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Day 1 at the BoP Summit: Why BoP business practices need to move to 2.0
At the end of day one of the “BoP Summit 2013: Creating an Action Agenda for the Next Decade,” WDI Senior Research Fellow and conference organizer Ted London had a question for the participants: What will our legacy be?
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Lighting the path of profitability for base-of-the-pyramid enterprises
It’s every small business’s dream to be profiled not only by mainstream media flagships like the New York Times and The Economist but also trendsetting outlets like “The Colbert Report” and Fast Company. And by this measure of media attention, d.light design, provider of solar light and power products for the developing world, is a resounding success. But as any enterprise knows, generating buzz about your product is not the same as having customers actually buy it. d.light represents that most ambitious of social enterprises: One that aims to turn a profit while solving a social problem. Dubbed “hybrid” organizations by Harvard Business School professor Julie Battilana, these businesses differ from other social enterprises, who often rely on grant-based funding, rather than revenue, to sustain operations.
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- Energy
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- Base of the Pyramid, solar
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A Social Entrepreneur’s Inspiration For Solar-Powered Lighting
Solar-powered light bulbs for the poor: A growing number of social enterprises are selling such technology to bottom of the pyramid households in Africa, India and other countries. One of the first to do so, Denver-based Nokero (for No Kerosene) just introduced its next generation of products, as it works to make the company’s management more professional–and able to grow the enterprise even more.A little more background on the issue: Around 1.3 billion of world’s population lacks access to reliable electricity. Most of them use kerosene lamps, which are very very very expensive compared to incandescent lamps, (people spend as much as 30% of their income on kerosene-based fuels, according to Nokero), cause deadly fires (If you live without electricity, you’re seven times more likely to die by fire than someone with electricity, according to Katsaros), and contribute to air pollution. They don’t produce a whole heck of a lot of light, either
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- Energy
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NexThought Monday: Our Top 5 Tips for BoP Marketing: What are yours?
Inspired by discussions at the Hystra’s Marketing Innovative Devices to the Base of Pyramid as well as our own extensive experience in marketing life-changing products to the BoP, here at Living Goods, we thought it was high-time we shared our Top 5 Tips for BoP Marketing. Like any good list, we hope it sparks a vibrant discussion...
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FEATURED EVENT: The BoP Global Network Summit 2013
Join the first BoP Global Network Summit and learn more about the practices that are revolutionizing the world economy and changing the lives of thousands in BoP communities around the world. The summit takes place Nov. 7-8 at the Natura Convention Center, Cajamar - São Paulo, Brazil.
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Bottom of Pyramid Market in Philippines Worth $33.4 billion — ADB
The Philippine private sector must consider a $33.4 billion-worth market not yet fully tapped in order to further inclusive growth in the country, the Asian Development Bank pointed out in a study.
- Region
- South Asia
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How a Colombian Utility Buttresses the BoP: How EPM’s social financing works
Through 2012, EPM’s social funding program benefited more than 120,000 families by providing loans worth US$69 million. By the end of 2013, the Colombian utility expects to serve nearly 33,000 new families and deliver an additional $US28 million in loans.
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The Grocers’ Great Trek
A sluggish home market is pushing South Africa’s big retail chains northward.
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