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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?
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.
Read about an innovative project being launched by a Peruvian social entrepreneur who hopes to involve citizens in the work of investing in their country's future.
I recently spoke with Guillermo MacLean, a social entrepreneur with a background in banking and finance. He is founder of a company called Social Futures Exchange Corp. (SFFX), which has the intriguing motto, “Anything a society truly wants is financeable and achievable.” He is developing a set of financial products and a system through which average citizens concerned about social problems in their country can play a direct role in solving those problems.
At recent conference, the "Engineering for the Developing World Summit," scientists and academics heard about the important role technology can play in engaging with the base of the pyramid. Staff blogger Elizabeth Terry shares an account of one panel and looks at what the audience might do with this new knowledge.
Late last year we told you about a workshop held in Santiago de Chile for engineering professors from leading Latin American universities, which was all about introducing them to the important role technology can play in making new products and services available to the base of the pyramid.
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.
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.
