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The PSD Blog points to the Harvard Business Review, which has a worthy article in its December issue that should interest NextBillion readers.  Disruptive Innovation for Social Change, written by Clayton Christensen (among others), argues that

too much social investment in established organizations [means] that [they] rarely disrupt their business models, even if they aren't working. Instead, financing should support "catalytic innovations" that find new ways of serving many more at lower cost. Cited examples of such disruptive initiatives include microfinance and groups such as KickStart that develop low-cost equipment for poor entrepreneurs.

Timbuktu Chronicles points out two previously unknown players in the African investment picture: African Agricultural Capital and Advanced Finance and Investment Group.

African Agricultural Capital (AAC) invests in early-stage, high-risk agricultural enterprises in East Africa.  AAC focuses on companies that are introducing new technology or production systems, and makes investments out of an already-raised pool over $7 million.  Initial support for AAC came from the Rockefeller Foundation, and Volksvermogen NV.

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Via MicroCapital, Intellecap Announces Microfinance Business Plan Competition:

In yet another innovation coming from the burgeoning microfinance sector in India, Intellecap, a microfinance consulting organization, has established an Indian Microfinance Business Plan competition. Called the Srijan Business Plan Competition, this event is being organized along with Aavishkaar Goodwell, a microfinance venture capital fund associated with Intellecap. The conference is sponsored by some of the leading providers of commercial microfinance in India - Yes Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and ICICI. For the organizers of this event, this provides an opportunity to identify business plans with promise to increase "deal flow".

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Fresh from the "base of the pyramid" wire services (aka the info [at] nextbillion (dot) net e-mail address) comes word from the Skoll Foundation and Acumen Fund about a big new partnership, and from CGAP about their new technology program:

The Skoll Foundation, dedicated to advancing the work of social entrepreneurs around the world, today announced a $1.5 million, three-year, field-building partnership with Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to create and support  sustainable, scalable solutions addressing poverty in the developing world. The grant builds on the productive relationship the two organizations started in 2002, and provides new opportunities to leverage the foundation’s and Acumen’s complementary knowledge, skills, partners and assets. The Skoll Foundation seeks to support Acumen’s work with social entrepreneurs and its efforts to develop metrics that will advance the field’s understanding of the financial and social impact of social enterprise. Acumen focuses on creating lasting solutions in the worldwide fight against poverty by supporting social entrepreneurs working within a market framework. Acumen does not give grants; instead, it provides equity and loans and charges near market interest rates.  To measure its progress, Acumen is creating an innovative metrics system that measures social returns and attempts to quantify the cost of delivering services using an entrepreneurial model rather than a charitable model.  Acumen will report back to the foundation annually on outcomes, challenges and lessons learned.

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Remember Innovations?  First issued this past March, Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization is a relatively new journal from MIT Press about people using technology and new modes of organization to address global challenges.  I wrote about it on NextBillion back then, after Phil Auerswald graciously sent over a pre-publication copy.  At the time, I called it "a must-read for anyone interested in creative, local solutions to the world's problems", and suggested that "its content bridges the gap between 'whatever works' BOP practice and rigorous academic analysis."  More than six months later, I stand by my assessment, in part due to their upcoming issue's focus: microfinance and technology.

Those of us interested in reading more about microfinance and technology will have to wait until next March, but I’m sure there are plenty of NextBillion readers who are practitioners in this emerging field.  If so, consider submitting a paper.  Nick Sullivan, whose forthcoming book You Can Hear Me Now focuses on the impact of cell phone companies in development, is also publisher of Innovations.  He sent over some general criteria for submission:

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NextBillion ally Wayne Farmer e-mailed me yesterday with some exciting news: his company, Next Steps Research, is hiring. Before joining the founders at Next Steps, Wayne was involved in running the HealthStore Foundation, which manages a network of nurse-owned and operated pharmacy clinics in Kenya (WRI funded and edited a case study of the HealthStore model - read it in the Resources section).

