Friday
October 15
2021

Interview: Can Business Solve Global Problems? Lessons From Abraaj

By Adva Saldinger

The fall of The Abraaj Group was one of the biggest scandals to rock the world of private capital investment for addressing global health and other critical challenges. The private equity firm was once feted for its promises to finance health in low-income countries.

Now, years after the affair came to light and about two months after former executive Sivendran Vettivetpillai pleaded guilty to criminal charges, questions still remain. Notably, how did the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — along with some of the world’s largest development finance institutions — miss the alleged fraud during the due diligence process? And have any lessons been learned?

Devex spoke with Simon Clark, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who covered the story and recently co-authored a book about it, titled “The Key Man: The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale.”

Photo courtesy of John T.

Source: Devex (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Investing
Tags
impact investing, interviews, venture capital