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

Investing in local enterprise development in South Africa: Anglo American

Anglo American plc, one of the world’s largest mining groups, recently unveiled a new enterprise development venture that will help to generate more jobs, support entrepreneurship and strengthen local economies in South Africa. This commitment is a pledge to the Business Call to Action – a global initiative that challenges companies to apply their core business expertise, technology and innovative spirit to tackle poverty and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.

Anglo American seeks to establish 12 enterprise development hubs in high unemployment areas in South Africa, within the ongoing Anglo Zimele initiative, Anglo American’s enterprise development and investment fund in South Africa, which has created numerous sustainable, commercially viable enterprises and empowered entrepreneurs to operate in the mainstream economy. The new venture is expected to create 25,000 new jobs in up to 1,500 new businesses across South Africa over the next seven years.

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?

Biodiversity business

Biodiversity can be a good business. Business, on the other side, can be also very good for conservation, argues a recently completed study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the use of biodiversity businesses for conservation purposes.

The project, funded by the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning (MEEDDAT), assessed IUCN members’ needs and determined how to enhance the success of their efforts. It also allowed the members to share their experiences, lessons learned and challenges encountered in developing such businesses.

Supporting local economic growth in Ghana: Newmont

Building a thriving micro, small- and medium-sized enterprise sector is key to the business success and sustainability of Ghana’s Brong Ahafo region, where Newmont Mining Corporation has developed its first project in the country.

The Newmont Ghana Gold / International Finance Corporation (IFC) Ahafo Linkages Program was designed to increase the participation of local businesses in the project and bring development benefits to surrounding communities. Newmont, along with the IFC, applied the WBCSD Measuring Impact Framework to the Ahafo Mine as a way to understand the extent of the project’s benefits and establish a rigorous approach to measuring, monitoring and evaluating progress in achieving the project goals.

Read the full case study on the WBCSD case study gallery.

Negocios Inclusivos en Chile: un reto a la creatividad

El pasado 4 de junio, Acción RSE, el capítulo chileno del Consejo Mundial Empresarial para el Desarrollo Sustentable (WBCSD), organizó una charla temática sobre negocios inclusivos, convocando a más de un centenar de personas que se dieron cita para conocer las experiencias de BancoEstado Microempresas, Masisa y VTR en la gestión y desarrollo de este modelo de negocios.

Según Rafael Quiroga, Gerente General de Acción RSE, “los negocios inclusivos se están constituyendo en una contribución efectiva, creativa y novedosa de las empresas para superar la exclusión y la pobreza, transformándose poco a poco en ingresos relevantes para las compañías que tienen emprendimientos en esta área. Un efecto adicional es que las compañías se transforman en verdaderos impulsores del desarrollo social de los países donde operan, demostrando que el rol empresarial va mucho más allá de generar valor económico.”

Promoviendo Negocios Inclusivos en México: CESPEDES

La Comisión de Estudios del Sector Privado para el Desarrollo Sustentable (CESPEDES), la organización representante del WBCSD en México, está consolidando un programa que desde junio del 2004 promueve el desarrollo de mercados de bajos ingresos a través de negocios inclusivos. Para hacer realidad la iniciativa el CESPEDES se ha aliado con el Fondo Multilateral de Inversiones (FOMIN) del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).

El archivo adjunto (pdf, 4 páginas) resume los antecedentes y los logros del programa “Desarrollo de Nuevas Oportunidades de Negocios en la Base Económica de la Pirámide”, el cual busca ideas innovadoras que brinden nuevos medios para crear oportunidades económicas para todos y un mejor acceso a bienes y servicios para las comunidades de bajos ingresos.