Articles by Martin Herrndorf
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Thursday
May 19
2011Ten Years From Now … A Day With the SOCAP/Europe Entrepreneurs
How could impact investing make a real difference on our everyday lives? NextBillion writer Martin Herrndorf takes a pleasant stroll through "Socapia" in May 2021, observing the impact of the winners of the SOCAP/Europe Social Entrepreneur Scholarship a decade later.
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- Agriculture, Energy, Environment
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- impact investing, solar
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Wednesday
May 4
2011Beyond Payments – Experiences From Mobile Money Pilots
Since M-PESA cracked the market for payments in Kenya, mobile money is a global development dream: New technology enabling the poorest communities to join in modern commerce. As financial inclusion moves beyond credit, mobile banking should go beyond payments, suggests a report by PlaNet Finance and Oliver Wyman. A look at some key findings.
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- Uncategorized
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- microfinance
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Wednesday
March 30
2011Inclusive Business and CSR ? How To Grow Local Innovation Clusters? Reflections From Cali
Do concepts like ’base of the pyramid’ and ’Inclusive Business’ really enter into the mainstream practice of businesses located in or close to poor communities? Do local business leaders really care about the "endless opportunities" that academic thought-leaders proclaim? Or do they smell another buzzword storm and continue with business as usual?
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- Uncategorized
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Monday
March 7
2011Coffee Economics 101 and Nestle’s $500+ Million Bet
Straight black, double espresso, or decaf soy milk latte vanilla grande? For thousands of farmers around the globe, coffee is not a question of taste (or style), but one of survival. A short introduction into coffee economics, the promises of fair-trade and organic, and the $500-plus million direct purchasing bet by the Swiss food giant Nestl?.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Tuesday
February 8
2011Five Ways to React to Competitors at the BoP (Part 2)
One reason why companies might overlook competition issues might be because the nature of competitors is often distinct from established markets. This Part 2 will have an in-depth look at the nature of competitors at the BoP, and highlight five constructive ways to deal with that competition.
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- Uncategorized
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Monday
February 7
2011Understanding Competition at the Base of the Pyramid (Part 1)
Business targeting BoP consumers might fail if they neglect a key feature of business life: competition. Entering the market, business will find out that BoP consumers are normally not "unserved." They drink water, they eat, they treat illnesses, etc. Competition at the BoP can be a barrier - or a source of learning and collaboration.
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- Uncategorized
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Thursday
January 27
2011Small is Beautiful, Small is Cheap, But Do the Poor Care?
Sachet marketing ? selling products in small amounts ? provoked much attention in the early days of BoP. While the poor cannot afford products in large containers that would last weeks, marketers found they would buy them in small, single-serve sizes. But does sachet marketing really work for the poor? Do they care? And should companies?
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Thursday
January 6
2011Building Markets for Financial Inclusion … Beyond Micro-credit!
The micro-credit crises under way in Andhra Pradesh will probably affect micro-credit operations globally. Time to take a broader look at financial inclusion ? on how to bring credit, transactions, savings and insurance to those currently excluded formal banking ? through a review of the Global Financial Inclusion report by McKinsey.
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- Uncategorized