NextBillion posted three recent news stories yesterday; the three of them address the fact that the four billion people in the world living in poverty are indeed an excellent market. Investing in the BOP has proven to work for multinational corporations. More than ever, the BOP hypothesis is gaining momentum:

Microfinance Draws Mega Players

Business Week draws attention to the fact that big hedge funds, venture capital firms, and other big investors are starting to gear into this business:

If you think microfinance is the exclusive domain of do-gooders seeking a free-market cure to global poverty, think again. While much of the money flowing into loans for the working poor is indeed ponied up by people with high-minded goals, these days its coming increasingly from those with a sharp eye for the bottom line—raising new questions over how to balance the altruistic mission of microfinance with the pursuit of profits.

Bringing Tech to the Next Four Billion

“The thing about poor people is that they pay for services,” says Allen Hammond of the World Resources Institute. “How else are they going to get them?”

Fortune’s opinion article on the approach of selling services to the world’s poor and how this does not necessarily need to be seen as a “charitable” activity, but because it makes “business sense.”

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Venture Finance and Small Business Development in Central America - International Private Enterprise Group August Meeting Featuring Ricardo Teran

On August 2, please join us for a discussion on micro venture capital and development from one of Latin America's leading social entrepreneurs.

IPEG-DC is extremely pleased to host Agora Partnerships' Nicaragua Managing Director Ricardo J. Teran for a discussion about Agora's model and his experience providing venture finance to small businesses in Central America.

Ricardo J. Teran is co-founder of Agora Partnerships, an Aspen Institute fellow, and a thought leader on enterprise solutions to wealth creation in poor countries. He lives in Managua, Nicaragua.

Agora Partnerships is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing talented entrepreneurs in emerging markets with the tools, aspirations, networks, and financing necessary to launch successful, socially responsible businesses.

The International Private Enterprise Group (IPEG) is a network of professionals working at the intersection of the private sector, capital markets, technology and international development. The group was formed to promote the role of private enterprise and capital markets in catalyzing economic development and facilitate collaboration and the sharing of resources on international projects. Members hail from varied backgrounds; microfinance to hedge funds/private equity, small enterprise to large, nanotechnology to health services, strategy consulting, the multilaterals and academia. What unites us is a belief that the private sector and private capital can bring scalability, sustainability and focus to emerging markets. We are an all volunteer network. We meet regularly in New York City and Washington, DC.

Hosted by the World Resources Institute
Thursday, August 2, 2007
4:30pm to 6:00pm
10 G. Street NE - Map
8th Floor

Event is open to the public.

For information, contact Robert Katz - rkatz (at) wri [dot] org.

The Flor de Cana flowed and there was a palpable air of creativity and connectedness last week at the Business in Development happy hour. It must have been the crowd. There are many bright passionate minds working in the field of private-sector development, and the event, hosted by Agora Partnerships, brought together a variety of these folks out from World Bank junior professionals to Technoserve CEO Bruce McNamer. Great discussions abound in the dimly lit ambience of Play Lounge, engaging enough to make you forget that the floor developed a faint but discernable stickyness as the evening progressed. Of course, the generous drink specials undoubtedly helped.

A personal highlight for me was an insightful talk with Root Capital's Phil Covell (correction - previously listed as "Howell") on scaling strategies for small green businesses in developing countries. The emerging market SME sector is characterized by plenty of ambiguity and it's always helpful to trade ideas with a knowledgeable person on how to connect entrepreneurs that do good work to larger markets. We agreed that successful SME investment requires a strong presence of in-country representatives who know the lay of the land. Also, you often have to work with actors beyond the entrepreneur herself, such as potential buyers to help the company achieve scale.

The great connections continued even on the way out, as I got caught up in a conversation with Brittany Wankel of Ashoka on some of their recent work in African ventures. So engaging I neglected to dutifully work my turn collecting donations at the front door - my apologies if the organizer, Ben Powell, is reading this, you'll have to get me to do a double shift next time....

Update:  A quick related sidenote - if you are one of those bright, passionate people looking to break into the field, take a look at this post on career opportunities in social finance - thanks to Jimmy Atkinson at Forex blog for the link.