NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, June 18, 2012

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 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 expand commercially viable businesses that serve the large numbers of low-income people that constitute the base of the global economic pyramid. Its goal is to identify, showcase, and support innovative business models that can be replicated across developing countries.

“The winners demonstrate that commercially viable companies can also provide economic opportunities for poor people—along with better access to clean water, electricity, health care, education, housing, phone services, and financial services.” said Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO. “They provide impressive models for others to follow.”