On Monday, July 19, 2010, Opportunities for the Majority held a "BOP Modeling Workshop" to teach executives from a range of companies about the elements of base of the pyramid business models.
On Monday, July 19, representatives from dozens of companies gathered in Miami for a Base of the Pyramid (BOP) Modeling Workshop organized by the Inter-American Development Bank’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative and Dalberg Global Development Advisors. The participants came from a wide variety of sectors, including construction, manufacturing, agro-industry, financial services and business consulting. But they all shared an interest in learning more about BOP business models – that is, how companies are finding new ways of engaging with low income communities.
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.
Following the pledge of billions of dollars by the international community toward the recovery of Haiti, staff blogger Francisco Mejía offers some insights on how market-based strategies and private sector business models can contribute to the effective deployment of some of this aid.
On January 12, 2010, Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake. The toll was huge: hundreds of thousands died, more than a million were left homeless, billions in infrastructure were lost, the government’s capacity to respond was buried with the rubble. Three months later, the international community has pledged $5.3 billion for the next 18 months.
Staff blogger Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen recently attended the IDB's Annual Board of Governors' Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, and reports that new partnerships are forming between several companies involved in the Opportunities for the Majority Dialogue.
On March 19, I attended the meeting IDB organized in connection with the Annual Board of Governors’ Meeting in Cancun on The Role of the Private Sector in the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of this event, the Opportunities for the Majority initiative organized a panel titled “Scaling the Impact of Market-based Business Models with the Base of the Pyra
Former IDB manager Donald F. Terry shares excerpts from his recent Congressional testimony at a hearing on microfinance, and suggests that the time has come to take microfinance to a new level in order to reach the millions of people still living outside the formal economy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
I had the opportunity last month to speak at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. Since I worked as a Congressional staffer earlier in my career, it was interesting being on the other side of the table.
Only 13% of lower and middle-income Mexicans use the Internet, in many cases because computer access in rural areas is limited or nonexistent. Learn about a pilot project that is helping connect villagers in the Yucatan region to the rest of the world through affordable, high quality Internet service.
At about 2:00 pm on Thursday, July 9, I received an e-mail saying, “we are at a store and it works!” I knew exactly what this cryptic message meant and where it was coming from: a remote rural village in Yucatan, Mexico, where many houses do not have electricity and, until that moment, access to Internet was limited only to the very few who could afford a thirty minute walk and a ME$200 taxi ride to the nearest town.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and the World Food Programme are working together to provide a "premix" of vitamin and mineral supplements to Haitians struggling after last month's earthquake. Find out how this effort is part of a unique opportunity for the private sector to help fight hunger.
In the weeks since the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, we have all read heartbreaking stories, like this one in the New York Times, about the millions of Haitians left struggling to meet basic daily needs. So I was heartened to see an announcement from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition regarding their collaboration with the U.N. World Food Programme.
After the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti needs private sector investment more than ever. Staff blogger Francisco Mejia discusses why he believes the private sector will be the most effective force for rebuilding and transforming Haiti.
In a recent opinion article in the Washington Post , Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs proposed creating a multi-billion dollar “Haiti Recovery Fund,” using contributions from the international community, to support the reconstruction of Haiti.
Steven J. Puig, senior vice president for the private sector at the IDB, discusses how the work of Opportunities for the Majority and similar organizations offers opportunities not only to the "majority," but also to the companies and entrepreneurs engaging with the base of the pyramid.
At the IDB, when we talk about the “opportunities” associated with working in majority markets, we usually mean the opportunity for those living at the base of the pyramid to get access to jobs, durable and consumer goods, basic services or financial services. The name of our initiative dedicated to encouraging such efforts in Latin America is, of course, “Opportunities for the Majority.” Such projects also offer great opportunities not only for the “Majority,” but also to the companies involved.
Staff blogger Francisco Mejia wraps up his series on using "platforms" to bring BoP projects to scale with some advice on how to determine which kind of platform will work for your business plan.
In the coming years, a growing number of incoming firms will begin to associate themselves with existing platforms. As platforms allow more products and services to be sold through their networks, they will offer a growing share of products and services to majority markets. In effect, platforms may well end up being the key-holders for some product types in some specific regions.
