Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Olga Morawczynski

Description:
The ‘dual system' thesis has been used to describe the continuing commitment of urban migrants to the village in various African countries. According to literature, urban workers maintain strong ties with the rural area, even after spending a substantial amount of time in the city. One way in which these ties are maintained is through urban-to-rural remittances. In March of 2007, an m-banking application called M-PESA was introduced into the Kenyan market.

Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Olga Morawczynski and Gianluca Miscione

Description:
This paper examines how trust can emerge and be sustained in the context of mobile transactions. M-PESA, a mobile banking system in Kenya, is the focus of this paper. Data is used from an ethnographic study that was deployed in Kibera-one of Africa's largest informal settlements. This paper presents research in progress and discusses two main findings. Firstly, interpersonal trust relations between the customers and agents are weak.

Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

The Network for Inclusive Markets, formed by WRI, Avina and Fundes, is glad to announce the release of "Los Siguientes 4 Mil Millones", the Spanish language version of WRI's milestone report "The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Busines Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid".

We hope that this new report will serve as a tool for the Latin American business community to design creative business models to serve and work with the region's 360 million people that live at the BoP.

Description:
Taking Base of the Pyramid Strategies to Scale is a series of eleven blog postings that debate a radical new approach to scaling BoP business models, which its proponents call a "transformative sector strategy."  In the series, Hammond introduces the conceptual framework for this new development model and provides examples of the strategy in action from the Health and ICT sectors.  Six BoP experts comment on the strategy in subsequent guest commentaries, followed by a fifth concluding post from Hammond.

Date of talk or publication:
May, 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Allen Hammond

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:
A PowerPoint presentation by WRI Vice President Allen Hammond summarizes lessons learned from a pilot project to provide WiFi access to three areas of rural Vietnam.

Speaker Name / Title:
Kathleen Robbins, Director of Clean Energy

Organization:
GreenMicrofinance Group

Description:
The paper, by Kathleen Robbins of the GreenMicrofinance Group tells the story of a small Haitian NGO, that is piloting an environmentally sound and economically sustainable approach to biofuels. The key element is a jatropha nursery that is incubating young plants and teaching a group of Haitian farmers how to grow them.

Date of talk or publication:
March 2008

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

In Ghana, easily preventable or curable infectious illnesses, such as malaria and diarrheal diseases, are leading causes of death and exacerbate the financial hardships of many families. An inadequate public healthcare infrastructure is unable to cope with the magnitude of Ghana's infectious disease prevalence, leading many patients to seek health advice and treatment from the private sector. Licensed chemical sellers (LCS), authorized by the Ghana Pharmacy Council to dispense over-the-counter drugs, are present across Ghana and are often the first point-of-call for many Ghanaians, yet LCS themselves often do not have access to local suppliers of high quality medicines.

Description:

An Overview of the Mobile Phone Banking Industry" is a 12 page examination of mobile phone banking business models: key drivers, common critiques and future challenges. It was published by Next Billion staff writer Manuel Bueno in February 2008 as an Instituto de Empresa Teaching Note, under the supervision of Professor Juan Luis Martinez.

Date of talk or publication:
March 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Loretta Michaels

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:
This report identifies a confluence of technology trends leading to viable solutions that can enable very widespread access to financial services. It also discusses the obstacles blocking the growth of this market among BoP consumers, such as mobile phone banking security. The report focuses on biometric technology approaches that could help providers overcome this security issue—in particular, a sophisticated, but low-cost, fingerprint sensor.

Date of talk or publication:
November 2007

Organization:
World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation

Description:

The Next Four Billion - Executive Summary, Spanish translation.

(Los Siguientes Cuatro Billones - Resumen Ejecutivo, en español.)

Date of talk or publication:
June 2007

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:
Mi Farmacita Nacional is a fully for-profit, Mexican owned pharmacy franchise with a social imperative. The company’s mission statement is "to bring medicines and special services to the regions of most necessity in the Mexican Republic and to provide health, well-being, communication and accessible prices to the majority of homes."

In Mexico, low-income communities often have no convenient access to quality, affordable medicines for such common afflictions as the flu, allergies, and arthritis, due to Mexico's loose pharmaceutical regulations and poor distribution channels for generic medicines. The low-income may also face long wait times of several weeks or longer for doctor visits due to Mexico’s overburdened healthcare system.

Description:
Profile of Ouro Verde.

Date of talk or publication:
June 2007

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

Scojo Foundation’s network of entrepreneurs selling reading glasses in India demonstrates how market-based development models can provide much-needed services to the poor while stimulating economic growth.

The work of Scojo India Foundation tackles presbyopia, or blurry up-close vision, while providing employment to hundreds of microfranchisees.

Scojo Foundation has established a network of “Vision Entrepreneurs,” low-income men and women who sell reading glasses directly to rural villagers throughout India. Scojo Vision Entrepreneurs earn significant supplementary income and enjoy a better standard of living, as well as increased self-respect and influence in their communities. Their customers benefit from ready and convenient access to inexpensive reading glasses, which translate into restored eyesight and improved livelihoods. For weavers, mechanics, goldsmiths, and others whose livelihoods depend on near vision, a lack of access to reading glasses can impede productivity and significantly decrease their income and ability to feed their families.

Since 2003, Scojo India Foundation has employed more than 400 entrepreneurs and sold more than 50,000 pairs of glasses.

Description:
Rising Ventures profile on EcoMantra, written by the New Ventures staff,

Description:
With plastic cutlery sales growing by 20 to 30 percent every year, the founder of BK Environmental Innovations recognized both a serious environmental challenge in the for of unnecessary waste, and a market opportunity to create a viable substitute: edible cutlery.  In addition to the benefits of creating sustainable spoons and chopsticks, BK's products are helping to revitalize the declining Jowar crop industry and offering a nutritious snack as the Jowar utensils are an important source of folic acid and fiber.  Read the full profile to learn more about how the founders of BK are rethinking the way people eat.