Lessons for the Bangladesh Garment Sector
In the months since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh sparked a drive to address worker health and safety in the garment sector, I’ve been suffering a severe case of déj? vu. Here’s how it has played out: high-profile exposure of human rights abuses, coupled with intense lobbying by civil society, causes international brands […]
Launching the Intrapreneur Lab
Last year a few of us from Leadership Laboratories, Business Fights Poverty and Accenture Development Partnerships had an idea. We were talking about ‘shared-value’ – business ideas that make a profit through benefitting society. Looking at the success stories, we saw that often, these projects were driven by just a few individuals and sometimes only […]
Microfinance: Helping Shopkeepers in Colombia
Politicians and executives alike know the force of change that lies in the hands of small business owners in Colombia. Many of these are micro-business proprietors, often undervalued entrepreneurs who have established business to help ends meet. People in low socio-economic groups frequently opt to create their own small business in Colombia due to a […]
Innovation in Inclusive Business
The World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation did a detailed study of the BOP around the world and estimated that the market is about $5trillion in purchasing power parity. Is this a large untapped market or a fuzzy mish mash of expectations that just cannot be profitably or sustainably exploited? Is the glass […]
Poverty-Focused Innovation: How to Foster Financial Innovation by Creating Agency for the Poor
Grameen Foundation has a proud heritage rooted in one of the most successful financial innovations of our time – microfinance – as pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank. Since Grameen Foundation’s founding in 1997, we have continued to adapt to the needs and capabilities of the global poor, focusing on how financial inclusion […]
7 Trends Shaping Africa’s Youth Employment Challenge
In 2001, Charles Maisel started a social enterprise because he saw potential in the young men who sit on the roadside in South Africa’s townships waiting to be hired for a day’s labor. He then flipped the problem into a solution. Charles understood the barriers: the short-term and unreliable nature of employment in the informal […]
Getting Funds to Those Who Need it Most
When Mariam, a Syrian refugee, enters the Western Union location just outside of Tripoli, Lebanon, she isn’t walking into a typical money exchange. Instead, she is entering one of thousands of locations across the globe enabled with Western Union’s NGO GlobalPay product, through which NGOs can move cash efficiently and directly to those in need. […]
Innovating for Inclusive Business- Introducing the "Innovation Insider"
The World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation did a detailed study of the BOP around the world and estimated that the market is about $5trillion in purchasing power parity. Is this a large untapped market or a fuzzy mish mash of expectations that just cannot be profitably or sustainably exploited? Is the glass […]
Innovating for Inclusive Business- Introducing the “Innovation Insider”
The World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation did a detailed study of the BOP around the world and estimated that the market is about $5trillion in purchasing power parity. Is this a large untapped market or a fuzzy mish mash of expectations that just cannot be profitably or sustainably exploited? Is the glass […]
Backing College Loans To Low-Income Students In Mexico
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mexico has a smaller proportion of college students than other countries on a similar path of growth and progress, and a significantly lower proportion compared to their main trading partners. Although higher education in Mexico grew to record levels this past decade, just over […]
Improving the Entrepreneurial Value Chain in Panama
When Aurora Escalante’s son was diagnosed with meningoencephalitis in 2007 she was forced to leave her job and devote herself full-time to his treatment and recovery. The disease left him with hemiparesis, a weakness on one side of the body, and attention-deficit disorder requiring Aurora to become his full-time carer for several years. Last year, […]
The Business Call to Action Annual Event 2013
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) held this year’s Annual Event on September 19th in New York City, in conjunction with the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, and in advance of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Event convened close to 150 people—including representatives from BCtA member and non-member companies, […]
Partnerships: The Best Hope of Transforming the Future
Many companies, like those who attended the recent event in New York (watch the video below) on “A New Global Partnership with Business”, are actively thinking about their role in helping deliver the Post-2015 sustainable development agenda. And that contribution is huge. In his speech to the General Assembly, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, recognized […]
Supporting Entrepreneurs in Latin America
SABMiller, has announced the launch of ‘4e, Camino al Progreso’, a major five-year initiative that will benefit over 40,000 entrepreneurs throughout Latin America.The program will provide selected shop owners – or ‘tenderos’ – in six countries (Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Peru) with professional training, advice and assistance to support the growth of […]
Keeping Our Promise to Every Woman, Every Child
Each of us has felt the sting of a broken promise, most likely in our early childhood. The lesson leaves a lasting impression, teaching us that when we make a promise, we must honor it. The launch of Every Woman, Every Child by the United Nations three years ago sparked a series of promises to […]
New Approaches to Financial Services for the Poor
The vast majority of poor people live and work in the informal economy. In economic terms, they are producers and consumers at the same time – not by choice, but by necessity. As such, they have to lead very active financial lives to create livelihoods for themselves, build assets, smooth expenditures and manage risks. The […]
Building Partnering Capacity: Investing in Success
If you ask a room full of people to rate how good they are at partnering, the chances are that most will rate themselves very highly. After all, it’s a natural human instinct, isn’t it? We do it all the time in our personal relationships, with our colleagues at work, in sports teams. From The […]
Critical Skills for Employability in Africa
Two days before our international participants were due to travel to Nairobi, Kenya for the ISESE Africa Skills Development Conference, I woke up to the headlines: “Flights suspended after fire destroys Jomo Kenyatta International Airport terminal.” Our team had planned for all sorts of logistical hurdles from visa hiccups to yellow fever vaccines, but we […]
Financing the Missing Middle: Small Business Finance in Africa
which has established a specialised small business leasing institution in Tanzania. Madeleine was one of the winners of the G20 SME Finance Challenge. She previously worked in the UK venture capital industry, and is a former McKinsey consultant. She spoke at the recent Business Action for Africa, DFID, IDS event in London. The missing middle […]
Developing the Fashion Sector in Bangladesh
Attending London Fashion Week brings you up close with the latest luxury brands’ collections, premium quality accessories & apparels and beautifully designed and crafted goods. As human needs and desires go, one could say this is quite removed from the reality of what we have come to know about what is available on the high […]