This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Growing Inclusive Markets Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The conference was hosted by the Faculty of Management of Dalhousie University and the Coady Institute of St. Francis Xavier University.

The Growing Inclusive Markets initiative is a UNDP program that aims to "raise awareness by demonstrating how doing business with the poor can be good for poor people and good for business." The forum hosted a mix of development specialists, academics, and practitioners, who were all debating the growing role of the private sector in development.

There was a great energy throughout the weekend, and the people in the room seemed to have no problem connecting across the issues and committing to action. I thought that one of the best aspects of this conference was that numerous citizens from the developing world were in the room. Representatives from over 45 countries were present, and this shaped the conversation considerably.

In a conversation about the role of ICT in Development, one of the panelists was a Tanzanian Ashoka fellow, Joseph Sekiku, whose organization, Family Alliance for Development and Cooperation (FADECO), is utilizing a combination of mobile phone networks and radio to get accurate market prices to rural farmers. His most salient comment was probably that, "Africa has been dependent on donors for too long." In a discussion regarding the role of carbon markets for the poor, an organic farmer from the Caribbean shared her struggles with reaching the scale and capital required to access the established carbon markets. It was wonderful to hear these voices and witness their influence on the conversation.

The following outline was presented during the last session, and does a good job of summarizing the constraints and opportunities that were highlighted over the short conference.  It is also a concise summary of many of the same overall challenges and hopes we all face when considering the role of the private sector in addressing poverty and inequality in the developing world.

(This post continues past the break; click "Read More" to continue)

When a Fortune 500 corporation says something, people listen. When the Fortune 500 company in question is Citigroup – in 2007, the world's largest firm – people REALLY listen. So when I received a phone call from Citigroup analyst Stuart Block earlier this year, I was all ears.

Stuart – with fellow researcher Richard Reid – was calling because he had undertaken an ambitious base of the pyramid project. He and Reid set out to examine the market and share their findings with Citi's audience of expert analysts and customers. Naturally, I was intrigued. I know that the base of the pyramid concept has become mainstream over the past few years, but here I had a Citigroup researcher on the line, asking me how we came up with the figures in The Next 4 Billion report. This was the real deal.

After a number of conversations with Stuart – who should be commended for his careful analysis and unending patience – he and Reid published a new Economic and Market Analysis report just last month. Entitled The Pyramid of Consumption: Who Gains Now?, the paper – available as a PDF file – presents a remarkably balanced analysis of the global economy from a BoP perspective.

(This post continues past the break; click "Read More" to continue)