Business and the Post-2015 Agenda in the Asia-Pacific
I am working on behalf of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on a project which might be of some interest to members of Business Fights Poverty. As you know, attention is now increasingly turning towards the development of a post-2015 agenda for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs identified eight global development objectives […]
Rethinking Development Finance
The House of Commons International Development Select Committee (IDC) has recently launched a new inquiry into development finance, as part of a broader inquiry into the future of UK development cooperation. The Committee would welcome the views of Business Fights Poverty members on this subject. You can post your comments below, or submit your written […]
Why Job Creation Is King in Africa, Just Like Everywhere Else
At the recent Africa Economic Summit in Cape Town, one of the themes of debate was the ‘post 2015’ goals, which the United Nations community will set itself when the existing Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. I spoke at an event hosted by Business Fights Poverty where the audience seemed divided over whether these […]
Empowering women at scale requires a strong business case and partnership
Coca-Cola, like many other businesses, recognises that our business growth journey in emerging economies will only be sustainable if the benefits of growth reach all members of society, especially those who traditionally have been marginalised, including women and young people. As a business, we believe that there is no better investment than women, both to […]
Event Audio: Empowering Women through Business -Bridging the Financing Gap, Cape Town
On 10 May 2013, The Coca-Cola Company and Business Fights Poverty convened a breakfast event, taking place in the margins of the Africa World Economic Forum, to explore how to strengthen support for women entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on enabling access to finance. A compelling social, economic and business case for investing in the […]
Business, the MDGs and Beyond, May 2013, Cape Town
On 8 May 2013, Business Fights Poverty and the Overseas Development Institute convened an event in Cape Town to explore the role of the private sector in shaping and delivering the post-2015 development agenda. As the world starts to explore what framework might replace the MDGs, it is important to integrate the views of those […]
Strengthening Inclusive Business Ecosystems
Before we started our recent research on Project Nurture, we had thought of the partnership as a relatively straightforward, three-way relationship among The Coca-Cola Company, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and TechnoServe. Between 2010 and 2014, Coca-Cola and the Gates Foundation would contribute $11.5 million to TechnoServe, which would in turn build the capacity […]
How Using Mobile Payment Systems Can Increase Your Revenue And Help You Keep Track Of Sales
In several developing and emerging markets, the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions (‘mobile money’) is now widely accepted, including by those at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP)*. The largest telecoms provider in Africa, MTN, transfers close to $208 million across their networks every month, according to its CEO Themba Khumalo. […]
Laying the Foundation for Sustainable Change
In eastern Uganda, the members of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association once let their mangoes fall to the ground and rot. Buyers considered the local variety, the Sena, to be too low-quality for pulping and juicing. As a result, farmers never cultivated mangoes as a cash crop. Project Nurture, a partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, […]
The Power Of Partnership And The Complexity Of Creating Meaningful Change
It started with people and the idea that we, at Coca-Cola, could marry our business interests and expertise to make our products available, acceptable and affordable with the ever growing potential of African agriculture. It seems like a simple transaction for farmers to grow, buy and sell food. However, the reality is a complex one […]
TechnoServe: Laying The Foundation For Sustainable Change
In eastern Uganda, the members of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association once let their mangoes fall to the ground and rot. Buyers considered the local variety, the Sena, to be too low-quality for pulping and juicing. As a result, farmers never cultivated mangoes as a cash crop. Project Nurture, a partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, […]
Getting Paid – The Value of Using Mobile Payment Systems
In several developing and emerging markets, the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions (‘mobile money’) is now widely accepted, including by those at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP)*. The largest telecoms provider in Africa, MTN, transfers close to $208 million across their networks every month, according to its CEO Themba Khumalo. […]
The Power of Partnership and Creating Meaningful Change
It started with people and the idea that we, at Coca-Cola, could marry our business interests and expertise to make our products available, acceptable and affordable with the ever growing potential of African agriculture. It seems like a simple transaction for farmers to grow, buy and sell food. However, the reality is a complex one […]
Realizing Africa’s Wealth: Building Inclusive Businesses
Inclusive Business, Impact Investment, Pro-poor economic growth, value chain approaches and improving ecosystems are just a few buzz words floating around in current development debates. They all have one overarching key question in common: How to bring previously excluded people into the marketplace and share economic benefits with low-income communities? The UNDP major report “Realizing […]
First Step Economic Opportunity Zone: Challenges of Running a Juice Factory
“I can sell you 14 235 pineapples”, that’s what a farmer said to Claudio Scotto, CEO of Africa Felix Juice. 14 235 pineapples – quite an impressive figure at first glance. If you put it into the context of Claudio Scotto, you will end up with a different interpretation: A lot of small scale farmers […]
Commercial Food Processing Entrepreneurs Sierra Leone
I am lucky enough to just arrive at the right time of the year: The month of Independence Day. The Independence Day is a huge event for all Sierra Leoneans and a lot of activities, street celebrations and cultural events are coming with it. This gives me the opportunity to dive into the commercial world […]
Business Booster Project Sierra Leone
Wednesday, 17th April 2013, 18:00 local time: Arrival at the airport in Freetown. Add to it 5 more hours for taxi, waiting, the slowest ferry ride I have seen in my life and another taxi, that’s the time I arrived in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone. But even though transport and a whole lot of other […]
Creating Opportunities in Rural East Africa
For most young people in rural communities in Africa, opportunities are scarce. With only 28 percent of Africa’s labor force holding stable wage-paying jobs, and most of those concentrated in urban areas, rural life can appear to offer little prospect for advancement. On a recent trip to Kenya, I met 26-year-old Alice Micere from Njukiini, […]
What is the Business Booster?
The Business Booster pilot project is a joint program of the Youth Employment Network (YEN), UNIDO and Endeva. The project seeks to pilot a holistic multi-stakeholder approach to increasing the earnings of youth-led cooperatives in Sierra Leone, by enabling them to access premium markets such as the US and/or the high value domestic market where […]
Four Tips for Becoming an Intrapreneur
Sometimes, the hardest part about becoming an intrapreneur is just getting started. Intrapreneurs improve existing systems by advocating for CSR, sustainability, shared value, or engaging with the community. They are internal innovators who innovate within a larger company or organization, as opposed to within startups – which are generally expected to be more innovative. I’m […]