Contributor.

Tayo Akinyemi
The Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University

Tayo Akinyemi is a recent graduate of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, where she concentrated in Sustainable Global Enterprise. Her professional interests include Base of the Pyramid (BoP) entrepreneurship, African telecom, boutique consulting (with a focus on economic development), scenario analysis, and social impact assessment.

Prior to returning to school, Tayo worked in business development at Chicago-based consulting firm, Burke & Partners. She started her career at Catalyst, a New York based research and advisory organization working with businesses to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work. After nearly four years with Catalyst, she accepted a Princeton in Africa Fellowship to do democracy and goverance work with an international NGO in Abuja, Nigeria. At the conclusion of her fellowship, she joined the marketing department of an emerging telecommunications company in Nigeria, Suburban Telecom. Tayo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Princeton University.

Articles by Tayo Akinyemi

  • Tayo Akinyemi

    BoP Business Development and the Extractives Industry

    BoP business development by definition should engage the community in the process from the outset. However, extractives projects can be scoped, planned, funded and largely executed before the community is involved in any meaningful way. That begs the question of whether BoP business development and the extractives industry are compatible.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Bridging the Communication Gap in Uganda: Appfrica Labs

    When the subject of successful, scalable BoP models comes up, two will inevitably be cited: mobile telecommunications and microfinance (ala Grameen). While the reach of cell phones at the BoP is indeed widespread and impressive, one still has to consider what the barriers to access are for this technology and its ancillary, the internet.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Can Members of the Diaspora Work Effectively at the Base of the Pyramid?

    Three years ago I took part in my first Nollywood marathon. It was a bit of a reunion actually; one of my friends was in town from Nigeria while I was visiting another friend in DC. One of the movies, called Dangerous Twins, struck a chord. The story is about two businessmen; one lives in the UK and the other in Nigeria.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Business Action for Africa

    Business Action for Africa’s report From Crisis to Opportunity is hardly ground-breaking in its arguments. It presents, through the voices of influential leaders in business, development, and academia, a series of strategic imperatives that will mitigate the damage caused by the financial crisis and steady African progress toward the MDGs.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Microfinance: An Open-Book Blog

    Occasionally one encounters a novel application of a familiar technology. In this case, it’s blogging. David Roodman, fellow at the Center for Global Development and architect of the Commitment to Development Index , is currently writing an open-book blog about microfinance. He writes a chapter then posts it for comment and critique.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Inside the Entrepreneur’s Studio: A Conversation with Mo Ibrahim

    Most of you are probably familiar with the story of Dr. Mo Ibrahim, the British-Sudanese entrepreneur who built Celtel (now Zain) into one of the most successful telcos on the African continent (and beyond). Then you can imagine my surprise when the following email landed in my inbox:

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Reflections on ’Go’: Big Red MicroCapital

    BRM MicroCapital is a "student-run organization that spurs microenterprise development by assisting self-employed individuals to reach their business goals." Several Johnson School students, now newly minted alums-Andrea Findley, Taryn Goodman, Ryan Kelley, Kandea Mosley, and Mike Pezone-spent more than a year bringing this concept to life.

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  • Tayo Akinyemi

    Cornell Global Forum: What Gets Measured Gets Done

    Although its purpose is explicitly action-oriented?the mission of the Forum is to accelerate the degree to which clean tech companies and BoP companies incubate clean technology at the BoP?I couldn’t wrap my head around how another big, centrally-planned talk shop ensconced in a tony New York locale could possibly do anything meaningful...

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    Education
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