NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Another Competition, Another Missed Opportunity - Comments

I have an idea of starting a

WILSON — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:12:19 -0500

I have an idea of starting a project which will help eradicate poverty and reduce corruption in my country which is Kenya.I need some funds to start the project and i am looking for donors globally who can support it.

looking for grant

Helmuth — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:27:16 -0500

I want to start a business with a capital amount of U$ 5 Million. I am looking for a grant so that I can start this business

Shouldn't we start somewhere?

JeannieY — Wed, 17 May 2006 11:09:01 -0500

I also felt John Paul's pain at what he perceives as the shortcomings of the Development Marketplace since I work for IFC, one of the event's sponsors. I grant you maybe the Development Marketplace is a small start to support implemention of solutions to serious and perennial development problems. But less than 6 years ago, the World Bank Group (which includes IFC) had no mechanism to elicit new, innovative solutions from the global community. Development Marketplace is a first step, in my mind. There are now other resources in place, as Dana from GlobalGiving points out. Isn't that the idea? Creating the space for new ways of doing things, making it possible for some of the best ideas from and by developing countries to come to the fore, and providing some support for them to become viable solutions? Not nearly enough maybe, but shouldn't we start somewhere?

WWES? (What Would Easterly Say??)

Rob Katz — Tue, 16 May 2006 07:07:38 -0500

I agree with John and Dana that the Development Marketplace can be a total letdown at the end, especially when you hear about the projects a few years down the road. But start-ups tend to fail (something like 70% of start-ups in the US go bankrupt within 18 months, a fact often overlooked).

In any case, with all the calls for more money going into worthy projects, I wonder aloud: What Would Easterly Say? I refer to NYU economist William Easterly, who has been calling for greater transparency and evaluation of development aid, especially in his most recent book, The White Man's Burden. Frankly, I think Easterly's over the top with his calls for more and more monitoring and evaluation. He sounds exactly like an economist whose biggest problem is dirty, incomplete data. Bill, I feel your pain - I am working on a data-intensive project right now - but when you reshuffle all those dollars away from projects and into M&E, you inhibit the development outcomes that you hope to monitor.

Additional resources for WBDM finalists

Dana — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:58:51 -0500

Hey John Paul,

I totally agree on the need for additional resources for the amazing organizations represented at the World Bank Development Marketplace. There's always fantastic energy at the event and while the awards ceremony is exciting it's a bit of a letdown to be in a room with vast wealth and send some people home without any funding.

They do have resource panels for the finalists to meet with other funding organizations (Acumen Fund, etc) and I know my organization, GlobalGiving, is one way for finalist projects to tap into other donors. While it's not on the scale of $20 billion in bank funding, finalist organizations can post projects on GlobalGiving in order to receive further funding from individual and corporate donors through our website and employee giving campaigns. You can see one example of a previous DM winner here (and even make a donation!): Reach the unreached! Delivering care in Africa www.globalgiving.com/825

I do hope the bank will step up the funding for the marketplace and that in the meantime other donors will take the initiative to get involved!

Thanks,

Dana

Another Competition, Another Missed Opportunity

John Paul — Wed, 10 May 2006 13:38:35 -0500

The World Bank’s Development Marketplace (DM) competition took place in Washington this week. Begun in 1998, and held in DC about once every 18 months, DM is “a competitive grant program that funds innovative, small-scale development projects that deliver results and show potential to be expanded or replicated.” This year’s competition, entitled, "Innovation in Water, Sanitation, and Energy Services for Poor People," awarded $5 million to the best ideas that provide clean water, sanitation, and energy to local communities in developing countries lacking these basic services.

For those keeping score, projects focused on providing clean water won just over half the grants. Alternative energy projects – including solar, biomass, and human-powered – accounted for most of the rest, with only a handful of sanitation projects receiving funding. Africa was strongly represented, with 14 of the 30 winning projects coming from the region. The largest number of winners from a single country was India with five projects receiving funding.

While walking through the project stalls located in the World Bank’s grand atrium, though, I couldn’t help thinking that the initiatives around me were not getting the support they deserved. The World Bank has an annual budget of US $20 billion and is the largest foreign aid organization with a mission to reduce poverty. $5 million is only .025% of total annual expenditures, and most of that money didn’t even come from the Bank. Donors to this year’s Marketplace included the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Village Energy Project (GVEP).