Empowering Poor Women at the Base of the Pyramid?
Base of the pyramid (BoP) approaches have been attracting a lot of attention in business and development circles lately. Although typically associated with highly publicised schemes such as Grameen’s “village phone ladies” and Hindustan Unilever’s “Project Shakti”, a number of BoP initiatives have sprung up across Africa and Asia to address a range of development […]
A Responsibility and a Market: Why Danone May Represent the Future of BoP Business
NextBillion.net, Senior Strategist Saatchi and Saatchi The “future of BOP business” is a sweeping, flashy claim. Yet Danone’s strategy appears to be different for all the right, non-flashy reasons. A strict focus on unit economics, clear understanding of the business’ role in social impact, and most of all, direct links between base of the pyramid […]
CARE Bangladesh’s Rural Sales Programme: Empowering Poor Women?
Base of the pyramid (BoP) approaches have been attracting a lot of attention in business and development circles lately. Although typically associated with highly publicised schemes such as Grameen’s “village phone ladies” and Hindustan Unilever’s “Project Shakti”, a number of BoP initiatives have sprung up across Africa and Asia to address a range of development […]
Trends and Results in Private Sector Development: TradeMark East Africa
The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) organised a Seminar on trends and results in private sector development (PSD), in January 2012. It focused on what we are learning about results and in part on the DCED Standard for results measurement. There were around 100 participants from 32 countries, representing 54 different organisations, field programmes […]
Trends and Results in Private Sector Development: Fertilizer value chain intervention in Nigeria
The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) organised a Seminar on trends and results in private sector development (PSD), in January 2012. It focused on what we are learning about results and in part on the DCED Standard for results measurement. There were around 100 participants from 32 countries, representing 54 different organisations, field programmes […]
Trends and Results in Private Sector Development: Monitoring and Measuring, Bangladesh
The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) organised a Seminar on trends and results in private sector development (PSD), in January 2012. It focused on what we are learning about results and in part on the DCED Standard for results measurement. There were around 100 participants from 32 countries, representing 54 different organisations, field programmes […]
Resources for practitioners: inclusive business models in the energy sector
We are delighted to launch a new series of monthly Editorial Specials, in which we highlight our favourite resources on business and development. As the concept of inclusive business takes root and people move from ideas into action, an increasing number of sector-specific reports on inclusive business models have begun to come out. This month, […]
Fashion: A Catalyst for Change
The potential of the private sector to reduce poverty is well recognized; however, this has not been evident in the fashion industry. Fashion is one of the most globalized sectors, providing employment to more than 60 million people, mainly women and unskilled workers from poor economies. And it is expanding. According to Datamonitor, 2010, the […]
Global Entrepreneur Week
Youth Business International (YBI) is a global network helping aspiring entrepreneurs in 34 countries, so helping to promote a culture of entrepreneurship is a full time job for our hundreds of staff. Nevertheless the few months leading up to the end of each year are particularly hectic. In November 2011 we celebrated our International YBI […]
World Business and Development Awards 2012
Do you have a successful inclusive business model that is both commercially successful, and is contributing to development? The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have just launched a call for nominations for their World Business and Development Awards 2012. The Awards demonstrate […]
Ida Horner Meets: Stephen a farmer from Kikube, Uganda
Ugandan entrepreneur, Ida Horner, attended the recent Villages in Action conference in Kikube, Masindi, Uganda, on behalf of Business Fights Poverty, the event’s sponsor. We asked Ida to meet up with some of the business owners in the village to get an insight into their businesses, the challenges they have had to overcome, and the […]
Made in Bangalore: How Social Enterprise is Transforming Business-As-Usual
As someone who grew up in Bangalore, I have seen my city undergo a startling transformation, from the Pensioners Paradise to the Silicon Valley of India. I am almost a pensioner myself now – I started writing this blog on my 60th birthday. Sometimes I feel stupefied and amazed by the changes – but I […]
Five common confusions on Fundraising vs. Partnerships
A lot is happening in the world of international development cooperation and the resources available for the coming years. There are public discussions in many countries regarding the (sustainable) impact of development aid. Many (governmental) donors are cutting back their funds and many foundations have less resources to spend and therefore engage more than ever […]
Interested In Joining DFID's Graduate Scheme?
Are you a recent graduate? Are you interested in working for the UK’s Department for International Development? Here’s you chance! Today DFID launched its new graduate scheme – a paid, 50 week development programme offering a diverse range of opportunities in areas from humanitarian response to private sector development. Successful candidates will undergo a structured […]
Interested In Joining DFID’s Graduate Scheme?
Are you a recent graduate? Are you interested in working for the UK’s Department for International Development? Here’s you chance! Today DFID launched its new graduate scheme – a paid, 50 week development programme offering a diverse range of opportunities in areas from humanitarian response to private sector development. Successful candidates will undergo a structured […]
Business Solutions to Enable Energy Access for All
Business solutions to enable energy access for all is the first major publication of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Access to Energy initiative. It has been released today to coincide with the launch of the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All by the United Nations’ Secretary-General, HE Ban Ki-moon. Addressing the […]
Report: Improving Business Ethics and Reducing the Risk of Corruption
Download this compelling report on business ethics and countering corruption, jointly authored by IBLF, Siemens and PwC.
Trust: The License to Operate – 7 Steps Companies Can Take to Rebuild It
IBLF’s framework identifies 7 Steps of company behaviour that can influence the trust of its customers, suppliers, investors and regulators.
Amanda Bowman: 10 Steps to Success in International Corporate Volunteering
By Amanda Bowman, IBLF In Part 1 of this blog, I looked at how 2011 had been a good year for International Corporate Volunteering (ICV). We define ICV as being one distinct form of employee community engagement – placing employees in foreign country assignments and contributing their skills to support the improvement of communities, social […]
Realising Everyone’s Potential to Work their Way out of Poverty
Two weeks ago I went to Bosnia, the latest country to join lendwithcare.org – CARE International UK’s leading new micro-lending website. Landing in Sarajevo 19 years after I was last there during the war, I was quite surprised to see a lot of buildings and infrastructure are still in the same poor condition as they […]