Newsroom

Quanta Computer, the world’s largest manufacturer of notebook computers, will start making ultra-low-cost computers that could be sold in developed markets for as little as $200 this year or the next, according to its president.

The Taiwanese contract manufacturer is already producing a laptop developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers that will be distributed to children in third-world countries – under a non-profit project called One Laptop Per Child – for as little as $150.

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An estimated 16 million South Africans lack an operating water supply at home and have to walk an average of one kilometer to fetch water. Assuming the average household is five people, that's 3.2 million households. Picture each household making two trips daily; that's four kilometers walked in order to obtain enough water for the day. Four multiplied by 3.2 million makes 12.8 million kilometers walked each day - the equivalent of walking to the moon and back 16 times. Give or take a busy day at the water source, it takes about an hour to make the trip. 6.4 million trips equals 6.4 million hours of fetching water, which is usually of suspect quality.

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ET:

At a time when the Indian economy is registering the highest growth rates ever, the biggest preoccupation now - and rightly so - is to ensure that we are able to develop a model for sustainable growth. We welcome Professor Joseph Stiglitz in Mumbai. At ET, we're privileged to host this breakfast meeting between you and Nachiket Mor of ICICI Bank. This session is meant to explore issues relating to India's search for a more inclusive model of growth. We would also explore whether a market-based poverty alleviation model could emerge as a key instrument for change - something that Mr Mor has been a big proponent of through his pioneering work in microfinance. Over to you, Nachiket.

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US giant IBM and an Indian technology firm said Wednesday they had devised a smart card to help poor entrepreneurs access credit from institutions that lend to the "unbanked."

Small traders who have borrowed from microfinance institutions such as Bangalore-based Janalakshmi Social Services will be able to take part in fruit and vegetable auctions using the card, without having to take loans from greedy moneylenders, the companies said.

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For those readers who ask me what they can do to help fight poverty, one option is to sit down at your computer and become a microfinancier.

That’s what I did recently. From my laptop in New York, I lent $25 each to the owner of a TV repair shop in Afghanistan, a baker in Afghanistan, and a single mother running a clothing shop in the Dominican Republic. I did this through www.kiva.org, a Web site that provides information about entrepreneurs in poor countries — their photos, loan proposals and credit history — and allows people to make direct loans to them.

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Hundreds of miles north of here on the edge of the Mongolian steppes, Li Enhui is producing a "magic bag" to help China fight the fierce sandstorms that plague this city every spring.

Li's water-saving pouch, which he says enables trees to thrive in desert conditions, was selected as a special technology project by the organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hoping to host sandstorm-free games, the government is planting a "green wall" of trees around the capital to keep the desert at bay.

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India’s growing microfinance segment may soon see the entry of global financial services giant, Morgan Stanley and the Switzerland-based Blue Orchard Finance. Both these firms are in talks with the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India to foray into the local microfinance segment.

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Around the world there is a growing awareness that governments alone can't solve the problem of poverty. In many countries, the private sector is exploring ways to contribute to sustainable development through commercially viable initiatives.

In South Africa, the University of Stellenbosch Graduate School of Business (USB) has launched a project at its Centre for Sustainable Enterprise in Africa, with R1 million in seed capital from the Kellogg Foundation. Its work will be co-ordinated by a small team of USB senior academics.

"We have been looking for new types of public-private partnerships to tackle the problems of the second economy, and our work has shown interesting parallels with the Base of the Pyramid [BOP] protocol," said Wolfgang Thomas, professor extraordinaire at USB and chief operating officer of the new centre.

Continue reading "New centre to build Bottom of Pyramid business models for local communities"

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Harold Rosen believes in driving people towards accomplishing tasks they never dreamt about. He is a stranger to the places where he works, but is quick to find hands that connect him to local people and their dreams. Though many reading this would know him as the director of Grassroots Business Initiative (GBI) at International Finance Corporation, but for many who can’t read or write, he is a catalyst in turning their dreams into reality.

Working with the World Bank Group since 1978, Rosen has been part of IFC’s financial planning and policy departments located across the globe. His latest assignment, however, has gone a bit micro, making him concentrate on the base of the pyramid.

In India, working closely with partners like SEWA in Gujarat, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust and Drishtee.com, GBI today boasts thousands of beneficiaries. “And we have just started,” quips Rosen, who was in India to strengthen his initiative. “We have great partners from the corporate world that are coming forward to lend their support for building entrepreneurships at the grassroots. GBI supports innovative social enterprises— grassroots business organisations (GBOs). These are socially driven ventures—whether for-profit or not-for-profit—that empower and engage those at the ‘base of the pyramid’ as entrepreneurs, suppliers, consumers and employees. These ventures provide income, training and products and services to those who need it most,” he adds.

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The poor have substantial purchasing power too — purely because there are so many of them. The 4 billion people across the world, who stand at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) have purchasing power of $5 trillion (Rs 2,25,00,000 crore) according to a new report released on Monday by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank.

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