Wandile’s Story – Changing Lives in Soweto
Watch our film to hear Wandile Solombela‘s story, meet some of the Shwe Shwe Poppis employees, and see what difference entrepreneurship is making in Soweto. Vilakazi Street is a bustling thoroughfare in the enormous township of Soweto in Johannesburg. Two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived here – Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The […]
Creating Opportunities to Overcome Poverty
Sometimes a small investment is all it takes to enable someone to lift themselves out of poverty and to live in dignity. More than 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to financial services. Formal banking structures are often unresponsive to the needs of micro-entrepreneurs, whether street vendors seeking to expand their […]
A Bright Future for All – Building Business Responsibly
Every day, when watching the news and checking the social channels, we see pictures and read stories of famine and floods, droughts and demonstrations, confronting us with the effects of increasing resource scarcity, climate change, food security, civil unrest and poverty. We see the increasing numbers of people left behind. Many wonder how on earth […]
Better Menstrual Hygiene is Good for Business
Every girl has a story about it. No woman, however old, probably forgets the experience of her first period. And the experience is more likely to have been negative than positive. In the developed world, where sanitary products are still advertised using a blue liquid that has yet to emerge from women, there is probably […]
The Role of Business in Tackling the Sanitation Crisis
Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, of which nearly 1 billion practise open defecation. The health issues that result are a major source of human suffering while the associated economic issues keep communities, and nations, trapped in poverty. Diarrhoeal disease that is in a large part a result of inadequate sanitation, unsafe […]
The Power of Knowledge
The power of knowledge can be used to transform communities. When people, at all stages of their lives, have a better understanding of the demands and constraints of their environment, they make better, more sustainable and more profitable decisions. The provision of information and knowledge can fuel innovation and enable individuals and communities to lift […]
Partnership Vital to African Innovation
One of the biggest obstacles to innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa is the lack of access to funding. It seems innovators cannot find investors and investors cannot find innovators. We have to bridge this gap. The Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) is a platform that addresses this challenge by identifying innovators, rewarding them, assessing their […]
Why Does Africa Need Innovation?
Africa is standing at a turning point in its socio-economic history. Never before has the continent’s economy thrived as it is today and things can only get better. While most Africans will not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) by the 2015 deadline, they are determined and are implementing measures to ensure […]
Investing in African Ingenuity
The best way to build Africa’s capacity is to invest in local innovation and entrepreneurship. Africa is at a developmental turning point and Africans have stepped forward to be the leaders of the continent’s development in all facets of the economy. African innovators and entrepreneurs are creating solutions to our continent’s everyday challenges. By providing […]
Innovative Public-Private Partnerships for Education
The achievement gap between rich and poor is a complex and global challenge. Schooling alone is not meeting the needs of the poorest children. Innovative public-private partnerships for education could be part of the solution. South Africa’s schools face considerable challenges. The national average of 27 percent functional illiteracy masks significant and entrenched wealth and […]
Creating a Runway for Multinationals with Impact
Five years ago, Steve Bachar and I decided to create a venture capital fund that would only invest in companies capable of achieving three goals: Transforming the livelihoods of at least 100 million customers living on $2 a day or less; Generating at least $10 billion in annual revenues; and Earning sufficient profits to attract […]
Pitch Lessons from a Cubicle Warrior
In the world of social good, pitching is 90% of the battle – enrolling others into the change you believe. Gandhi did this. Martin Luther King shined with his ability to create a bridge into a tolerant and diverse future. Florence Nightingale wasn’t just a nurse, but a master storyteller. But what happens when you […]
Sumitomo Chemical and the Market for Bednets
When I first learnt about the partnership of Sumitomo Chemical and A to Z Textile Mills Ltd. in Tanzania it seemed like pure success. In 2007, I was working on the UNDP report “Creating Value for All”, and the story about local manufacturing of mosquito nets was one of my favourite case studies. Sumitomo Chemical, […]
A Story About Sumitomo Chemical and the Market for Bednets
When I first learnt about the partnership of Sumitomo Chemical and A to Z Textile Mills Ltd. in Tanzania it seemed like pure success. In 2007, I was working on the UNDP report “Creating Value for All”, and the story about local manufacturing of mosquito nets was one of my favourite case studies. Sumitomo Chemical, […]
The Challenges of Going to Scale
In our latest BIF insider “Scaling Inclusive Business – Why do some successful IB pilots fail to scale”, Jack Newnham identifies and examines seven broad reasons why some inclusive businesses do not go to scale. The publication draws on a range of examples (mostly not related to BIF), illustrating which hurdles could and could not […]
Market & Social Impact Research: A Dual Approach
Having worked in the local sustainable energy sector for the last seven years, I cannot stress enough how important it is to conduct both market and social impact research. Yet most organisations tend to focus on one or the other. Enterprises and charities founded in countries where they operate, especially when they are led by […]
Market & Social Impact Research: A Dual Approach
Having worked in the local sustainable energy sector for the last seven years, I cannot stress enough how important it is to conduct both market and social impact research. Yet most organisations tend to focus on one or the other. Enterprises and charities founded in countries where they operate, especially when they are led by […]
The Business of Agriculture: What’s missing?
By Alison Griffith,Senior Policy and Practice Advisor, Private Sector and Markets, Practical Action, and George McAllister, Director of Programmes, Garden Africa Smallholders have the potential to become the backbone of agricultural growth in Africa and to supply our growing demand for food – if they have the right environment. The World Bank’s proposal to develop […]
Only Business Can Solve Poverty
There’s nothing mysterious here. Poor people tell us they’re poor because they don’t have enough money—and who knows more about making money than businesspeople? Capital, Jobs, Scale Private business possesses three overarching and undeniable advantages in addressing the challenge of poverty: Profitable businesses attract substantial capital. Successful businesses hire lots of people. Successful businesses are […]
The Challenges of Going to Scale – A BIF Perspective
In our latest BIF insider “Scaling Inclusive Business – Why do some successful IB pilots fail to scale”, Jack Newnham identifies and examines seven broad reasons why some inclusive businesses do not go to scale. The publication draws on a range of examples (mostly not related to BIF), illustrating which hurdles could and could not […]