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Enterprise Excellence 2
Opportunities Investing in development Helping the world's poor doesn't have to be through charitable giving. It can also be done through investment. In other words, you give the poor a hand-up (rather than a hand-out) and you get a return in the form of interest. The World Bank Group offers a wide range of investment opportunities. The Bank's information networks and its research and policy analysis provide investors with the means to assess investment opportunities in the developing world, either separately or in partnership with the Bank. For more information, click here. Africa an investment opportunity? An alternative investment opportunity to those provided by the World Bank (see above) is a new private equity fund called Equity for Africa, which has been set up to raise capital for profitable investment in small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Tanzania. The aim is to enable African people to improve their livelihoods by creating sustainable employment. The fund is particularly concerned to address the gap between microfinance loans (financing below $750) and venture capital ($500,000+), which is holding back SME development and job creation. Equity for Africa is of particular interest to Transforming Business because of the emphasis it puts on relationships (reflecting the fund's origins in the Cambridge-based Relationships Foundation). The fund actively seeks to build relationships between people and organisations in high and low income countries. Investors are encouraged to get to know the people and businesses in which the fund invests and, where appropriate, to lend their skills and expertise. Further information here. Exposure and assessment trips The Transformational Business Network (TBN) is an organization dedicated to using business to bring spiritual and physical transformation to the world's poor. Its vision and aims are, therefore, similar to those of Transforming Business. In fulfilling its mission, TBN recognises the impact of first hand personal exposure to the struggles and opportunities of the developing world. It therefore organizes Exposure and Assessment trips, which provide an opportunity for western business professionals to meet and learn from developing world entrepreneurs, gain a better understanding of how their skills and experience can help to reduce poverty, and stimulate their own personal transformation through the broadening of horizons. More information can be found here. Research competition The International Finance Corporation and the Financial Times are inviting entries for the first international private-sector development research paper competition, under the theme 'Business and Development: The Private Path to Prosperity'. The competition seeks to promote the best thinking on the role of business in development. Six awards, with a top prize of US$30.000, will be granted to the best papers. Entries must be received on or before 30 June 2006. More information here. |