-lasting positive impact. We’ve worked on savings, payments, credit […]
No Strings, Big Risks and Even Bigger Rewards
We are taught at school if at first you don’t succeed, then try, try and try again, yet how many charities put this mantra into practice? Too many charities avoid risk and rarely admit failure, especially to their donors, which prevents them from learning from mistakes or revising their strategies. Yet charities have such huge […]
Living Wage Comes of Age?
January in the UK is a time of New Year’s resolutions, traditionally with commitments to new goals, or renewed attempts to meet some old ones. The trick is to stick with your plans and implement them – not run out of steam half way through February. I’m curious to see if this is the year […]
The World Needs A Pay Rise
Oxfam recently issued a guide for businesses on implementing living wages throughout their global supply chains, and it puts collective bargaining and trade unions centre stage. The paper is full of voluntary steps that businesses could take to ensure workers in their supply chains are paid a living wage, whether direct employees or not. And […]
Why Companies Fail to Pay a Living Wage
With companies seeking to maximise profits to meet investors’ expectations, workers in the supply chain lose out and remain trapped in poverty. Erinch Sahan looks at why workers continue to earn poverty wages around the world and argues that companies need to be given the freedom to forgo profits for the greater good of shared […]
Are You Paying A Living Wage? 4 Ways To Check
There is no single, universal way to calculate a living wage. It is contextual with a wide range of influencing factors leading to significant variation on national and regional levels. Here, Paulien Osse explains how companies can find the details they need to provide a living wage. A living wage is a moral imperative; it […]
Who’s Responsible For Paying Living Wages?
Workers all over the world who make the things that we eat, wear and use are often paid so little that they have to work exhaustingly long hours, have several jobs, put their children to work or get into debt that they can never be free of. When people learn this, the cry goes up, […]