NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Miscellaneous - Comments

NV Growth

Derek Newberry — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:45:40 -0500

Hi Nopp,

I'm glad you asked - as a rule, we only work with companies in our countries of operation, but as a matter of fact, New Ventures is aiming to expand its operations into new countries this year - check back with us over the next several months for developments...

-Derek

Great Innitiative!

Nopp — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:43:49 -0500

This is going to be a great initiative in helping the poor address the social and environmental problems. Do you plan to invite small companies from other countries additional to five countries above?

New Venture's website is

Carrie — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:29:09 -0500

New Venture's website is cool. It looks like investors might be able to join the idea as well.

Beyond Kickstart

Derek Newberry — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:24:50 -0500

Hi Mike,

You make a very insightful comment, as one thing we shy away from on NextBillion.net is BoP technology that may have a "cool" or "feel-good" aspect to it, but is not fundamentally designed for the actual needs of people at the base of the pyramid. Products like KickStart really do increase the productivity of farmers who use them, but of course these pumps are not a silver bullet poverty solution.

Now that those farmers have the technology to increase their productivity the question, as you mention, is where is the market? This is where organizations like mine (New Ventures) come in - we connect these producers to viable markets domestically and internationally. I don't think it's the job of technology makers like KickStart to be able to accomplish this, it just shows that a number of actors are needed to effectively and sustainably connect the poor to the mainstream economy.

-Derek

Great Work!

Mike Heiss — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:08:02 -0500

I've been following KickStart for a while now, and I'm happy to see their recent recognition. It seems like their pumps are everywhere in East Africa, and now they're expanding into other technologies such as seed presses for oil, sanitation, and transport technologies. It seems to me that these technologies are focused on building the local economy, increasing productivity and adding value to locally sold goods.

My question is: Is this model actually growing the local economy, or is it simply redistributing money to the few entrepreneurs from an already small pool? Do there need to be exports to bring in foreign capital to grow the local economy? I realize that a local economy can work based on circulation of capital, but will its people remain poor relative to the rest of the world? Overall I want to know if exports are necessary to grow an economy, and if so, should KickStart or another organization try to link producers (who are now producing a surplus with their foot pumps) to consumers overseas?

Lack of Mutual Fund Options, but Promise

Mike Heiss — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:14:25 -0500

Simply a lack of options and reliable history may deter individual investors. When I searched for African mutual funds, all I found was CIMEAX which has been around since Feb 29, 2008 and TRAMX which started in September 2007. Both of these funds are only partially invested in Africa, and a majority of their holdings are in the Middle East. After a little more poking around, I found Coal of Africa (CZA) on the London Stock Exchange which is up 400% since last May. Going beyond tickers, I agree that Africa has been largely ignored by the Western investment community. However, I see Africa as the next frontier to rapid economic growth, following in the footsteps of Asia. As China, India, and much of Southeast Asia become more developed, they turn to Africa to natural resources and cheap labor. The Chinese have already begun investing heavily in Africa, and African leaders enjoy this because it comes without the West imposing its values (stipulations attached to World Bank loans, for example). While Chinese investment is boosting African economies, it has been criticized for funding and supplying conflicts and paying corrupt leaders for oil rights. The challenge now is for Africa to follow China in terms of economic growth while learning from its mistakes in human rights violations and environmental degradation. I know this is a jump, but what if Africa could leapfrog to an industrial revolution based on renewable energy rather than coal or oil?

entrepreneur report

Derek Newberry — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:30:42 -0500

Hi Rombout, Please do email us, I would love to read your report. You can send it to info@nextbillion.net.

Thanks!

-Derek

Investing in Africa

Chaz Littlejohn — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:41:06 -0500

Investing in Africa is an awesome if near impossible opportunity for the average investor. The few funds that are available have a heavy Middle East weight, thereby making a pure play difficult. This is partly because the markets in Africa are thinly traded and also because of their small size. The capitalization of African stock markets pales in comparison to that of the US stock exchange and other emerging markets. In 2007, the IMF reported that African stock markets had a capitalization of $245 billion, which is little bit less than the size of Microsoft. The point you make about image also seems to be a real factor. Paul Collier describes this in his book "The Bottom Billion". What really stuck with me was that apparently, a large percentage of fund managers believe that Idi Amin still terrorizing Uganda. With returns like this, this is bound to change.

Study on different types of entrepreneurs

Rombout — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:06:40 -0500

dear Derek Newberry, I have read your comments with great interest. It happens to be that I have conducted a study on the role of entrepreneurship in Africa at the end of 2006. Should you be interested in reading it, I could email it to you!

Empathy vs Sympathy

Rob Katz — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:43:36 -0500

I thought Sagar Gubbi over at Social Edge really captures this dichotomy well in his recent post, Empathy vs. Sympathy. In it, he relates a trip to his hometown in India and his conversations with members of the BoP community. All of them do not want sympathy (a handout) but rather empathy - and opportunity. It's interesting (in my opinion) that you would see such different perspectives between South Africa and India, at least from the very personal and small samples taken by Ryan and Sagar.

Black Economic Empowerment & Employment Equity

Penny van der Lith — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:59:38 -0500

What an interesting perspective! You have captured the essence of a huge problem in South Africa. As a South African, I would also add that the SA Government's policies of Black Economic Empowerment and and Employment Equity aggravate this issue, rather than address it. Instead of empowering the people the people these policies aim to assist, we have ended up with a situation where poorly qualified and inadequately skilled people and companies are hired simply because they are black or black owned. This amounts to yet another handout, rather than true empowerment. Of course, this is not true for every black person or black business, but the reality is that it is a common enough problem to be alarming. How are we ever going to take South Africans and South African Business to the next level, if we keep using a band aid instead of pulling the sting out?

This was great

Chris Crawford — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:23:52 -0500

This really gives me hope. I am an undergraduate student at a typical American University right now. As you can imagine, there is not much discussion going on about these sorts of issues... issues about what kinds of people are needed to do BoP work, that is. I am incredibly eager to make my mark on the world--I want to make piles of money, get noticed, and do it all while saving the world. This dream only works when I have some sense of being actually able to attain it--I don't study business, per se, and I find that a lot of doors are closed to me because of that... but not out here in the BoP world. Out here, I can make a difference. Thanks a lot, you have no idea what this means to me.

microfinance

prashant — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:31:09 -0500

helping people like robin hood is wrong. governments tend to take from rich and have social programs to help poor, but in reality spend most of the funds in administration of such scheames. for social justice and upgradation of poor and needy, must be looked from their point of reference and what they really want and need. and how they can get those things in the future on their own. like environment problems today, most of the problems are created by us and those living simple lives are sufferers. we should reduce our consumptions of energy and resources and wastage thereof and let them find on their own their happiness and remove all restrictions that we may have imposed in our progress.

Fair Trade Outsourcing

Elana — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:46:04 -0500

We at Digital Divide Data, a fair trade outsource company in Cambodia and Laos, thank you for this post. Fair trade outsourcing has potential and we need to explore other regions of the world where we can do this. Elana www.digitaldividedata.com

Fair Trade Outsourcing

Elana — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:22:04 -0500

We at Digital Divide Data appreciate this post as responsible outsourcing is an important area to focus on. Fair trade outsourcing has potential and we need to explore other regions of the world where we can do this. Elana http://www.digitaldividedata.com/