10 things a company needs to know about the market at the base of the pyramid
Seventy percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean – more than 400 million people – live on less than $10 a day. Even though their income is low, this segment of the population still demands goods and services, and represents a market of $760 billion per year. Hundreds of pioneering companies see opportunities in this market to do profitable business while improving the quality of life of low-income people. But where should they start?
It’s All in the Family: A Conversation with One of the Netherland’s Leading Impact Investors
What do family values have to do with impact investing? A lot if you are talking about Oikocredit, a Netherlands-based international cooperative that has successfully contributed to a thriving impact investing ecosystem in its home country. Comprised of member churches, foundations, support associations, and other like-minded organizations, Oikocredit has a robust network of more than 800 partners, €801 million in total assets, and €611 million in outstanding capital. A partner of the IDB since 2010, Oikocredit first participated in the IDB’s syndicated loan program when it joined B lenders, Blue Orchard S.A. and Calvert Foundation, to provide a $36 million loan to Mibanco to increase microfinancing to women entrepreneurs in Peru. We recently talked to Guillermo Salcedo, Deputy Director Loans & Investments, about Oikocredit’s mission and focus on fostering a dynamic investment environment in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The business case for buying less, but good stuff
I dare you: Can you buy nothing for a whole day? I know it sounds tough, but this was the idea behind the first day of No Impact Week at the IDB – No Consumption Day.
How Big Data Is Changing Big Business
Flickr Creative Commons CIFOR Did you know that every minute the world loses 50 soccer fields worth of forest? That’s one of the headline findings from recently published data on global deforestation. Access to deforestation data is making it increasingly easy for companies to monitor deforestation in their supply chains.
World looks to BRICS for sustainable business solutions
Multilaterals can provide sustainable business solutions – the recent BRICS summit highlighted how. Two weeks ago, the leaders of the five BRICS emerging nations –– Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa–– met in Fortaleza, Brazil for the 6th BRICS Summit. A $100 million development bank and a currency reserve pool were launched among the nations, a long-waited initiative since talks first began five years ago. This is no small feat. The five nations together account for half of the global population and 20 percent of the world’s GDP. Moreover, in the last ten years the economic outputs of these emerging nations have quadrupled . Although economic growth often translates into better living standards and opportunities for citizens, it is often coupled with key economic, social and environmental challenges –– especially in rapidly growing emerging economies.
Soccer and women: not just something men talk about
Well done Germany! The German national football team is the winner of the FIFA 2014 World Cup that ended Sunday at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The next time a men’s soccer team holds the FIFA World Cup trophy will be four years from now in Russia. As Die Nationalmannschaft were congratulated by two female heads of state; Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Germany’s Angela Merkel, another important event came to mind: the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada