On February 2, the Business Call to Action, Business Action for Africa,  and Business Fights Poverty brought together Anastasia Thatcher, Senior Manager with Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP); Axel Nemetz, Head of mHealth Solutions at Vodafone; and Jean-Philippe Labat, Vice President Global Sales at Movirtu for a webinar discussion about the value of business-to-business (B2B) partnerships in doing business with the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Watch the presentation.

Anastasia Thatcher opened the webinar by providing an overview of the trends occurring in the inclusive B2B partnership space. In today’s interconnected marketplace, the traditional roles of the public and private sector are converging in what ADP calls the “convergence economy”. In developing markets, this convergence economy is creating an ecosystem in which non-traditional partners are joining together to create new business opportunities at the BoP.

“There is growing recognition that in order to access the business opportunities in the next frontier of development, often in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, businesses need to work together to address complex and interconnected development challenges,” said Ms. Thatcher. ”More and more we are seeing strong alliances and coalitions, companies coming together across and within industries in order to really access these opportunities.”

According to Ms. Thatcher, B2B partnerships that leverage complementary capabilities, knowledge and partner networks to catalyze investment and act as a multiplier to increase scale and reach; thereby reducing the amount of start-up capital required. Watch Ms. Thatcher’s presentation. Access PowerPoint.

Axel Nemetz agreed that B2B partnerships are helping Vodafone to reach its goals at the BoP. Vodafone is partnering with Pfizer on the flagship “SMS for Health” initiative in the Gambia to promote more efficient pharmaceutical value chains.  While Pfizer originally approached Vodafone as a potential partner for this particular program in the Gambia, Vodafone had experience implementing a similar program in Tanzania.

Based on its experience in Tanzania, Vodafone was able to develop an appropriate and effective mobile solution which was considered valuable by all parties involved in the partnership, including Pfizer and the Gambian government. Critical to the success of this initiative, says Vodafone, was first and foremost, the government’s involvement which helped ensure that the program was sufficiently targeted to address Gambia’s specific health care challenges.

A second key success factor was attention paid to developing the right initiative, which is a product that represents a win-win situation for everyone involved. According to Mr. Nemetz, this was easier said than done considering competing concerns and the very real challenge the joint Pfizer/Vodafone initiative faced when trying to incentivize health care workers to participate in this program due to existing attitudes and the nature of health infrastructure.

However, the partners’ perseverance paid off. Today, Vodafone is now looking to expand this platform across more countries and to provide additional services such as drug authentication. Watch Mr. Nemetz’s presentation. Access the PowerPoint.

Just like with the “SMS for Health” initiative, partnerships between companies help to bring unique assets to bear on new initiatives. Whether it is with large companies or small companies, these partnerships are helping to create commercially sustainable business solutions for low-income communities at the BoP.

For smaller companies, such as UK-based tech firm Movirtu, B2B partnerships are critical to business success. Jean-Philippe Labat highlighted how firms such as Movirtu can achieve scale more efficiently by working with larger firms that offer complementary services. Movirtu’s cloud phone application allows people living on less than $2 per day who typically don’t have access to a mobile phone to make phone calls, receive voicemails and send text messages from a unique telephone number.

“To guarantee access to the base of the pyramid, we work with operators and NGOs,” said Mr. Labat. The operators distribute and make the technology available, while the NGOs play a key role in providing the understanding of how communities work.

“I do not think that in today’s world you can achieve something on your own, and you need to have larger audiences and partners to do that…. Achieving something that will be beneficial to users and providers is a very essential part of these partnership ideas.” Watch Mr. Labat’s presentation. Access the PowerPoint.

Susan Chaffin closed the webinar session by noting that while B2B partnership models are a work in progress; many benefits are to be gained by learning from experience and making adjustments to ensure stakeholder alignment for the purpose of meeting consumer needs at the BoP.

With headquarters in Mauritius and offices in East, West and Southern Africa, ToughStuff seeks to expand access to low-cost, durable solar panels and solar battery packs to low-income communities in 10 African countries— Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, South Sudan,  Zambia and Zimbabwe— and four Southeast Asian countries—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal in the next four years.

The company expects to help consumers who previously relied on kerosene or biomass fuel to save a combined total of US$520 million on lower energy costs while reducing carbon emissions by up to 1.2 million tonnes by 2016.

“Companies like ToughStuff invest in communities by providing cleaner, healthier energy options through core business operations,” said Susan Chaffin, Programme Manager for the BCtA. “This commitment will help to boost development and improve social equity in a sustainable way that is good for the environment and good for business“

Nearly half the world’s population lacks reliable access to modern energy services. And more than 20 percent of the global population, or 1.4 billion people, remain without access to electricity; in the majority of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia, depending on wood, charcoal, animal waste or biofuels such as kerosene for energy. By 2030, household air pollution from the use of biomass fuel is expected to cause more than 1.5 million deaths a year, according to a recent UNDP report.

ToughStuff aims to reduce the impact of lack of energy access for millions of people by bringing its solar-powered products directly to low-income communities through commercial and alternative trade channels including its “Business in a Box” model, which relies on a network of village-level entrepreneurs that are provided with training on how to sell, rent or provide access to affordable solar energy services and products.

Since its launch in 2009, ToughStuff has helped to create thousands of new business opportunities for rural entrepreneurs. Its products have reached over one million people in Madagascar, helping customers save over US$5.85 million in energy costs.

“Today’s ambitious goal underlines ToughStuff’s commitment to produce quality and affordable products that will change the lives of millions of people living off-grid globally,” said Andrew Tanswell, CEO of ToughStuff. “To make this happen, and at the scale we intend, we are actively building commercial partnerships with large distributors, telecommunications companies, retailers and others with an interest in bringing energy, along with all of its benefits, to those who don’t yet have it.”

Since its launch in 2009, ToughStuff’s products have reached over 1 million people and helped its customers save over $5.85 million in energy costs.

This initiative will help to further the goals of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative which seeks to boost access to energy while protecting ecosystems.

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For more information please contact:

ToughStuff: Vicky Emmett, Victoria.emmett@toughstuffonline.com, Tel: +44 270 261 0983

BCtA: Lorin Kavanaugh-Ulku, lorin@businesscalltoaction.org, Tel: +1 703-587-3219

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Business Call to Action (BCtA) is a global initiative that seeks to challenge companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for development impact along with commercial success. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Australian Agency for International Development, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the UK Department for International Development, the US Agency for International Development,  UNDP, the UN Global Compact, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the International Business Leaders Forum to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Companies report on progress toward commitments on an annual basis.

ToughStuff provides portable solar power for the developing world and for humanitarian crises. 1.4 billion people live without access to electricity, relying on expensive, unsafe and polluting alternatives. ToughStuff supply people in the developing world and international development and relief organisations with affordable products and training for high-quality solar panels to charge lights, radios and mobile phones. These tools help communities cope with emergencies, and low-income people to not just save money but make money.

Missed the Webinar?

Watch the webinar presentations:

Full presentation

Access individual presentations:

Anastasia Thatcher | Axel Nemetz Jean-Philippe Labat

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Anastasia Thatcher | Axel Nemetz Jean-Philippe Labat

In today’s marketplace, collaboration and partnership between companies can be highly beneficial. Vodafone and Movirtu are part of a new wave of companies that leverage Business-to-Business (B2B) partnerships to improve access to products and services in base of the pyramid communities, promote value chain efficiencies, and improve the enabling environment for inclusive business.

Register today to learn about how Vodafone, the world’s largest telecommunications provider, is promoting more efficient pharmaceutical value chains and building its business in The Gambia through collaboration with Pfizer. Movirtu, a mobile service provider, will also discuss how B2B partnerships are helping the company promote its cloud-based mobile phone platform in base of the pyramid markets in Africa and Asia.

