NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

I just ran across one great idea (and a great video that explains it), via NextBillion ally Emeka Okafor and his great blog Timbuktu Chronicles.

Market for Change was founded in 2007 “to catalyze sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation by creating a thriving, active market for small and medium-sized business process outsourcing vendors in Africa and other developing regions.“

Market for Change won the second place in the last edition of BiD Challenge and is a current finalist in other venues such as the Global Social Venture Competition. What I find most interesting is how the model makes the case for outsourcing as a vehicle for creating economic opportunity in developing economies, adding up to the usual argument of lowering costs for MNCs.

Kudos to founder Leila Chirayath. We will keep an eye on how the model unfolds and eventually replicates into other regions, hopefully including Latin America!