We want to remind you all that the deadline for the first round of IAP funding is 31^st of May; we are looking forward to receive your applications! Read more about the programme and how to apply here, please also read our guide where we list the IAP…

A new report "Promise and Progress: Market-Based Solutions to Poverty in Africa" has just been added to the Resource Gateway.

The report, published by the Monitor Group, is a comprehensive analysis of financially sustainable enterprises that address challenges of poverty in Africa and the outcome of a 16-month research project on the operations of 439 enterprises in nine…

Chief executives from leading Bangladeshi companies met with NGO leaders in Dhaka on Wednesday 12^th May.  The meeting, convened by CARE Bangladesh and the Business Innovation Facility, was the culmination of the Responsible Business Program Bangladesh (RBPB).  The aim of the evening was to talk about how partnerships can contribute to successful inclusive business (or co-profiting, as…

Around 500 people participated at this year’s Globe Forum on 11 May in Stockholm to explore opportunities and ideas on “Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth”.

The 1 day conference looked at many existing and upcoming business opportunities, ways to develop and support sustainable cities and opportunities to support innovation and private sector development in developing countries.

After being announced at Globe…

It is now two weeks since I attended Sankalp, but I think I’m still reeling from spending two days in Mumbai with hundreds of social entrepreneurs, investors and companies pursuing inclusive business.   To give you a flavour, have a look at this session that was taped for a TV show.  Great fun, but also very serious in its intent. …

Business is always looking for the next exciting place to invest.  A new report  by Business Action for Africa and Earnst & Young suggests that this place is Africa.  As it’s title suggests, ‘The New Africa: Emerging Opportunities for Business in Africa’ neatly outlines why business is good for Africa and why Africa is good for…

I work for the MicroLoan Foundation (www.microloanfoundation.org.uk), a not-for-profit microfinance institution providing small business and agricultural loans, training, ongoing support and the facilitated access to savings to poor women in Malawi, Zambia and Namibia.

As part of a programme on Social Performance Management (ensuring that the right clients are being provided with appropriate services in the right way) we…

Business Innovation Facility conducted a series of events in collaboration with the Responsible Business Promotion in Bangladesh (RBPB) project of CARE Bangladesh. The series began with two separate workshops for the business and development sector partners identifying the challenges of working with the other. More details can be found in my blog titled…

Listening to Zambian businesses is the best way to refine and define effective ways to support their inclusive business (IB) investments.  This was evident last week, when Her Excellency Marie Andersson de Frutos, Swedish Ambassador to Zambia, Andrew Kambobe and I launched Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) in…

Entrepreneurs, researchers and corporate representatives, in total 117 persons, gathered at the launch event in Stockholm at the end of April to get more information about the Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) programme and listen to entrepreneurs as well as multinational companies that are already active innovating and implementing inclusive business models in developing countries.…

I'm sure this link will make you think of experiences you've had that are similar - 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/04/banerjee_and_duflo_1?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/rememberingtorespect

There are always fascinating perspectives on why people act the way they do, or buy what they buy.  Given the choice between batteries…

Shaping and sharpening the development impact of business is an exciting field.  Sometimes understanding that impact is more painstaking than exciting.  But painstaking detail can insightful, and guide us to the next challenge and change.  

The recent collaborative report from Oxfam, Coca-Cola and SAB Miller is just one example: insightful rather than exciting, but undoubtedly useful, and not only for these organisations.   ‘…

The Sankaalp Forum 2011 is an exiting two day event that brought together social entrepreneurs in Mumbai, India at the beginning of May. It is organised by Intellecap which is a partner to the Business Innovation Facility.

Discussions focused on inclusive business in 5 different high impact sectors:…

Those of you who have been lucky enough to work with both businesses firms and non-Government organizations – are aware I am sure, that they do not talk the same language. Sometimes they find that their value systems are so different and their ways of working are so far apart – they would never be able to work together as partners. Fortunately (some might say Unfortunately!) for us at Business Innovation Facility – we are trying to get these two types…

Businesses and NGOs are pushing beyond their traditional comfort zones as they develop new ways to partner with each other for inclusive business.  This month’s Editor’s Choice is a new overview, written specifically to help NGO and company staff think through their options and approaches.

Milton Keynes, the English new town near which I grew up, was once described by a family friend as “the place where people live behind hedges”. The expanding suburbs of Lusaka, where iSchool has its offices, look superficially similar, except that here people live behind concrete walls.

Some of the homes enclosed by these walls are home to Lusaka’s elite – not just whites, but also what expatriates describe, in a characteristically British misuse of the term, as the growing African…

The Business Innovation Faciliy team is are currently recruiting for a London-based team member to join the Knowledge Exchange team in the following areas of work:

• Be responsible for regularly updating this Practitioner Hub, e.g. uploading new resources, generating and sending out regular updates to Hub members, generating blogs and assisting the wider team with making contributions…