Study on the Economic Impact of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa Demonstrates High Loss of Income and Usage of Digital Loans
In the months since the COVID-19 outbreak started, it has already wreaked havoc on global economies; It is estimated that almost half the world’s population is at risk of job loss due to COVID-19, and the World Bank has forecasted that the pandemic will cause the largest recession in over 50 years. Industries such as […]
Evaluation gaps, challenges and implications: Responsible business initiatives for sustainable supply chains?
Internally, many companies are already innovating on sustainability to a greater or lesser degree. Some make strategic changes with respect to sustainability performance, but the competitive pressures of globalized value chains remain very strong. Hence, becoming more responsible is not a straightforward task for brands and retailers, especially those in mainstream and/or highly competitive markets, […]
The Cost of Cash to Ghana’s Cocoa Sector
Although he was initially skeptical about the new system, Samuel has been won over. He likes the convenience: “Mobile money is more manageable. My children are spread around at different schools. When they call and need money, because I have it on my phone, I can immediately forward it to them.” He also likes the […]
Technology and Partnerships: Force Multipliers for an Inclusive Economic Recovery
Digital technology has improved how workers get paid, expanded training opportunities and provided more real-time support for new entrepreneurs. For business owners, digital tools have increased important networks and opened access to credit so they can grow, among other benefits. As COVID-19 threatens to push upwards of 100 million more people into poverty as businesses […]
Inclusive digital payments solutions for the garment sector workers in Bangladesh
In March, when we announced the taka 5000 crore stimulus package (about $600 million) to pay workers’ salaries in export-oriented sectors, particularly ready-made garments which account for over 80% of the country’s exports, we encountered a major roadblock. Only 1.5 million of the 4 million workers were paid digitally. The rest were paid in cash. […]
How to Safeguard the Livelihoods of Women Farmers and Entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 Pandemic
In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our world, creating an array of new challenges on every continent while reminding us of persistent inequalities. In many places, the pandemic threatens to reverse recent gains made to advance women’s economic empowerment. To understand why, meet Olivia Massarula. Olivia owns a small grocery shop […]
Youth Perspectives on Our Future Economy
Demand for a new and sustainable economic model is reaching a new peak. As 2020 dawned, even committed advocates of globalised capitalism (like the IMF and World Economic Forum) have called for a rethink, in recognition of the looming threat of climate change and unconscionable levels of global inequality. In recent months, the world has […]
SEMINAR: An introduction to cross-sector collaboration and public-private partnerships
Jodie Thorpe is a Research Fellow in the Business and Development Centre at the Institute of Development Studies, with over 15 years’ experience in research and advisory work. Prior to joining IDS, Jodie was a Private Sector Adviser at Oxfam GB and Director at SustainAbility. It is not humanly possible to know exactly how […]
VIDEO: How do I partner with NGOs, government and others to deliver both business and development goals?
The session is led by Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, and Dave Prescott, Creative Director, of The Partnering Initiative, a leading independent not-for-profit dedicated to unleashing the power of partnership for a prosperous and sustainable future. For 17 years, TPI has been internationally recognized as a pioneer of the theory and practice of effective multi-stakeholder partnering. […]
Innovation, Collaboration and Purpose: Three Lessons from the Pharmaceutical Industry to Strengthen the Global Health System
The last decade has seen substantial changes in how the pharmaceutical industry perceives its role in expanding access and affordability of pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics, and in working with governments and civil society organizations to tackle global and community health challenges. Public opinion as well as changing stakeholder expectations, including among […]
Seminar Video: What is Driving the Purpose Debate?
Ben Kellard Director of Business Strategy at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Ben leads CISL’s business strategy advisory work. He has a passion for shaping organisational purpose and strategies that unlock people’s desire to improve their own and others wellbeing, while sustaining the environmental systems the organisation relies upon. Doing so prepares organisations […]
Rebuild Better. Rebuild Now
Hand in Hand, an NGO specialising in women’s economic empowerment, recently polled 800 our members in Kenya to find out how Covid-19 and subsequent lockdown measures were impacting their businesses. The results, if not entirely surprising, still managed to shock. Incomes had dropped by an average of 67 percent. Savings were down 69 percent and on course […]
How companies can take action to address white privilege
Like many, I have been reflecting on the injustice of racism since the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests and considering how my own actions might be perpetuating the interests of dominant white power structures within business. Over the last year the majority of my time was spent producing two Business […]
Indigenous Perspectives on Poverty Eradication, Corporate Engagement and the SDGS
Indigenous Peoples play an essential role in land management, clean water and in maintaining the diversity of global food systems. Even though they make up less than 5% of the world’s population, Indigenous Peoples manage more than 28% of the globe’s land surface. They continue to use traditional methods that have evolved over centuries that […]
Can We Leapfrog Once Again With Smart Solutions and Cross-Sector Partnerships?
The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing itself as the greatest crisis since the Great Depression. It is affecting – and revealing structural socio-economic weaknesses in – all regions of the world. Responding to COVID-19 is not only a question of preparedness, it is fundamentally a question of peace and security, and of political and financial decisions […]
Collaborations and Partnerships – The Way Forward for Building an Equitable and Resilient Future
In the current challenging times of Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely impacted millions of lives and livelihoods worldwide, the role of collaborations and partnerships in binding the nations together for international solidarity, has become much more critical, than ever before. A clarion call for global community is evident from the prevailing catastrophe, that clearly highlights […]
Financing impact start-ups: two solutions, two challenges
Way back at the dawn of the Internet age, a shiny new thing transformed start-up finance. Until then, entrepreneurs relied on friends, neighbours and family for loans, ideas, market research, help with a variety of tasks and first customers. Now you can do all these things by talking directly to 4.6 billion people who are […]
Going beyond the poverty line
Ensuring resilient livelihoods and sustained employment for vulnerable communities was already a stretch pre-Covid-19. For those communities lacking a stable income, the impact has been inconceivable. With border closures and travel restrictions, the downturn in trade has massively affected the income and employment of these vulnerable communities, especially the self-employed. Currently, more than 475 million […]
Digital innovation to support African SMEs
COVID-19 may significantly hinder economic and social development across Africa. If the continent is to recover, then micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs will be the engine of growth. Local businesses will provide livelihoods for millions of people and goods and services to a growing consumer base. At the heart of this business-led recovery will be digital technology; […]
Developing Skills and Quality Jobs for Young People
The creation of jobs for young people may now be an even greater challenge than before the pandemic hit, with competition for positions being all the more fierce once economic activity resumes. In light of the enormous shock that COVID-19 has had on our economic system, how can we think differently about what is required […]