NextBillion - A WDI Publication

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• News
  Can the Banks Fight Poverty?

  Recently, I was at a friend’s office in Lagos and we were discussing issues bordering on the economy and business. We were analysing the business climate in Nigeria vis-?-vis the prevailing government policies, especially with regard to banks. My friend is managing a medium sized private business in the aviation sector, which is apparently doing well with prospects for growth. He is looking forward to expanding and making the business bigger. We were also discussing the prospects of one star...

• News
  Mobile Phone Charges Ripe for Free-Fall Phase

  When Communications Commission of Kenya director-general Joseph Waweru told journalists last November that mobile phone call tariffs would drop by half in the next 12 months, very few believed such a feat was achievable. Then, the average cost of a wireless call within one network stood at a high of Sh30 per minute, while calls across networks were priced at as high as Sh50 per minute. Aug 13, 2007 (Business Daily/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- When Communications Commission of Kenya dir...

• Blog Post
  Biofuels: Do They Help the BOP? There are Always Two Sides of a Story

  There has been a lot of controversy recently regarding biofuels - especially corn-based ethanol - and their effect on the global economic dynamic. While biofuels in general could be a very good alternative to oil, are they good for the BOP? Rob and Derek have blogged on this very subject...

• News
  How to Market to Asia’s Masses

  Don’t Overlook the Fact That Even Low-Income Consumers Have Needs They Want Help Meeting. For decades, the majority of multinational corporations marketing in Asia have focused on the affluent minority, those who tend to live in urban areas and have shopping habits and product needs that are quite similar to those in the West. But by focusing only on the upper-income urbanites, marketers are missing a vast opportunity at the bottom of the economic pyramid. About 4 billion people i...

• News
  Environmental Technologies and the Bottom of the Pyramid

  Roughly four billion people, mostly in developing countries, subsist at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid. They are vulnerable not only to the risks associated with poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, but also to a host of environmental threats including poor air quality, contaminated water and climate change. Linking their entrepreneurial talent with the need to overcome the environmental conditions in which they live could accelerate the deployment of environmental technolo...

• News
  Tata Unbound

  A talk with Ratan N. Tata reveals his take on everything from Tata Group’s expansion plans, to being overstretched, to choosing a successor. For the past four years, Ratan N. Tata has been racing to seize opportunities to establish the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and biggest conglomerates, as a major global player in everything from steel and cars to hotels and information technology services. Besides making big acquisitions such as the Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group and...

• News
  Life at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Are Environmental Technologies the Way Out?

  VANCOUVER, August 1, 2007 (GLOBE-Net) ? Roughly four billion people, mostly in developing countries, subsist at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid. Here they are vulnerable not only to the risks associated with poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, but also to a host of environmental threats including poor air quality, contaminated water and climate change. Even though they live on less than US $2 per day, these people represent a huge potential market. Linking their entrepreneu...

• News
  Cornell Professor Builds on His Base

  Stuart Hart, founder of base of the pyramid economics, talks about terrorism, poverty, and the next big corporations. As one of the founding fathers of the base of the pyramid economic theory, Stuart Hart plays a crucial role in reshaping the way companies view the 4 billion people who live in poverty. The Cornell B-school professor is the founder and chair of the school’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and an authority on the implications of sustainable dev...