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

Exploring the links between international businesses and socio-economic development – A case study of Unilever Vietnam

How can corporate investment drive growth, help accelerate social and economic development, and improve livelihoods in a country? Following an analysis of its economic footprint in Indonesia and South Africa, Unilever has published a third study, conducted by a Vietnamese think-tank.

"Learning to insure the poor": new microinsurance report published by Allianz

Aiming to share its experience in how to design, deliver and scale sustainable microinsurance products and to help set the right course for next steps, Allianz has published a new microinsurance report, titled Learning to insure the poor (pdf, 40 pages).

The new report is based on research, conducted in collaboration with the Emergia Institute, to consolidate the wealth of insights Allianz has gained in the first years of developing its microinsurance business. Key facts on the state of microinsurance today, case studies on existing Allianz microinsurance projects and perspectives from experts on the future of microinsurance round out the report.

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.

Best of inclusivebusiness.org in 2009

Happy New Year to our readers! We appreciate your continued interest in our work. A warm thanks also to those readers that provide comments and send through suggestions for topics. Keep them coming! To kick off the year, here is the “best of” list of the most popular articles posted on inclusivebusiness.org in 2009 in both English and Spanish.

Business innovation to fight climate change and poverty

Are there successful business innovations for the global South that help mitigate climate change and its impact on the poor? What types of innovative models are emerging? How can these be brought to scale? What is the role of governments and donors to encourage investment and innovation for the poor?

Marketing at the base of the pyramid

In an article published in today’s Wall Street Journal, Erik Simanis, Co-Director of the BoP Protocol project at the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University's Johnson School of Management, analyzes some of the key characteristics and hurdles for developing inclusive businesses that target low-income consumers. 

He argues that Western companies have yet to figure out how to turn the billions of people living in poverty into customers. In Simanis' view, when selling to poor consumers, companies need to begin by doing something basic: create markets among poor consumers. "They must make the idea of paying money for the products seem natural, and they must induce consumers to fit those goods into their long-held routines.”