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Dear Friends,
I am very pleased to announce the launch this week of MajorityMarkets.org, a new website produced by the IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority initiative. In May, representatives from 22 organizations joined us here in Washington for our first Strategic Partners meeting. It was a great occasion for all the participants to learn from each other and hear about the work being done to promote innovative, entrepreneurial efforts to reach those at the base of the pyramid across Latin America and the Caribbean.
MajorityMarkets.org provides a way to keep those connections and conversations going. The site will feature articles about projects receiving support from Opportunities for the Majority, interviews with leading thinkers in social entrepreneurship and international development, a blog showcasing important events, people and publications, and much more. It will provide information and inspiration to companies and other organizations that are interested in connecting with underserved populations, but may not know where to start. Through our site, they can learn more about business models that are finding success in Latin America and beyond, and interact with IDB staff, financial institutions, NGOs, and others whose support is key to getting projects off the ground. Our hope is that many exciting and fruitful partnerships will begin with a visit to MajorityMarkets.org.
I travel frequently throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and am always impressed by what I see – the enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs, and the untapped potential of the base of the pyramid. I hope you’ll visit MajorityMarkets.org and will let your friends and colleagues know about it. I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
Let the conversation begin.
Luiz Ros
Manager, Opportunities for the Majority
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| How Opportunities for the Majority Began
As you learn about MajorityMarkets.org and Opportunities for the Majority, we thought it would be good to tell you a little about our history. We asked Donald F. Terry, founding manager of the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund, to explain how Opportunities for the Majority came to be. Read more
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| Thinking About the Future of Social Enterprise
Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen reflects on the future of social enterprise and the important role IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative plays investing in market based solutions for the base of the pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more
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| Reaching the Base of the Pyramid with the Right Platform
One of the greatest challenges in developing programs aimed at reaching the base of the pyramid is how to make contact with not just a neighborhood or village, but an entire city, county or country. Only on this large a scale can there be significant benefits, both for companies and for the low-income people they serve. At Opportunities for the Majority, we have found one of the most effective approaches to this level of scalability is what we call the platform strategy. Read more
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Avina
AVINA focuses on contributing to sustainable development in Latin America by encouraging productive alliances based on trust among social and business leaders and by creating consensus around agendas for action. www.avina.net
GIIN
(Global Impact Investment Network) The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of impact investing - for-profit investment made to solve social and environment problems. www.globalimpactinvestingnetwork.org
Grassroots Business Fund (GBF)
The Grassroots Business Fund (GBF) is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to build and support high-impact intermediary business organizations that provide sustainable economic opportunities to the base of the economic pyramid.
www.gbfund.org
Monitor Group
Monitors Group works with leading corporations, governments and social sector organizations around the world on the growth issues that are most important to them.
http://www.monitor.com
IGNIA
IGNIA is a venture capital investment firm based in Monterrey, Mexico that supports the founding and expansion of high growth social enterprises that serve the base of the socio-economic pyramid in Latin America.
http://www.ignia.com.mx
Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC)
Promote and support the development of the private sector and the capital markets in its Latin American and Caribbean member countries.
http://www.iic.int
Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF)
Using both grants and investments, MIF finances projects that promote private sector development, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises.
http://www.iadb.org/mif
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| EPM Offers Innovative Credit Solutions to Customers |
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Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM), one of Colombia’s largest public utilities companies, has long offered electricity, gas, and water services to its clients, the majority of whom live in very low-income areas. Now, EPM has started offering microloans to selected customers, and, thanks to support from the Inter-American Development Bank and other partner organizations, it will be able to turn even more of its customers into borrowers. Read more
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| Mapping the Potential of Private Sector Solutions of Nutrition in Majority Markets |
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Improving the nutrition status of majority markets represents a real challenge for most Latin American and Caribbean governments. Many people living at the base of the pyramid have a poor diet lacking in the nutrients and vitamins required for normal and healthy physical and cognitive development. This article explains how a multi-stakeholder partnership has started a regional nutritional mapping project that will identify potential market opportunities for private companies to better serve majority markets. Read more
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| Global Partnerships: Taking Microfinance Farther |
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Virtually unknown only a few years ago, microloans are now a proven tool to help improve the lives of millions of individuals in developing countries all over the world. The IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority initiative is currently working with Global Partnerships, one of the institutions leading the way in what might be called “Microfinance 2.0.” Read more
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| Conversion Sound: Making Hearing Happen |
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Making high-tech, low-complexity products affordable to majority markets is at the core of Conversion Sound high social impact venture. Discover how the company’s innovative ‘business in a bag’ distribution model makes better hearing possible for people at the base of the pyramid. Read more
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About MajorityMarkets.org
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The IDB's Opportunities for the Majority initiative, along with its dialogue partners, is behind MajorityMarkets.org, a site for inspiration, guidance, and practical advice from others who are successfully using market-based approaches to serving the base of the pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contact MajorityMarkets.org
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