News

In Episode 2, we look at 3 South African organizations and their commitments to the country’s economic, social and environmental development through various CSI, CSR and Inclusive Business Interventions, all of which share a common emphasis on sustainability.

Inclusive business holds the key to unlocking Africa’s development potential, UNDP Economic Advisor, Mr. James Wakiaga has said. Speaking at the launch of the UNDP report Realizing Africa’s Wealth: Building Inclusive Business for Shared Prosperity, Mr. Wakiaga described the situation of doing business in the slums and villages of Africa as challenging due to the lack of enabling market conditions. This translates into tremendous missed opportunities across the continent (Harare, 17 July 2013).

For its second major event of this year, the Inclusive Business Forum of Zimbabwe decided to feature the experiences of six of the organisations with whom SNV Zimbabwe has worked in Zimbabwe, providing technical and/or financial assistance in terms of their Inclusive Business Scan and/or Capacity Building Grant facilities. Some organisations have also used the CREATE Fund (progress on which was reported in our March Newsletter).
The IB projects presented included the following:

The Inter-American Development Bank’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) held its second international conference on business at the base of the pyramid (BASE Forum) on June 6 and 7 in Medellín, Colombia. Here’s a wrap-up from a WBCSD perspective written by Filippo Veglio.

Changamka Microhealth Ltd is making healthcare delivery more cost-effective and accessible in Kenya by using mobile phones and mobile money. It is piloting a program that helps low-income, expectant mothers get electronic maternal health vouchers that they can present on their mobile phones at health facilities. The vouchers qualify mothers for antenatal, maternity, and post-natal services at select hospitals. Changamka also provides transportation cost subsidies via M-Pesa, the popular mobile money platform.

Presenting the survey at the launch of the Book, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion permanent secretary Dr Desire Sibanda said the major problems facing the poor included unemployment, access to education, health facilities and decent housing.“Empowerment of the marginalised is critical to ensure sustainable poverty reduction than subjecting them to dependency syndrome,” he said.