Have you heard of Doctors Without Borders? Well, the main idea is that doctors go around the world and help communities in need for a couple of years. The new "Executives Sans Frontières" (Executives Without Borders) is patterned after the same premise, but with a market approach. I find this idea really interesting, because individuals with business expertise can help manage market development in disadvantaged areas in the world by building sustainable commercial ventures. Strategy + Business’s Jonathan Ledgard wrote an interesting article on this new endeavor and how they could help one of the poorest regions in the world: the Sahel.
Although some businesses have tinkered with sending salaried consultants to developing countries on pro bono projects, such projects tend to be temporary and focused at the higher levels of government. The ESF, however, would be far more adventurous, appealing to executives’ altruistic instincts while giving them an opportunity to apply real business learning in exciting, uncharted settings. ESF would target mid-career managers with experience, drive, and a sense of joie de vivre. There could also be an opportunity for companies to get involved directly; for example, FedEx might donate 15 employees a year, who would each serve four years with ESF while remaining on FedEx’s payroll.
The Wall Street Journal blog says "EWB couldn’t fix every problem in the developing world, Mr. Ledgard writes in consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton’s magazine Strategy + Business. But it might help address some issues more efficiently than aid money, he says. For example, the Sahel, which spans nine African countries along the southern part of the Sahara, is in urgent need of business savvy. It suffers from civil war and drought, yet has abundant and untapped natural resources such as livestock, cotton, corn and sorghum."
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