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"The motive of immigrants is to come here, get a job and to work hard and send money back home to support their family"

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A few innovative examples of initiatives providing low-cost housing made their way across my desk in the last 24 hours, which I took as a sign that I should share them with the NB.net community. Some have been shared before, but are worth mentioning again.

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BOP-oriented businesses have the potential to become a powerful transformative force in low-income countries, but businesses have other roles to perform that could both solve social problems and serve their self-interest.

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I'm at the BELL Conference at Cornell University, and just came out of the Sustainable Innovation for Incumbents discussion, which addressed the challenges MNCs face when creating sustainable global enterprises, including those that tackle the BOP market.  The two main obstacles identified were:  1) how to change the corporate mindset, and 2) what skills / competencies are required.  Both were discussed in depth by the audience, who gave a variety of perspectives on the issues.

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NCDO, a Dutch civil society organization, has launched The Business in Development Challenge, a business plan competition for profitable ideas that fight poverty. Although the first competition ended last June, the website claims that the NCDO Director has committed to relaunching the competition. The competition is open to anyone from the Netherlands or a developing country. First prize winners receive € 20,000 to finance a feasibility study/pilot project and € 10,000 in-kind for coaching and for support. Even if you don't have a business plan to submit or are not eligible to compete, the website is worth a visit to read the descriptions of the winning plans.

Controversy is brewing over U.S. "control" of the internet.  Essentially, the Internet Corportation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), created by the Clinton Administration, allocates most internet addresses and top-level domains.  While its body is made up of members from diverse countries, developing nations protest that it is too biased toward wealthier nations.  They are calling for the United Nations to be placed in charge of setting internet standards and creating regulations.

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In a short cover story in the International edition of Newsweek, dated July 11, the magazine contrasts the promises at the G-8 summit with the entrepreneurial revolution already taking place on the ground in Africa. It's not planned, rather much more spontaneous and bottom-up. But the evidence is that its working in at least 25 of the continent's countries. Even World Bank President Wolfowitz is impressed, according to the magazine.

Before an Africa tour last month, the newly installed World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, called corruption "the worst threat to democracy since communism." But after visiting Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and South Africa, he was striking a more positive note: "Every—where I found people who had a real willingness to work hard, intelligence, energy and a can-do attitude. Africa is a continent on the move."

That corresponds to the entrepreneurial activity we are tracking--in microfinance, in cellular, in wireless internet, in franchised health care, in new SME investment funds--that suggests the reach and power of private sector approaches in Africa.

World leaders gathered in Scotland this week for the G-8 summit are discussing an increase in international aid as a means of reducing poverty and disease in Africa. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been encouraging other G-8 nations to double monetary aid to the continent by 2010, while the U.S. has favored a more cautious approach. What are the prospects for change in international aid for Africa? How would these funds be used?

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We just finished a "Breakfast Business Discussion" at the Raising Living Standards Conference in Edinburgh.  What struck me most was the consensus set of conclusions and suggestions which characterized seven separate table discussions.  At each table were senior business execs, including the vice chair of Chevron, Peter Robertson (who also appeared at WRI's December 2004 BOP conference in SF); Paul Pressler CEO of Gap, Rob Johnson a SVP at Cargill; Nazeem Sterras, CEO of Capespan in South Africa, Vassi Naidoo, CEO of Deloitte in South Africa; and others, plus a host of civil society leaders -- CARE, Christian Aid, DATA, Save the Children, along with many policy types. 

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The Economist: Helping Africa Help Itself, The $25 Billion Question, Doing Business in Africa

In light of the G8 summit, The Economist published several articles related to foreign aid to Africa in this week's edition. One, Helping Africa Help Itself, advocates foreign aid on the basis that it constitutes a relatively small amount of rich countries's GDP, and that a few foreign aid projects, particularly in disease eradication, have had large impacts on the lives of the poor. Another,The $25 Billion Question, includes shocking statistics of the misuse of foreign aid, due to the inability of donors to properly align the incentives of government bureaucrats to ensure that they use the aid as intended by the donors. A third, Doing Business in Africa, describes the healthiness of the business climate in Africa, and the success of large, African firms.

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