As I opened up my interview notes, Francisco pinged me over Skype.  His message was simple: I just have a feeling, 2009 is going to be the year of ANDE.  This has to be more than a coincidence, I thought.  After all, the interview notes I'd just clicked open were from a conversation with Randall Kempner – the incoming Executive Director of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE, for short.)  Laughing, I wrote back to Francisco, telling him of his fortuitous timing.  He agreed that my interview with Randall was destined to be our first post in 2009.

It's more than timing; the development through enterprise sector is developing quickly.  I predict that the next 12 months will bring more formality and more cross-organization cooperation to our sector, as a range of funders, investors, entrepreneurs, intermediaries and research organizations work to take the base of the pyramid concept and turn it into an investible asset class.

A good first step towards this goal is creating the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, and hiring its first Executive Director.  The Aspen Network is basically a trade association for organizations like Acumen Fund, New Ventures, Agora Partnerships, E+Co, Technoserve, Root Capital and others working to help small and growing businesses take hold in low-income markets (full disclosure: NextBillion's sponsors, Acumen Fund and New Ventures, are members of ANDE).  Before taking his new job, Randall Kempner was Vice President for Regional Innovation at the Council of Competitiveness.  He has also worked for the OTF Group and before that, as a consultant with Monitor Group.  Randall graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a M.B.A and an M.P.Aff.  He earned his Bachelor's degree in Government from Harvard University.

In our conversation, we discussed the role of innovation in economic development, how the Houston Astros broke Randall's heart in 2005, and just about everything in between.

Rob Katz, NextBillion.net: Who is Randall Kempner?

Randall Kempner, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs: I'm a loud and proud Texan - a fifth generation Galvestonian.

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Like Rob mentioned in his post yesterday, I do think this is the year of ANDE. More precisely, I believe that thanks to forums like ANDE this will be a year in which companies and intermediaries serving low income markets will start to work in a more collaborative and coherent way, leveraging each other's innovations, successes and failures, and finding effective distribution mechanisms so that a more effective "knowledge brokerage" across boundaries is possible.

This may be the first step in building global supply chains for products aimed at low income markets, connecting the dots between existing supply (known to work at addressing specific needs) and existing demand. As far as the supply side is concerned, it is easy to see that most of the business models highlighted in BoP/ social enterprise literature, conferences and forums like this one are usually concerned with the design and commercialization of products and services that address very specific needs of the poor. Kickstart or IDE are examples in the case of irrigation. They have both developed products that work and serve their purpose in the context of small scale agriculture.

The quality and effectiveness of their products have been commented time and again; stats and success stories of their use abound. However, neither KickStart nor IDE have reached a truly global scale, the way, say, iPods have. Lack of demand for their products is not the reason, of course -- whether The Next 4 Billion or Aneel Karnani is right about the size of the markets at the base of the pyramid. Demand exists. The reason is that the marketing and distribution infrastructure to make a global reach and scale possible is not (yet) in place for the markets at the base of the pyramid. In other words there isn't someone that, like a retail outlet, aggregates products of several manufacturers (those that address needs like water management or energy or health), markets and makes them available and accessible to local communities.   

This is the opportunity that PowerMundo identified. Mike Callahan, its founder, traveled extensively through the poorest regions of Peru after learning that a vast portion of the population lacked electricity and/or used expensive, dirty and unhealthy fossil fuels for cooking and lighting.

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NextBillion left off in 2008 with Rob's post about Kiva and I'll pick up in the new year where Rob left off.  I recently sat down with Matt Flannery, Founder of Kiva, to chat about BOP Source and Kiva's work in Asia. I wanted to share a brief update on the latter and point you to Matt's blog, which provides great insight on the triumphs and challenges of running a global organization like Kiva.

Part of Kiva's success is due to the outstanding Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) they partner with, an aspect of Kiva that also requires a lot of due diligence and a lot of staff. Taking a look around their offices in the Mission district of San Francisco, I said to Matt, "Wow, you have a large staff!" He said, "That's because of all the due diligence we do."

Matt has openly blogged about early tribulations with MFI partners in Africa that led to tighter due diligence. Kiva has approximately 15 people on staff solely dedicated to due diligence and monitoring. Additionally, Kiva is hiring local staff in Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America to augment the work of Kiva's staff in San Francisco. In May of 2007, Kiva received a $345,000 grant to expand its due diligence operations.  Ernst & Young has also donated up to $1 million in audits.

