Make Poverty Business

Developing Entrepreneurship Amongst The Poor

Peter Wilson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:41:04 +0000

McKinsey Quarterly have this interview with Jacqueline Novogratz, author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World. Novagratz is CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture capital firm.

Bangladesh Social Enterprise Project

Peter Wilson — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:01:20 +0000

Make Poverty Business co-authors Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson are working to implement some of their book's ideas in a DFID-funded project in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Social Enterprise Project aims to foster commercially-viable, poverty-reducing initiatives through cooperation between the private sector and NGOs. It is led by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and supported by Craig Wilson's organisation The Foundation for Development Cooperation and Peter Wilson's company Libra Advisory Group.

The inaugural session featured a keynote speech by the hugely impressive Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of BRAC. BRAC is less well-known outside Bangladesh than Grameen but has a wide range of successful poverty reducing initiatives, including BRAC Bank which aims to foster employment by lending to small and medium enterprises, in addition to financing one-person entrepreneurs who are the traditional targets of micro-finance.

The project website will capture materials generated during the sessions and will record the initiatives that result from this innovative project. The project has already generated case studies of Bangladeshi social entrerprises and a literature review.

New development research resource

Peter Wilson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:03:11 +0000

The UK's Department for International Development has launched a research portal, www.research4development.info which gives access to a wide range of development research and case studies.

Person-to-person microfinance

Peter Wilson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:40:02 +0000

In an earlier blog entry we discussed Kiva, which allows individuals to make loans directly to entrepeneurs in developing countries. Kiva does not pay interest and is primarily a philanthropic activity. However other peer-to-peer lending networks are emerging which also offer a financial return. Zopa have just announced that their lenders made an average 9.1% return in the last 12 months, which is pretty good in current market conditions. You can lend to a pool of borrowers, thereby reducing risk, or select specific borrowers from a set of profiles, thus introducing a personal, more philanthropic element to your lending.

UNDP Creating Value for All

Peter Wilson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:36:25 +0000

Click here to see the UNDP's report "Creating Value for All: Strategies For Doing Business With the Poor".

Microfinance Advisory Services

Peter Wilson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:24:40 +0000

Unitus is a non-profit organisation, run by ex professionals from Microsoft, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs and elsewhere, which aims to accelerate the provision of micro-finance to poor people by offering advisory services to micro-finance organisations.

Global Links Initiative

Peter Wilson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:49:33 +0000

Global Links Initiative contains a host of resources on contributing to community development, including through social entrepreneurship.

A "Facebook for Development"

Peter Wilson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:29:49 +0000

Have a look at a new website Business Fights Poverty which links people interested in using entrepreneurial techniques to contribute to economic development.

Using corporate distribution to distribute medicines

Peter Wilson — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:39:28 +0000

Aid worker Simon Berry became frustrated that companies like Coca Cola had excellent distribution mechanisms in developing countries, but it remained difficult to distribute life-saving goods like oral rehydration salts. He founded ColaLife to persuade Coke to use a fraction of their distribution capabilities to get medicines to poor people. A sophisticated new media campaign, including a Facebook Group and blogs, put pressure on Coke and they're now showing interest in cooperating. Click here to support the programme.

Islamic Microfinance

Peter Wilson — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:29:23 +0000

The microfinance organisation FINCA are offering Murabaha micro-finance services which are compliant with Islamic principles, being based on leasing rather than interest. Click here for an overview of such schemes.