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One of the winners of an IDB business plan competition for social enterprise projects in the Caribbean tourism sector presents his new venture, which is bringing authentic Bahamian art into the digital age--and into the pockets of mobile device owners.
In December 2009, we told you about an Opportunities for the Majority business plan competition for companies seeking to launch tourism-related projects in the Caribbean that would engage with low-income communities. Two projects were selected as winners and each received $35,000 from the IDB to pay for consulting services to help develop the business models.
Staff blogger Claudia Martinez says that while many companies are starting to really understand the concepts behind base of the pyramid business models, there are still a few that don't quite "get it" yet.
Susan Olsen of the IDB's Opportunities for the Majority Initiative lists the most important lessons learned at the First BASE Forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) recently held its first international event on Business at the Base of the Pyramid. The First BASE Forum took place in Sao Paolo on June 27th-28th, 2011, with more than 700 in attendance and a jam-packed agenda.
Staff writer Valentina Echeverry Perez sets the stage for the upcoming BASE Forum for the Development of the Base of the Pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean with a look at some of the many reasons Brazil is full of opportunities for BOP business projects.
Over the last decade, we have increasingly heard about Brazil’s emerging middle-class and the government’s achievements in reducing extreme poverty. Its "Bolsa Familia" program is among the most successful Conditional Cash Transfer programs in the region, reaching 12.7 million families, or about 50 million Brazilians.
Opportunities for the Majority investment officer Susan Olsen talks about the challenges of finding housing solutions that work for low-income families, and spotlights a new "rent to own" concept that has caught her attention.
At the IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative, we are particularly concerned about finding solutions that provide more dignified housing options for the BoP. After all, the home is the basis for all economic and social life in the family unit. If living conditions aren’t adequate, children are more susceptible to respiratory illnesses from dust stirred up off dirt floors, or fumes from kerosene lamps and gas stoves.
Staff blogger Daniel Granada, a native of Honduras, discusses the urgent need for Central America to embrace inclusive business practices to address persistent problems of inequality and violence.
Blogger Valentina Echeverry Perez relates her recent visit to a rural Bolivian community where small farmers are producing sesame for export to Japan, thanks to a partnership with a company called Latco International Ltda.
Opportunities for the Majority research fellow Valentina Echeverry Perez summarizes two recent events at the IDB which brought a variety of experts together to discuss the past, present and future of BOP business models in Latin America and the Caribbean, and beyond.
Mid-February was jam-packed with activity for the Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ) Initiative at the Inter-American Development Bank. On Monday, February 14, OMJ brought together more than 70 experts from multilateral institutions, investment funds, governments, NGOs, academia and private companies for its third annual Strategic Dialogue Partners' meeting to discuss leading trends and recent experiences in the Base of the Pyramid field.
Staff blogger Francisco Mejia looks at why impact measurements have not been a large part of BOP business projects to date, and describes a variety of approaches that can be used. Part one in a series.
C.K. Prahalad's seminal book “The Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid,” published over ten years ago, emphasized that innovation and fresh thinking were needed to harness the enormous opportunity represented by the BOP.