That said, Kiva will be expanding its presence in Asia in the near future and has already identified promising partners and high-impact regions to work in.

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Energy poverty in the developing world is a complex and ongoing problem with serious impacts on health, economic growth, and the overall environment.  The impact on the poor is particularly felt in their day to day needs for cooking fuel – much of it coming from either oil or gas - or from the decreasing availability of freely collected fuels such as firewood or its derivative, charcoal.  

Growing price volatility for these products has created shortages of fuel and increasing uncertainty around meeting basic needs.  Indoor pollution from smoke contributes to health problems such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers and eye diseases, and of course there are ongoing risks or burns and fire from unstable cooking pots and stoves. 

As I have learned more about these issues and cooking fuel in particular, I was surprised at both just how complex they are and the number of organizations trying to find "better stove solutions," including giants such as the FAO, Oxfam, and Shell Foundation  to much smaller organizations such as Mayan Families, The Escorts Foundation, Envirofit, and the Chimp-n-Sea Wildlife Conservation Fund.

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Position: Development Officer

Location: Bloomfield, New Jersey, USA; international travel to Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Organization: E+Co, a non-profit investment firm focusing on clean energy enterprises in developing countries, is seeking a qualified graduate level (Masters) student for research and writing assignments. The internship will last 3-6 months with flexible degrees of workload. E+Co cannot offer any remuneration. The intern can be based near one of E+Co's offices in Amsterdam (NL) or Bloomfield, New Jersey (USA) or the work can be conducted remotely supported by e-mail and phone calls.

E+Co is non-profit investment company that invests business support services and capital in energy businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America. With almost 15 years of experience and offices in 10 countries, E+Co's innovative business model provides lasting solutions to climate change and poverty.

Position Overview: The Development Officer will manage E+Co's fundraising programs, working closely with and reporting directly to the Executive Vice President.

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Position: Project Manager

Location: Ghana ‐ Accra

Time frame: Full Time, Starting January 25, 2009

Organization: Grameen Technology Center.  The Grameen Technology Center, an initiative of the Grameen Foundation, focuses on technology that makes microfinance operations more efficient, creates income‐generating opportunities for the rural poor and provides rural communities access to information and knowledge.

The Information and Communication Technologies Innovation (ICT Innovation) Program of the Grameen Technology Center works with a range of partners to develop, test and deploy sustainable and scalable solutions using widely available mobile phones. It is also exploring the potential of new technologies toextend the reach of information and knowledge to improve lives and livelihoods and examining the ways mobile phones can increase the quality and quantity of healthcare services.

The ICT Innovation Program of the Grameen Technology Center is working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to increase the quality and quantity of healthcare services provided to women and children in Ghana through the identification and pilot testing of scalable mobile phone based applications. This project will develop and pilot test mobile phone based health applications in the Dangbe West district of Ghana. One application will use mobile phones to feed detailed community‐level health information into the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS), saving nurse time and increasing the level of detail available at the district level.

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Here at NextBillion.net, we believe in the power of small and medium sized enterprises to spur economic development at the bottom of the pyramid.  This idea - one of the core principles of the "development through enterprise" movement that's gaining steam in business and development circles alike, enjoys widespread support.  Unfortunately, that support just fell off a little bit - at least financially.

In a blog post dated December 23 of last year, Google.org's Sonal Shah announced that Google.org - the philanthropic arm of the eponymous search-engine giant - will be "putting [its] SME initiative on the back burner" in 2009.  Dot Org first announced its support of small and medium enterprise development this time last year - read the full press release for details.

In her blog post, Shah reassures current SME grantees that Google Dot Org will continue to support the grants and investments its already made.  That's small comfort to the number of worthy intermediaries, technical advisors and nascent venture funds that might have otherwise received support from Google.  Yes, by shifting resources away from small and medium enterprise development, Google Dot Org will be able to better focus its invesments; this may be the right strategic choice for them.  Still, it's a tough pill to swallow, especially as a number of non-profits look into the funding abyss that is 2009.

Santa Clara University is known in social entrepreneurial circles for its work helping to organize and judge the Tech Museum Awards – a showcase for social entrepreneurs, mostly from developing countries. Less well-known about the school is the Global Social Benefit Incubator, run by SCU's Center for Science, Technology, and Society and a host of Silicon Valley volunteers.