Join the Business Call to Action, Business Action for Africa and Business Fights Poverty for a lively discussion with Vodafone and Movirtu about the role of B2B partnerships in creating new market opportunities. Accenture Development Partnerships, a market leader in developing strategic alliances, will provide an overview of new trends and opportunities in the inclusive B2B space.

Featured Speakers:
Anastasia Thatcher, Senior Manager, Accenture Development Partnerships
Axel Nemetz, Head of mHealth Solutions, Vodafone Global Enterprise
Jean-Philippe Labat, Vice President Global Sales, Movirtu
Discussion moderated by Susan Chaffin, Programme Manager of the Business Call to Action

Register today to learn about how Vodafone, the world’s largest telecommunications provider, is promoting more efficient pharmaceutical value chains and building its business in The Gambia through collaboration with Pfizer. Movirtu, a mobile service provider, will also discuss how B2B partnerships are helping the company promote its cloud-based mobile phone platform in base of the pyramid markets in Africa and Asia.

Join the Business Call to Action, Business Action for Africa and Business Fights Poverty for a lively discussion with Vodafone and Movirtu about the role of B2B partnerships in creating new market opportunities. Accenture Development Partnerships, a market leader in developing strategic alliances, will provide an overview of new trends and opportunities in the inclusive B2B space.

Featured Speakers:
Anastasia Thatcher, Senior Manager, Accenture Development Partnerships
Axel Nemetz, Head of mHealth Solutions, Vodafone Global Enterprise
Jean-Philippe Labat, Vice President Global Sales, Movirtu
Discussion moderated by Susan Chaffin, Programme Manager of the Business Call to Action

Watch the webinar presentations:

Full presentation

Access individual presentations:

Anastasia Thatcher |  Axel Nemetz | Jean-Philippe Labat

Access the PowerPoint presentations:

Anastasia Thatcher | Axel Nemetz | Jean-Philippe Labat

Jaipur Rugs—one of the largest manufacturers of hand-knotted carpets in India—is helping low-income people—approximately 60 percent of who are women—in the most economically disadvantaged regions of India gain access to local employment opportunities. Weavers in Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan will receive one-month of training in advanced carpet weaving techniques and quality control to improve the quality and quantity of rugs produced.

Weavers that demonstrate exceptional carpet making skills will go on to receive training to train and manage other weavers in the village.

“Although there are 2.5 million artisans weaving rugs in India, most are not well-paid. In recent years, weavers have seen their wages plummet due to contractors imposing unfair pricing practices when purchasing carpets at the village level,” said Susan Chaffin, BCtA Programme Manager. “We at the BCtA welcome Jaipur Rugs’ commitment to creating new and sustainable job opportunities for women and unskilled, low-income labourers in villages thereby enabling them to earn a secure livelihood.”

According to the International Labour Organisation, approximately 17 percent of men and 66 percent of women in rural villages are unemployed. Among those that have jobs, 30 percent of men and 36 percent of women live below the poverty line.

Initiatives such as Jaipur’s provide jobs and opportunities to those people that need it the most.  Trained weavers contracted through Jaipur Rugs earn an average of  US$300- $500 more per year than unskilled artisans.

”Through this initiative, we have the opportunity to provide sustainable livelihoods to the poorest of the poor in an economically disadvantaged region of the world,” said Asha Chaudhary, CEO of Jaipur Rugs “Each time you buy a rug and I sell it, we contribute to alleviation of poverty and create employment for underserved communities.”

Since its inception, Jaipur Rugs has provided training to more than 28,000 low-income home-based weavers and an additional 12,000 wool spinners and dyers. This latest commitment by Jaipur Rugs is part of the company’s long-term growth strategy and plans to extend its market globally.

