How Tech Investments Can Help Smallholders in India
Inequality in income and availability of work between rural and urban areas are large contributors to a country’s overall economic inequality. In India, agriculture still employs more than half of the workforce, but wages are low and with rising education levels many young people no longer aspire to take over the family smallholder farm. Instead, […]
Buy Leadership, Sell Poverty – How Finance Can Boost Value in Agricultural Supply Chains
Financial access and inclusion continue to be sold to farming communities in the world’s leading supply chains at the very price of poverty. How do we reduce this toxic trade-off, why is it taking so long and how does it impact the planet’s future? Tasneem Mayet, Business Fights Poverty Ambassador, shares insights from conversations had […]
What Difference Can a Multinational Make? With the Right Management Practices in Place, a Lot.
In the latest Business Call to Action (BCtA) report, launched at the BCtA 9th Annual Forum, we examine how to overcome these organisational barriers, drawing from examples of successful companies who are already doing this, and offer steps that companies can take to adapt their management practices to become more inclusive business friendly. Business experts predict that […]
Businesses Share Employment Practices to Eradicate Poverty
Last Thursday was International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Whilst ending poverty is a motivating goal, it is not always clear how to work towards this lofty ambition through day-to-day business operations. In a new toolkit, Reducing Poverty through Employment, members of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC) have collaborated to share their experience […]
5 Reflections on How International Donors Help Businesses Scale their Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
The session was part of a wider Challenge supported by the UK’s Department for International Development. In this article, I summarise some of the key themes that came out during the conversation in New York. 1. The Urgent Need All participants recognized the significance of this moment – in which no country is currently on […]
How Can Business Accelerate Career Opportunity for Entry-Level Workers to Ensure the Future of Work is Strong and Inclusive?
During Business Fights Poverty New York, a select group of professionals from the business, academia and the international development community explored how companies are responding to disruptive trends affecting the Future of Work, such as automation, the rise of artificial intelligence, and new forms of independent employment and how companies are preparing their workforce for […]
How to Take Donor Partnerships with Business to the Next Level of Scale and Impact?
It is now generally acknowledged that the additional $2.5 trillion annual investment in developing countries needed to achieve the Global Goals cannot be delivered without the active engagement of the private sector. All sectors with a stake in the Global Goals, including governments, development organisations, business and civil society are therefore increasingly focused on unlocking […]
In Memoriam: Tribute to Paul Polak – Market-Based Development Pioneer 1933 – 2019
We were greatly saddened to hear the news of the death of Paul Polak, a pioneer of market-based development, on 10 October 2019. Paul’s mission was to inspire a revolution in how we tackle poverty – showing how market-based approaches to development can benefit the 2.7 billion customers who live on less than $2 a […]
How Can Companies and Investors Collaborate to Embed Purpose Authentically into Business?
“How can companies and investors collaborate to embed purpose authentically into business?” As part of our Challenge on Purpose supported by GSK, VISA and Unilever, Business Fights Poverty convened a meeting of around 30 representatives from companies, financial institutions, NGOs and development institutions to discuss this pertinent topic. The benefits of business purpose – for […]
How Can We Better Support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Large Company Value Chains Through an Ecosystems Approach?
Business Fights Poverty has been running a Challenge to find out how business can take an ecosystems approach to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in their extended value chains. To ensure MSMEs thrive, large companies, governments, donors and funders and NGOs need to move towards a holistic and joined-up approach to enterprise support. […]
A Conversation on The Future of Work at the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit
To mark the launch of a new Challenge supported by Walmart on the Future of Work, Enrique Ostalé, Regional CEO of UK, Latin America and Africa at Walmart International, and Zahid Torres-Rahman, Founder and CEO of Business Fights Poverty joined Brad Staples, CEO of APCO at Concordia’s 2019 Annual Summit, to speak about International Future […]
Watch the Videos: Business Fights Poverty NYC 2019
Timed to coincide with the UN General assembly Week, our annual event has become a popular, high-energy gathering that brings together a select group of senior professionals from business and the international development community. We recognise the power of bringing together the right people in a focused and action-oriented way. That is why our audience […]
Focus on Dirty Legacy Sectors to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
This type of progress has, understandably, been most evident among companies for which the required changes are relatively “easy,” such as those from the pharmaceutical, water, and food sectors. By contrast, little progress has been made by sectors contributing substantially to poor health and climate change, including companies that profit from tobacco, coal, palm oil, […]
Can We Really Take Big Business Seriously When it Comes to the SDGs?
Carol and the organization’s then Programme Director, Raja Jarrah, had hatched a plan and it was to be my fate, attending that July event, to end up playing the role of their main protagonist. Their plan was, and remains, a simple one: create a multi-functional team inside of CARE to work with businesses and markets […]
Systems Leadership Can Change the World – But What Exactly Is It?
Transforming a complex system – such as the energy, health or food system – is a monumental task requiring coordinated action by people with very different viewpoints. Systems-change initiatives often engage hundreds of organizations – governments, companies, civil society organizations, worker associations, research institutions and others – combining their capacities to achieve a shared goal. […]
To Change the World, Business Must Share its Profits and Power
Achieving the SDGs will take more than redefining the role of business in our unequal society. This year’s UN General Assembly is finally here, and pledges to once again achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have already begun. Much of this activity is focused on the private sector, a key actor in delivering on these ambitious […]
There is No ‘I’ in team: How Collaboration and Innovation are Enabling Inclusive Businesses to Achieve Greater Social Impact
The world of inclusive business isn’t any different. We’re seeing more and more inspiring collaborations that are achieving exponential results, demonstrating the value of partnerships, and the opportunities for innovation that these alliances allow. Take a look at the recent partnership between BCtA member Essilor and Chinese commerce giant AliBaba – together they’re providing access […]
Strengthening the MSME Ecosystem to Enable Business Growth and Social impact in Frontier Markets
For large companies operating in emerging and developing countries, Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are key business partners along the value chain – as suppliers, distributors, retailers and customers. MSMEs can create access to untapped low-income markets. As retailers, clinics, pharmacies or service providers, they reach both rural and urban households with goods and […]
Being Authentic About Purpose: From Words to Action
Recently, a group of 181 CEOs, collectively representing over 15 million employees and more than $7 trillion in annual revenues, declared that they are no longer putting shareholders before everyone else. The “Statement of Purpose of a Corporation”, issued by the Business Roundtable, is a bold re-imagining of the principles of corporate governance that they […]
Banking The Unbanked
‘Dreams are too expensive – We cannot afford to dream’ Khalida Bibi, a female home-based worker, expressed her despair during one of our customer surveys to assess the needs of lower- and middle-income individuals in rural Pakistan. Khalida is a 45-year-old, mother of three who runs a small home-based embroidery business, which provides an inconsistent […]