The GSBI, under the guidance of Professor Jim Koch, selects 15-20 enterprises from developing countries and provides an 8-month mentoring process. The mentoring culminates with an intensive 10-day process in Santa Clara, where entrepreneurs work with their mentors, other experts, and each other to prepare themselves to succeed upon their return home.  Applications for the fully-funded 2009 class of entrepreneurs are available now over at Social Edge.

Note: The first application exercise is due this Friday, January 16 - don't delay, start your application today!

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Position: Communications and Development Associate

Location: New York, with potential for extensive travel

Organization: Founded in 1997, Endeavor works with High-Impact Entrepreneurs in Latin America, the Middle East, South Africa, and India. High-Impact Entrepreneurs are operating for-profit businesses with enormous growth potential. Endeavor supports these entrepreneurs by providing access to mentors, strategic advice, management talent, capital, and inspiration. In turn, these entrepreneurs create jobs and wealth in their countries. To date, Endeavor has selected 406 High-Impact Entrepreneurs running 266 companies. These entrepreneurs have created over 86,000 jobs and, in 2007, $2.51BB in revenues. It is a powerful model that Thomas Friedman has hailed as the "best anti-poverty program of all."

One critical criterion when selecting entrepreneurs is their role-model potential. Endeavor searches for entrepreneurs whose stories will inspire others to become entrepreneurs.  Endeavor works to build relationships with the press, business schools, foundations, and conferences to trumpet the stories of these entrepreneurs.

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We received the following story via e-mail from guest blogger Gretchen Ruethling, a first year Master of Public Administration student focusing on international development at Cornell University. She has worked as a journalist and for an environmental organization and an agricultural research organization in the U.S. and Latin America. She is interested in the private sector's role in development and capacity building among small and medium enterprises.

By Gretchen Ruethling

Entrepreneur and self-described "ideas man" Frank Taylor moved from Cape Town, South Africa to Botswana seeking a challenge, trading game skins and leading archaeology, ethnology and botany exhibitions for a museum in South Africa. "I was living on the smell of an oil rag," Taylor said. "A jack of all trades, master of none."

43 years later, Taylor still lives in Botswana and recently started a natural food products company called WildFoods that he says is the only company in southern Africa to produce dried snacks made from native foods that are grown in the wild including nuts, fruits and melons on a commercial scale.

With a staff of 11 that has no formal training in marketing or management and no financing but plenty of passion and business acumen, Taylor aims to market these products to the country's burgeoning tourism industry to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in Botswana.

For the next week, three students and an applied economics and management professor from Cornell University will be working with Taylor on developing marketing strategies to increase distribution of the company's products locally. Cornell's Emerging Markets program has been organizing such trips for students who are interested in hands on business development experience in southern Africa for the past few years.

Currently, another group of students is working with a chemical inputs company in Kenya on developing strategies to better reach smallholder farmers.

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Position: Enterprise Development Specialists

Location: Africa (various countries)

Organization: CARANA Corporation, a contractor for USAID, designs and directs innovative economic growth strategies to help countries and businesses compete globally, reducing poverty and raising living standards around the world. For almost 25 years, we have specialized in market-led solutions to development challenges in more than 80 countries, packaging our expertise with on-the-ground resources for continuing, cost-effective results.

Description: CARANA has an immediate need for short and long-term Enterprise Development Specialists for current and pending projects in Africa.  CARANA’s Enterprise Development initiatives in Africa emphasize value chain development and market linkage strategies, targeting industries that are trying to grow their market share in U.S., European and regional markets.  These initiatives target industries that have significant potential for generating jobs and reducing poverty in the region. We have current opportunities for consultants with experience in the following areas:

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Attention Indian engineering undergrads: the Engineers for Social Impact (E4SI) fellowship program has opened its annual recruitment process.  E4SI matches the most talented undergraduate students from fifteen elite Indian engineering schools with partner social enterprises that focus on development by means of sustainable for-profit entrepreneurship. 

I am a big fan of this program, which was co-founded by NextBillion staff writer alum Nitin Rao.  (Side note: Nitin developed the idea while a StartingBloc Fellow, another fantastic program that I can't recommend enough.)  The E4SI fellowships combine the best of consulting, technology, and social innovation.  Fellows get unprecedented access to the development sector as they work with leading social entrepreneurs, attend leadership workshops at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and pitch their ideas to thought leaders as they join an outstanding cohort of exceptional young leaders.