According to their web site, Next Steps Research focuses on due diligence and portfolio management; they offer "two proven and proprietary tools to help investors assess intellectual property such as patents and innovations, as well as the entrepreneurs and management teams tasked with bringing products to market and executing business plans." Their concurrent activities also serve to facilitate the deployment of capital from philanthropists and foundations to social entrepreneurs.

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NB's Chapel Hill NC correspondent, Jacob Kramer-Duffield, has sent an interesting job posting our way.  Jake, a former sometime WRI staffer, and now a PhD student at UNC's School of Information and Library Science, keeps close tabs on the goings-on at Google.  Google.org, the company's hybrid NGO/for-profit philanthropy/investment facility, is seeking candidates for their Global Poverty & Sustainable Development programs.  As Google describes it, the new team will work "to innovate, establish and support sustainable models for global development" using "market-based, entrepreneurial approaches that promote sustainable economic growth and empowerment."  It is a "poverty alleviation strategy" combined with an active "portfolio of grants and investments."  Hmmm...

I received an e-mail from Chris Coldeway, a Worldchanging colleague who recently moved to India to work for the strategy consulting firm Monitor Group. Chris is working with Monitor to build its consulting practice in Mumbai around "market-based strategies to create social change." He reports:

We have initiatives in housing, agriculture, and healthcare, and are expanding both the project base and the team itself. We are looking to hire people at the senior- to mid- level for positions here in Mumbai. Ideal candidates would be strategy consultants who are interested in applying their skills in a social sector arena.

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Map adjusted to reflect national populations in 2050


Investment in emerging economies is on the rise, following an increasing awareness of the improving business climate in these countries as well as burgeoning, high-growth green sectors. These were the thoughts of participants in a recent session on investment opportunities in emerging markets hosted by WRI's Enterprise and Innovation Program.

The discussion took place on November 9-10 at the Triple Bottom Line Investing (TBLI) Paris Conference, which convened 400 members of the socially-responsible investment (SRI) community to discuss the state and future of the SRI world. Luiz Maia of Rio Bravo Investimentos in Brazil, Pramod Shedde of BTS Investment Advisors Pvt., India and Michael Feldner of InSpire, South Africa were the featured speakers, representing three of the most important economies to watch in coming years. They drew on their experience as fund managers to analyze recent trends in developing country and sustainable investment.


Explaining Growing Interest in Emerging Economy Investing and SRI

The speakers attributed the attractiveness of emerging market investing to the low cost of failure and the high potential returns associated with countries like South Africa and Brazil. They also noted that venture capitalists getting involved in these countries early will have significant leverage in dictating the terms of investment since competition is currently low.

Feldner explained that based on his experience in Africa, investors would be wise to incorporate a sustainability component in their portfolios as well as focusing on bottom of the pyramid (BOP) companies. He used the example of micro loans in Africa to show how, much like the I-Pod in the US, business solutions that worked in one city or village were likely to work in most places, generating the kind of success experienced by the Grameen Bank and other micro-lenders.

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If you've ever wondered what it's like to be doing base of the pyramid work on the ground, you should talk to NextBillion friend and ally Patrick Donohue.  Patrick got his start in the BOP universe as a MBA student of Stuart Hart's, back when Stu was running the Center for Sustainable Enterprise out of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School.  Since graduation, Patrick has worked with the William Davidson Institute (of the University of Michigan) on their Base of the Pyramid work and is an active participant in the BOP Protocol process.  In short – he's part of the who's who of the Base of the Pyramid universe.

Naturally, Patrick is a blogger and a photographer.  Sadly, his BRINQ blog and photostream had been quiet for many months – until last week.  Evidently Patrick's been too busy with his work in Brazil and India to write it up and document with pictures, but he's caught up in style.  I strongly recommend his latest post, Belated Postcards from India and Brazil, to hear first-hand what it's like to work with multinational corporations, NGOs, universities, and others to put the BOP strategy to work.  An excerpt:

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