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Net Impact: Getting to Profit in Africa’s BoP
S.C. Johnson & Son’s venture to supply cleaning products to entrepreneurs for sanitizing public bathrooms in largely slum areas of Mathare, Kenya, (with the goal of reducing sanitation-remedied ailments like diarrhea), sounds like a perfect blueprint for a sustainable BoP business. But after more than two years, it’s still not profitable.
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- Impact Assessment
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A Golden Burst of Flavor and Incomes for the BOP
The small saffron-colored, marble-esque berry, with the texture of tomatillo and taste of tangerine, is generating waves of demand among Peruvian and international gourmets while creating golden opportunities for BoP farmers in the Peruvian highlands.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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What Khosla’s New Fund Says About the BoP Evolution
Billionaire Vinod Khosla made bucketloads of money on the SKS IPO. Rather than take his money and exit, his new fund will recycle the initial social investment capital into a new, high-risk sector: firms serving the base of the pyramid. What does this tell us about the evolution of the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) sector?
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- Uncategorized
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’NextThought Monday’: Lisa Simpson, Carl Schramm and Skepticism
NextThought Monday is a new feature I?m starting at here NextBillion. Each Monday, I hope to introduce a new idea, point of view, or simply a guide to help you chart out the week ahead in the BoP space. This week we’ll explore the skepticism of microfinance and international development, and what we can learn from it.
- Categories
- Investing
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The Hoop Fund: Connecting BoP Producers with New Markets, Finance
The Hoop has been called the Kiva for fair trade, as it uses the basic platform of micro-lending from individuals to channel finance to emerging market cooperatives. However, according to the Hoop CEO Patrick Donohue, the Hoop?s point of differentiation is on the consumer experience it provides.
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- Uncategorized
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BoP Career Paths: Interview with Peter Frykman, Driptech CEO & Founder
In this series, NextBillion brings you Base of the Pyramid career path stories and best practices from across the BoP industry spectrum. Today we speak with Peter Frykman, founder and CEO of Driptech, an innovative company that creates ?extremely affordable, water-efficient irrigation solutions for small-plot farmers in developing nations.?
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- Agriculture
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Power to the People: New Report on Energy for the Base of the Pyramid
WRI’s new report, Power to the People, produced in collaboration with the Center for Development Finance-IFMR, looks at the market potential for clean and renewable energy in rural India. The following interview, with co-Author and NextBillion Staff Writer Saurabh Lall, explores the study’s main insights and conclusions.
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- Energy
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The “Gandhi Approach” to Better Governance
Microcredit, formal and informal loans from friends or family can get a social enterprise only so far. Larger equity investments can help a micro-enterprises over the hump and into real SME scale. This article summarizes some governance principles indispensable at this stage.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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