Partner social enterprises for the 2009 edition of the E4SI fellowship program are leaders in microfinance, multiple bottom-line investment advisory, education, energy, and healthcare. They include Ujjivan, one of the fastest growing microfinance institutions in India; Intellecap, a strategic advisory firm that mobilizes investments for socially-motivated businesses; iDiscoveri, an experiential education organization focused on self-discovery and meaningful learning in economically emerging societies; Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO India), a company that provides reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable energy services to rural homes and businesses; D.light Design, an organization that believes everybody deserves modern light and provides innovative solutions for people living in a power constrained world; dhanaX, an award-winning online-offline person-to-person lending platform that draws inspiration from the entrepreneurial spirit of thousands of small farmers, underprivileged women, and small business owners across the globe; and Vaatsalya, a company that seeks to expand rural and semi-urban healthcare by building and managing hospitals where they are needed most.

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The major players of the Microfinance industry will convene in Colombia this year, not once but twice. Two major venues are set to take place in the country quite soon.

The first is the Microfinance as a Tool for Peace Building conference, scheduled for next week in Cali and organized by Fundacion Alvaralice, a local NGO. Many of the key actors in the Latin American microfinance community will be part of the discussion, including people like Carmen Velasco from Bolivia's ProMujer, Maria Otero from ACCION and John Hatch from FINCA International.

What's even more interesting about this event is its emphasis on discussing the role microfinance can play in conflict resolution and peace building. The Government Agency in charge of reintegration programs aimed at former guerrilla and paramilitary combatants will play a major role and it will surely be interesting to learn not only about development but also reconciliation through enterprise.

(Side note: While writing the last paragraph, Shurush came to mind. It is a microfinance program aimed at fostering business relationships between Arabs and Israelis thorough small business in the West Bank and Gaza. Talk about timeliness. It was founded by Uri Pomerantz, a former Stanford GSB/ KSG dual degree student whom I met a while ago.)

Later in the year the Microfinance Summit Campaign will also touch ground in Colombia, this time in Cartagena. The exact details and registration are not yet available but delegates from over 50 countries are expected to attend, including Dr. Muhammad and representatives from novel and increasingly relevant organizations like Unitus.

We won't be able to head over there but will do our best to cover both venues through guest posts. Stay tuned for that.

Position: Development Director

Location: Washington, DC

Organization: Agora Partnerships is a non profit, social mission organization dedicated to providing talented entrepreneurs in developing countries with the tools, networks, and financing necessary to launch successful, socially responsible businesses - the kind that can fight poverty, provided needed goods and services, and help build a sustainable society. Agora has launched operations in Nicaragua and is preparing to scale regionally.

Description: Agora Partnerships is hiring a Development Director to help the organization increase its impact and expand throughout Central America. Agora Partnerships is a non-profit organization that provides strategy, networks, and access to growth capital to small business entrepreneurs in the developing world capable of creating positive change in their communities. The organization currently focuses on Nicaragua and is expanding throughout Central America and Mexico. Ideal candidates will be entrepreneurial self-starters with excellent interpersonal and communications skills. They will have competitive drive and passion to help competitive small enterprises in the developing world succeed. The position will be part of the senior management team and will play an integral role developing and implementing Agora’s expansion strategy. As Agora has a small staff, we are looking for a high performing individual who has the skills and temperament to work independently and help Agora grow.

For more information, including how to apply, see the attached job description (PDF).

Not much has been written here on NextBillion.net about the election of Barack Obama to the American Presidency, as our news scope centers on base of the pyramid approaches to development in developing countries. However, I felt compelled to link the two together as we near Inauguration day tomorrow, January 20th, so here it goes.

Obama has a huge opportunity to transform how international aid is designated and distributed and I hope that he will convene a dedicated and experienced team to re-think and re-do the United States' current model of foreign aid. The most recent statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicate that in 2005 the United States issued 27.6 billion dollars in official development assistance. While the U.S. funnels much-needed money into developing countries to assist with meeting basic needs such as water sanitation, education, and healthcare services, I'm always left wondering how we can better direct funds.

What would happen if the U.S. channeled more funds into microfinance initiatives and small and medium enterprises and made BoP economies more attractive to multinational companies? Wouldn't our stated goals of helping developing countries develop be better achieved by adjusting how and to which agencies we distribute funds? Meeting basic needs is undoubtedly important and should remain, but for countries to develop beyond meeting basic needs, or to empower local people to help meet those basic needs sustainably and profitably, a shift in paradigm is needed.

With this in mind, I wanted to highlight a few developments as well as resources available to help you make your "development through enterprise" voices heard.

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