A conversation with Soji Apampa, BIF Country Manager

My initial conversation with Soji Apampa was vague, but I could tell he was interested in confirming my interest in doing some “assignment”; and that my strategy, financial, legal, political economy and consulting background were relevant to whatever the job entailed. Understandably, he couldn’t reveal all facts, as he still needed my resume, and probably some approvals, but I could decipher some vague outlines of the…

Waste Capital Partners, a solid waste management company that builds waste picker livelihoods by having them collect and environmentally process waste, was honored to be chosen by its peers in the Dasra Social Impact program to receive investment from Village Capital.  The Dasra Social Impact program is a rigorous three week program over a 6-month period in which high performing social enterprises are selected to develop their businesses in a peer-environment.  At the end of the six months,…

Last year, while researching rural connectivity initiatives for the iSchool project, I visited Macha, a rural village in southern Zambia - and was amazed by what I found there.

In addition to the usual dusty jumble of earth huts, stalls and maize fields, Macha is home to an Internet cafe, a large office block, a Western-style restaurant, a craft store, a library, a bank branch, a well-built school that would not be out of place in a California suburb, a biofuel farm, a visitor lodge,…

The AME is targeting to address energy safety, ecological degradation, and public health concerns in low income countries. We work to develop and implement renewable energy projects with advanced technologies that support five important areas: human health, off-grid lighting and cooking, agriculture and food security, human development and energy efficiency.

Some of us who are privileged may wonder why children drop out and absence rates are so high in public schools or amongst children from low income households, while we remember loving and looking forward to going to school as kids...Well, the clean, inviting toilets that many of us had are definitely not what comes in mind right?

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new and improved Practitioner Hub for inclusive business. Jointly managed by the Business Innovation Facility and Innovations Against Poverty, this online community provides a virtual space for practitioners to share experiences and gain the practical knowledge they need to help their inclusive business ventures grow.…

One of the most fascinating parts of our day to day experiences is the variety of people we meet. Despite spending weeks surveying areas, one cannot predict what the response of the next person would be. Even neighbours with similar income levels and backgrounds have different perceptions regarding the same toilet facility, hygiene and what they can pay for a toilet.

Some people blamed the caretaker for the dirty state of toilets. Most people, however, agreed that despite the toilets…

The last week was full of new experiences. So far we have surveyed various areas in Pune and have finalized to initiate our pilot project in the slums of Dattawadi area.

Around 850 households in this area use the 7 community toilet blocks. 3S-Shramik is up to maintaining these existing toilet blocks that relatively dirty and not well maintained. 3S- Shramik will renovate the existing toilet blocks and make them better equipped for the use by residents of the area. We are also planning…

When asked what is the biggest problem they encounter in their farming business, most smallholder farmers in Malawi will say it is a lack of markets. When asked what is the major obstacle they face in business, exporters of major cash crops such as pigeon peas and chillies often mention a lack of reliable supply. This clearly points to a gap in expectations that can be attributed to lack of information. Availability of accurate and timely information on what the market needs results in…

Many cookstove projects in the past focused on reducing wood consumption in rural areas. However, there have always been thousands of households using fuelwood for domestic cooking and heating in urban and peri-urban areas. Enter Hestian Rural Innovation Development:

For several months now, Hestian has been working with two groups in Malawi’s urban capital, Lilongwe,…

Several years ago I was working for an NGO that invested a sum of money in buying some household solar products to sell on to rural consumers. The benefits were compelling: reduced environmental impact due to using clean energy instead of kerosene and candles, less smoke inhalation, bright light for mums to breastfeed their kids and, once the relatively small initial investment had been covered, free light for as long as the units lasted. Even better – the company who sold us the units told…

2012 Event Series: Understanding and enhancing business impact on development

As part of Business Fights Poverty's 2012 event series, this event - jointly hosted by BIF, Business Fights Poverty, AngloAmerican and Business Action for Africa - will examine how businesses are integrating assessment of their development results into their planning, key performance indicators, decision making and reporting, in ways that enable greater alignment between…

Friday 16^th June, Thomas Reuters Building, Canary Wharf

Africa is an exciting place to be right now in terms of new technology start ups that are competing with and sometimes besting their Western counterparts, producing innovative products and services that can change the lives of millions on the continent. This was the core message of the Africa Gathering “Start it, build it” Festival of Technology, which members of the BIF team attended on Friday…

Los Cabos, Mexico, June 18, 2012—The Group of 20 today announced the winners of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation, a global competition managed by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. Ambassador Mr. Rogelio Granguillhome, Executive Secretary of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation and Chair of the G20 Development Working Group, presented the awards at a ceremony here. 

The world’s leading economies launched the G20 Challenge to rapidly…

Dear Practitioners,

I thought you would be interested in seeing the 10 winners of the MIX's Long-Term Capitalism Challenge Award for organisations leading the way in more principled, effective and socially accountable business models.

There is recognition for the likes of blue-chips Nike, Natura and Coca-Cola to 'hybrid' start-ups like Ashoka and Sustainable Harvest. I am also delighted to add Accenture Development Partnership's name to that list, and you can read more about…

As a part of a Business Innovation Facility project to establish feasibility of solar mini-grids, the Intellecap team conducted focus group discussions (FGD) and surveys among rural households in Bihar. While the research was aimed at understanding the need and demand for electricity in rural households, we came home with valuable insights on rural consumer values and payment behavior.  This blog post focuses on some key observations:

Need for payment flexibility

It can be…

According to a report from UNICEF, 58% of world’s openly defecating population resides in India. Considering the seriousness of this issue, India aims at completely eradicating open defecation by the end of year 2017. We, 3S-Shramik, an enterprise in the field of sanitation,hope to contribute to this goal.…

The global climate is changing and businesses - large and small, urban and rural - are having to consider the ways in which they can adapt their practices and policies to meet the impacts of these changes.

All sectors of the economy will encounter new threats and opportunities but agriculture is likely to be one of the sectors that is most impacted by climate change; especially where large smallholder populations, with limited adaptive capacity,…

For everything that you do within a business organization, there'll be some people who'll like it and some will be there who will criticize it. If you think of pleasing everybody, you can't do that ever. Did you already make your fair share of experience starting the new enterprises? If answered yes, you should be aware of what it takes to secure a strong foot in the industry. If you didn't do it still now, you should be wondering about the critical factors that…