The SAB Foundation Invests in Social Innovation
The inaugural SAB Foundation Innovation Awards recently recognised innovators who are helping improve the lives of low-income South Africans. The Awards are part of the SAB Foundation’s focus on igniting a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa as a source of economic growth, job creation and innovation. The awards aim to showcase and scale commercialisable […]
Mark Foster: Rebuilding Trust in Volatile Times
We are in a period of unprecedented volatility and dynamism. The daily news brings conflicting signals about the pace, nature or durability of any recovery and the macro-global picture is also far from clear. Economic power bases and traditional orders are shifting – and not in predictable ways. China, India and Brazil continue to develop […]
Pick of the Year: Inclusive Business Resources in 2011
It’s that time of year: best book of 2011? Best movie, best photo, best newcomer of the year…? What were the highlights on inclusive business? It’s not such a hard question to answer, because each month we pick out one highlight to be Editor’s Choice on the Practitioner Hub,hosted by the Business Innovation Facility and […]
News: 30 Million Rural Poor in India and South Africa to Benefit from Banking Services
New York, 14 December 2011—Two companies announced today they will be providing banking services to more than 30 million low-income people in India and South Africa by 2015 through their commitments to the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a global initiative that encourages private sector efforts to fight poverty, supported by several international organizations including […]
Empowering Women Through Business
At a recent event in London organised by Business Action for Africa, UK Department for International Development and the Institute for Development Studies titled: “Advancing Gender Equality through Business and Partnerships”, we discussed the compelling economic and business case for investing in the economic empowerment of women. We know that improving the economic position of […]
CDC Sets Up Pragati to Invest in India’s Poorest States
India’s rapid economic growth has been well documented. As has its space programme, aid programme and the number of billionaires who hail from the world’s largest democracy. But India remains a country of stark contrasts, as anyone who has travelled there can attest. According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index developed by the Oxford Poverty and […]
Women Entrepreneurs in Mobile Retail Channels
Last week I launched my Foundation’s pioneering research study in partnership with STC and TNS on the inclusion of women entrepreneurs in the retail channels of mobile network operators. We consulted 14 leading mobile operators from 11 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, in addition to stakeholders including NGOs, government representatives and select […]
IFC and G20 Launch Global Competition to Promote Inclusive Business
When a business produces development results and generates profits, the combination can yield a self-sustaining approach to reducing poverty. ‘Inclusive businesses’ – firms that include low-income people in their business model as either suppliers, distributors, retailers, or consumers – are doing exactly that, and by doing so they open up new opportunities to the estimated […]
New Ventures to Promote Clean Energy
Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank More than 12 million low-income people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will gain access to clean energy following four companies’ commitments made today to the Business Call to Action, a global leadership initiative that promotes sustainable economic and social development. The companies also expect to create approximately 42,000 […]
Creating Shared Value in India
Today India represents one of the fastest growing economies in the world, in great contrast with the debilitating poverty and economic stagnation experienced by one-fifth of its population. Such stark contrast between success and continued need has led the government of India to conclude that “inclusive growth” is a key priority for national development. It’s […]
Rushanara Ali MP: Do you know where your clothes come from?
Bangladesh is changing so rapidly – I see this every time I visit. Growth rates are at about 7% a year and it is now one of the countries identified by Goldman Sachs investment bank as ‘The Next Eleven’ (or N-11) – countries who have the potential, along with the BRICS, to become the worlds […]
Four Companies Announce New Ventures to Promote Clean Energy
Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank More than 12 million low-income people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will gain access to clean energy following four companies’ commitments made today to the Business Call to Action, a global leadership initiative that promotes sustainable economic and social development. The companies also expect to create approximately 42,000 […]
BBC World Challenge 2011
This week sees the end of this year’s BBC World Challenge. There are just a few days left for you to vote for your favourite sustainable business and project: the 12 Finalists are profiled below. Vote before midnight (GMT) 11th November. TRASH TO CASH Hand in Hand – biogas energy, India Food waste from restaurants […]
Smallholders Critical to Reigniting Rural Development in Asia
Rural poverty has declined throughout Asia and the overall economic performance has increased. Agricultural development has played a major role in these improvements with smallholder farmers in the lead. Around the world they already feed almost a third of the world’s population and produce 80 per ent of the food consumed in the developing world. […]
Joe Phelan: Time for Business and NGOs to Move from High Ground to Common Ground
By Joe Phelan, India Country Director, IBLF Change is afoot in India, as the debate on the role of business to support inclusive growth shifts from theory to implementation. The new landscape is one where companies are mandated by government to spend a proportion of their profits on CSR initiatives while major aid agencies are […]
Clare Melford: Four Things Progressive Companies are Exploring Now
At a recent university reunion event, I met my old tutor. His eyes lit up as I told him about the work we’re doing at IBLF with global business leaders. “Maybe some of them would be willing to be the research subjects of my latest paper,” said the renowned neuroscientist. I asked what it was […]
How Can The UK's Department For International Development Harness The Diaspora For Africa's Development?
How Can The UK’s Department For International Development Harness The Diaspora For Africa’s Development?
Facilitating Pro-Poor Growth: 50 Development Organizations Discuss their Outcomes Using M4P
By Roger Oakeley, M4P Hub Manager “M4P” is an innovative approach that focuses on improving markets and systems to reduce poverty and promote pro-poor economic growth. It offers a framework to diagnose conditions in market systems that hinder pro-poor growth and guidance on engaging with key market systems players (whether public, private, non-government or civil […]
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group: Screw Business as Usual
Through my experiences in my life and more recently with Virgin Unite, the nonprofit foundation for Virgin Group, I’ve learnt about the power that business has to drive change, whether that is simply creating thousands of jobs and a company where people love to come to work every day, or building a company to tackle […]