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Opportunities for the Majority manager Luiz Ros announces the launch of the Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets. Through a workshop and a competitive application process, the program seeks to identify and nurture innovative new business models for the BOP in Latin America and the Caribbean.
I’m very excited to announce the launch of the Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets. This is an idea we’ve been developing for some time at the IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority initiative. Over the last several years we’ve worked with a range of companies on projects that engage with the base of the pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A guideline to participating in the financing of the Inter-American Development Bank's projects in majority markets through the IDB's A/B Loan program.
Since launching, Majority Markets has received a number of requests from socially driven investors looking for investment opportunities at the base of the pyramid. The truth is that there is not one answer for these requests, the opportunities and channels to connect are many, and the outlook is looking even more promising as awareness of BOP projects grows and market participants are increasingly eager to explore investment opportunities which have social impact along with financial returns.
Early this year the IDB presented a proposal to Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs to conduct a reasearch project to measure the "Poverty Penalty" in the region. This blog was prepared by the "Columbia Poverty Penalty Group" that worked on the assignment.
If you’re reading this blog, it’s unlikely you spend a great deal of your time waiting for things – perhaps several minutes in line at the grocery store, or longer in a doctor’s waiting room. But what if you had a long wait ahead of you each time you needed to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water?
On April 20, Jaime Elizondo, President of CEMEX Mexico, and Luiz Ros, Manager of the Opportunities for the Majority initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, signed a partial credit guarantee agreement that will enable CEMEX to significantly increase the scope of its Mejora Tu Calle (“Improve Your Street”) program.
On April 20, Jaime Elizondo, President of CEMEX Mexico, and Luiz Ros, Manager of the Opportunities for the Majority initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, signed a partial credit guarantee agreement that will enable CEMEX to significantly increase the scope of its Mejora Tu Calle (“Improve Your Street”) program.
An interview with Pedro Bulcão, executive director of Brazil's SINAF Group, about his company's innovative approach to selling life insurance to low-income customers.
There are many ways private companies can serve base of the pyramid (BOP) populations. These underserved communities represent a large untapped market and, as such, offer a number of opportunities to organizations willing to address their basic needs in a responsible and profitable way.
Two leading Mexican companies, Mi Tienda and CEMEX, were recognized at the IDB’s Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Cancun, Mexico, for their innovative projects that engage with low-income populations in Mexico.
On Friday, March 19, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno meet with Jose Ignacio Avalos, a leading social entrepreneur who has been instrumental in creating major nonprofit organizations that address critical needs of the poor in Mexico, including Mi Tienda, a company that supplies hundreds of small grocery stores in rural communities in Mexico.
Opportunities for the Majority's Johnny Jiron describes a successful partnership between a Trinidad resort and some nearby farmers. If you know of any Caribbean tourism companies that might be interested in trying to engage with local majority markets, let them know about the IDB business plan competition accepting applications until April 9, 2010.
A couple of months ago, the Opportunities for the Majority initiative launched a business plan competition for companies in the tourism sector in the Caribbean that are seeking to engage with low-income communities. The deadline for applications is April 9, and we are just starting to receive proposals.
Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, we highlight the need to support innovative business models like Jeff Brown’s supermarkets in inner cities in the United States and Mi Tienda’s network of rural grocery stores in Mexico.
At President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, Jeff Brown, a grocery store owner from New Jersey was sitting in the gallery with the First Lady. In something of a Washington tradition, every year the White House invites “real people” to attend the speech and serve as living examples of the president’s policy proposals. In this case, Brown was chosen because of the four Shop-Rite supermarkets he has opened in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and for the White House he stands for creating jobs and supporting good health.
Staff blogger Brendan McNulty discusses challenges facing entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid, using the example of a Liberian business owner he knows.
Nothing about owning a small business in the developing world is easy.
I received some bad news the other day from Anyaa, a woman I advised while I was in grad school. She founded a bamboo furniture company in the conflict-wracked nation of Liberia in West Africa, and for several months I worked with her to increase sales and attract investors.
Technology plays a key role in helping many companies engage with majority markets in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. A workshop being held in Santiago de Chile on December 14 and 15 seeks to introduce tomorrow's innovators to the challenges and rewards of working with the base of the pyramid.
Much of the work showcased on MajorityMarkets.org has to do with what companies are doing to adapt their business models to better engage with the untapped human potential at the base of the pyramid.
