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Key Findings from the Base of Pyramid Week
Last week, top executives of multinational and regional companies, leading impact investors, members of government, and international organization representatives came from around the US and the globe to learn from the IDB and each other about how business models for the base of the pyramid can launch and scale quickly and profitably. The event was organized by Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ), the IDB department in charge of spotting, nurturing and funding business models to engage base of the pyramid markets on a large scale in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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- Uncategorized
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The Case for Micro-Equity: Same Infrastructure, Different Mechanism
The vast majority of entrepreneurs served by MFI loans still lack the ability to scale their business, add real value in the supply chain, and steadily increase their profitability. Micro-businesses frequently take out several rounds of loans, creating a cycle, not true sustainability. We believe the answer that not only provides additional capital and a more long-term approach, but also greater benefits for investors as well, lies with micro-equity.
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- Uncategorized
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Technology & Savings: Competing for Kenya’s Base of the Pyramid
Last year alone, mobile phones transferred over US $10 billion representing almost 30 percent of the Kenya’s GDP. Our new research study examines how Kenya’s rapidly evolving market has opened up to a wide range of new and dynamic players and looks at what this means for savings products available at the bottom of the pyramid.
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- Education
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Weekly Roundup: This BoP Exit Brought to You, Courtesy of the Cloud
This week atyati technologies, a leading technology platform provider for the rural banking sector in India, with 2.5 million end users was purchased by Genpact, a $1.9 billion global leader in business process and technology management. The acquisition marks one of a handful of instances where a BoP-focused private initiative has been acquired in a mainstream transaction.
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NexThought Monday: Putting M-PESA’s Success into Perspective, Why B2B Will be Slower than P2P
M-PESA is a shining, unusual, inspiring success. And while the service is wildly popular in person-to-person networks, surprisingly few businesses use it. If M-PESA is to penetrate the business-to-business market, it will need to avoid the pitfalls of other brands.
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- Technology
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The Rockefeller Foundation at 100 Years: The Road Ahead
As part of its centennial celebrations The Rockefeller Foundation has launched various initiatives including the Innovation Challenges. Michael Myers, senior policy officer and director of Centennial Programming at The Rockefeller Foundation answered a few questions about the Innovations Challenge and the centennial.
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- Agriculture
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NexThought Monday: How Innovative Financing Mechanisms Are Helping Afghanistan’s Farmers
It’s not easy to improve farmers’ livelihoods in any developing country. Add in ongoing violence, feeble institutions, and some of the lowest living standards in the world, and the task can seem nearly impossible. But in August 2010, a project team from DAI landed in Afghanistan to do just that—by implementing USAID’s Agricultural Credit Enhancement (ACE) program, which aimed to lend $100 million to farmers and agribusinesses to invest in agriculture across the country.
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- Agriculture, Education
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Weekly Roundup: A Look at the Recent Impact Investing Conversation (Cacophony)
Impact investing’s presence in the news and online discussions seemed to grow exponentially this week and last week. Here are just a few stories that breathed optimism into the impact investing field by speaking to the associated markets crossed our desks.
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- Impact Assessment
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