This post is part 2 of a 5 part series.

A.H.: After the initial success of the Uganda Fund, what were the next steps?

K.H.: Following our success in Uganda, we set up the Empowerment through Energy Fund in South Africa with ABSA Bank and development finance bank IDC. ABSA committed $5 million, and the Shell Foundation contributed $2.5 million, as well as some soft money to get it started and make it work.

We're pleased to announce that a new Calendar feature was launched today on Nextbillion.net. The Calendar will highlight upcoming BOP-related events, such as WRI's two regional conferences on private sector-led development, to be held in Brazil and Mexico later this month.

As much as possible, we will post feedback from each of the events listed. We welcome contributions from Nextbillion.net readers who attend these events, and would like to highlight their experiences.

If you know of a relevent event that should be listed, please tell us about it.

In his broad analysis of business and the BOP, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, C.K Prahalad points out that being poor is expensive. With a lack of products and services tailored to fit their needs and incomes, they languish in exploitative informal markets that often prevent them from escaping the cycle of poverty.

According to an article in Progress magazine, poor people in developed countries have the same problem: