There is growing interest in the role of market-based solutions in addressing the problems of poverty, through inclusive businesses that tap into the potential of the global poor as customers and suppliers—the so-called ‘fortune at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP).’ Encouraged by the growth of microfinance, many promising new models are emerging. This has elicited a rush to the new field of ‘impact investing’—producing social or environmental good as well as financial return—with hundreds of funds set up in just a few years and billions of dollars waiting to be invested.
Between 500 million and 800 million of the world’s poor now have access to finance—but only one in four have been taught how to use their access wisely and to their advantage. In this study commissioned by the Citi Foundation, Monitor’s Anamitra Deb and Mike Kubzansky survey the landscape of old and new financial education models, analyze whether they have a business case and make recommendations on a shared agenda for the field to benefit all financial inclusion stakeholders—including consumers, financial institutions, policy makers and donors, and educators.
Mining companies looking to do business in Africa should take an inclusive approach to development that addresses the needs of the relevant governments, communities in which they operate, and the companies own needs, write Andrew Lane and Riccardo Reggio in this article from the Monitor Perspectives series.