WBCSD-SNV Alliance: Creating inclusive business opportunities by linking local communities with big business

SEED Awards 2010

The 2010 SEED Awards are looking for the social and environmental entrepreneurs with the potential to make real improvements in poverty eradication and environmental sustainability, while contributing to a greener economy in countries with developing and emerging economies. This year, SEED is focusing on Africa and is able to make up to 35 awards: 10 awards will be made in South Africa; 20 awards will be made in 6 target countries in Africa, namely, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal; and 5 awards elsewhere.

New WBCSD report - "Business and Development: Challenges and Opportunities in a Rapidly Changing World"

What are the links between business and development? And what is the business role and opportunity in addressing sustainability challenges of developing countries and emerging economies? These questions are addressed in a report launched today by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The report draws on a decade of WBCSD thought leadership and practical experience in promoting business solutions to sustainability issues in the developing world.

Business perspectives and impacts on the Millennium Development Goals

Matthew Lynch, Program Manager of the WBCSD’s Development Focus Area, was recently the keynote speaker at a high-profile event in Amsterdam examining the role of business in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The event was organized by the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) and hosted by ING.

Coca-Cola's business and development impacts in the West Bank and Gaza

A new report (pdf, 48 pages) by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government profiles the experience of the National Beverage Company (NBC), the local Coca-Cola bottler in the West Bank and Gaza, where the private sector underperforms relative to many of its regional neighbors, and is consequently underutilized as a driver of economic growth, job creation and social development.

The challenges to private sector development in the West Bank and Gaza stem from a variety of well-known sources and include political instability, restriction on movement of goods and people, lack of access to capital, and shortages of water and other natural resources, with the situation obviously particularly difficult in Gaza.

Grupo Vanguardia: negocios inclusivos con recolectores de material plástico reciclable

Una mañana calurosa del año 2009, típica en la ciudad de San Pedro Sula, Honduras, la jornada de trabajo en el Grupo Vanguardia era intensa. Tras 17 años operando en el mercado hondureño, Vanguardia se consideraba pionero en prácticas ambientales y sociales en el país, en una industria conocida por ser altamente contaminante y con una baja tasa de reutilización y reciclaje. Esta visión, introducida por su fundador, Eduardo Moya, sentaba sus bases en la colaboración de los recolectores de material reciclable, personas en su mayoría de la economía informal, de escasos recursos que buscaban en el reciclaje una alternativa para sobrevivir.

IDB launches “Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets”

The Latin America and Caribbean region has experienced significant growth in profitable business activities that focus on the “base of the pyramid’ (BOP) in recent years, especially in the micro-enterprise and SME sectors. However, despite these successful innovations and some notable initiatives by medium and larger sized companies, there are still large opportunities waiting to be tapped in the region’s $500 billion per year low-income consumer markets.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is now offering a unique new program, titled Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets, designed especially to help the region’s private sector businesses achieve long-term commercial success and corporate leadership in designing new and inclusive business models for the base of the pyramid.