Feb
25
Development Through Enterprise Deputy Director and NextBillion writer Bill Kramer was interviewed by the Spanish newspaper Expansion on February 16. The article is attached as a PDF.
Feb
25
Pierre Omidyar turned eBay into the most successful company of the dotcom era. EBay likewise turned its founder into a multibillionaire, and in 1999, Omidyar set up a charitable foundation. But he tired of the nonprofit sector, and in 2004 he shuttered the foundation, instead launching Omidyar Network to fund both nonprofit and for-profit enterprises that create social value.
In three years, Omidyar Network's model, which has invested $60 million in nonprofits and $45 million in for-profits, has been emulated by a new class of billionaire social investors. Just as eBay became a source of income for more than 1 million sellers, Omidyar hopes his mission-based fund can leverage the power of the marketplace for a new cause: to do good on a global scale.
Feb
25
It had the ring of something too good to be true: Multinational corporations could alleviate global poverty while boosting their bottom lines. But that was exactly what University of Michigan strategy guru C.K. Prahalad proposed three years ago in his best-selling The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (Wharton School Publishing). He spotlighted a largely invisible emerging market--the world's underclass--and called for global companies to kick over their tired notions of the poor as victims and to start treating them as "value-conscious consumers" and "creative entrepreneurs" in their own right.
To some critics, Prahalad's have-it-both-ways proposition is too good to be true. Aneel Karnani, also of the University of Michigan, argues that the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) market is smaller than Prahalad has claimed--and far less lucrative. Prahalad, however, continues to advance the prospect of an extraordinarily attractive business opportunity that's also an acid test for strategic and technological innovation. In an interview with Fast Company, he contended that it's not a matter of whether profitability can overcome poverty, but how fast.
Feb
25
Expert Sitings: Amir Alexander Hasson
Foreign Policy — www.foreignpolicy.com
Published on February 25, 2007
Expert Sitings: Amir Alexander Hasson
Amir Alexander Hasson is the founder and CEO of United Villages, a company that aims to provide the 2 billion people living in the rural areas of developing countries with e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and Internet access.
Feb
21
Gates Foundation Provides $15.4 Million to Opportunity International To Help Build Microfinance Bank
PR Newswire — sev.prnewswire.com
Published on February 21, 2007
Opportunity International, one of the world's largest microfinance organizations, today announced it has received a $5.4 million grant and a $10 million loan from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The $15.4 million of capital will fund start-up microfinance banks to serve the poor in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as expansion of its banking operations in Ghana. Opportunity International operates banks or financial institutions in 28 countries and is the world's largest microfinance bank organization serving the very poor.
"We thank the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for providing its second significant grant to Opportunity International, which will enable us to more quickly provide critical financial services to the poorest of the working poor in Africa," said Christopher A. Crane, president and CEO of Opportunity International. "We are working toward the day when all poor Africans who need a loan to grow their business, a safe place to deposit their savings or an insurance policy to protect their family's assets have access from an organization that is dedicated to their needs and well being."
Asia Pacific
Feb
15
PM approves strategy to expand microfinance outreach to 3 mln households
Associated Press of Pakistan — www.app.com.pk
Published on February 15, 2007
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has approved the strategy to expand microfinance outreach from one million to three million households by 2010. He was chairing a meeting here Wednesday to review the strategy prepared by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to increase the coverage of microfinance sector in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan has come a long way in introducing and familiarizing the micro finance concept. However, strategic steps need to be taken and multiple approaches adopted for substantive up-scaling of microfinance facilities to benefit the people belonging to the resource deficit areas.
Feb
15
Looking back, we all can remember just a few decades ago, when only the most privileged among us carried a credit card or debit card. Today, in a global economy facing constant change, the expansion of electronic payment systems has reached previously unimagined levels and now is part of the everyday lives of millions of people. In a subtle yet profound way, these instruments have also begun to influence economic systems and to positively impact development in a variety of countries.
Feb
15
Ignore Cheaper Phones At Your Peril, Says Motorola
Reuters — www.informationweek.com
Published on February 15, 2007
Consumers in emerging markets may be buying cheap phones with low margins at the moment, but a Motorola executive said Tuesday that phone makers who ignored those markets would miss out on major global trends.
"Customers in emerging markets do a lot more with their phones than make calls," Motorola's Chief Technology Officer, Padmasree Warrior, told Reuters in an interview at 3GSM, the world's biggest wireless trade show.
"They use text, they sell and buy goods, they make micropayments. If you don't play in that market you miss out on all those innovations. It's important to be a player," she said.
Feb
12
Insurers Seek Growth in Developing Markets
Wall Street Journal — online.wsj.com
Published on February 12, 2007
Seeking potential sources of future growth, AIG and its international rivals are racing to sell insurance in the developing world, from sprawling markets like India to smaller ones like Romania and Nicaragua. In remote areas, insurers must teach the concept of insurance to populations who have never bought any. Sometimes, as in parts of northern Uganda, the local language doesn't even have a word for it.
To penetrate these markets, insurers are devising unusual policies, charging as little as 50 cents to insure everything from television sets to burial costs. They're forgoing traditional documentation requirements, sometimes selling life insurance to people who don't know when they were born.
Asia Pacific
Feb
12
India, Inc. gets back to the basics
The Economic Times — economictimes.indiatimes.com
Published on February 12, 2007
Salvation in a sachet is passe now. Rural India will no longer be the playing ground of the FMCG bigwigs alone. In fact, many sectors such as telecom, IT, retail and education are at various stages of striking a deal with the aam aadmi.
According to a recent Assocham report, the per capita income of semi-urban Indians is around Rs 15,000 per annum, whereas it’s Rs 7,000 per annum for rural populace. As per its findings, by 2012, the per capita income of rural population will double, and the rising per capita income will lead to a hike in their consumption patterns.
What’s more, the total number of rural households are expected to rise from 135 million in 2001-02 to 153 million in 2009-10. That means the largest potential market in the world is in the offing, says the findings.
Continue reading "India Inc. gets back to the basics"