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For further information, please contact:

Jaipur Rugs:

Pracin Jain, pracin.j@jaipurrugsco.com, Tel: +91-141-2398948 / 3987400

BCtA:
Lorin Kavanaugh-Ulku, lorin@businesscalltoaction.org, Tel:  +1 703-587-3219

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Jaipur Rugs is one of the leaders of handmade rugs in India. It is globally renowned for its hand-knotted rugs and the way they are woven to contribute to socio-economic development. These rugs are exported to about 30 countries. It is famous across the world for its Social Entrepreneurship Model which it has developed over the three decades by making the production of hand-knotted rug industry completely meant for grassroots level people. There are more than 60 processes in producing hand-knotted rugs. Each process provides its own potential of employability or work scope. This model or business was founded in 1978 with 9 artisans. Since then, Jaipur Rugs has evolved 40,000 jobless people into the artisans by assigning them to these processes.

The Business Call to Action is a global initiative that seeks to challenge companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for development impact along with commercial success. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Australian Agency for International Development, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the UK Department for International Development, the US Agency for International Development,  the United Nations Development Programme, the UN Global Compact, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the International Business Leaders Forum to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Companies report on progress toward commitments on an annual basis.

ToughStuff – a solar-powered energy solution provide– seeks to address this challenge by providing over 33 million people in 11 countries in Africa including South Sudan and 3 countries in Asia – Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India – gain access to the company’s solar products, including solar panels, solar batteries, and solar lights. Through ToughStuff’s innovative Business in a Box model, ToughStuff will help up to 10,000 village-level entrepreneur’s start-up their own business selling, renting, or providing services using ToughStuff products. Through this unique approach, ToughStuff will be able to reach their core consumers – those in rural communities that do not have access to electricity.

To date, over one million Africans have purchased ToughStuff’s products.

Jaipur Rugs – one of the largest manufacturers of hand-knotted rugs in India – has made a commitment to the Business Call to Action to help low-income people in the most economically disadvantaged regions of India gain access to local employment opportunities to 10,000 weavers. Jaipur’s commitment is to provide weavers in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand with one-month of training in advanced rug weaving techniques and quality control to improve the quality and quantity of rugs produced. Through these trainings and links into the Jaipur supply chain, weavers will triple the amount they earn, providing them with sustainable livelihoods without requiring women to leave their families.

To date, Jaipur Rugs has woven over 15 million square feet rug area for the most dynamic interior options of the world and provided sustainable livelihoods to over 40,000 artisans and has been committed to this model since it began 1978.

New York, 14 December 2011—Two companies announced today they will be providing banking services to more than 30 million low-income people in India and South Africa by 2015 through their commitments to the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a global initiative that encourages private sector efforts to fight poverty, supported by several international organizations including the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

India-based Vortex Engineering is pioneering the dissemination of solar-powered cash machines tailored to rural communities’ needs, while South Africa’s WIZZIT Bank is expanding access to credit to help address a critical development issue: lack of access to finance and banking systems in poor communities.

“Lack of access to banking and credit impedes the economic empowerment of low-income individuals and hinders growth in the developing world,” said Susan Chaffin, BCtA’s Programme Manager. “We welcome Vortex and WIZZIT as they seek to scale up activities that not only represent a business opportunity but also have tremendous potential to positively impact low-income communities in India and South Africa.”

More than half of the adult population in South Africa and India lacks access to formal banking, in contrast to the Netherlands, for example, where the entire adult population has access to banking services, according to a World Bank study.

Vortex is linking up with local banks in India to address this gap by placing 10,000 solar-powered ATMs designed to withstand difficult weather conditions, erratic power supply, and lower literacy levels among cash dispenser users. The machines are expected to provide access to formal banking for 30 million people mostly in rural and semi-urban areas—many earning as little as US$1-4 a day—over the next four years.

Powered by solar energy, the cash dispensers consume 90 percent less energy than a conventional ATM, making them both affordable for poor communities and profitable for banks to employ.

“Lack of access to financial services can carry a high cost for the people who can least afford it, so delivering access to formal banking presents a significant economic opportunity for poor, rural communities,” said V. Vijay Babu, CEO of Vortex. “In partnership with banks and other stakeholders such as the Business Call to Action, Vortex can make financial inclusion a reality for millions of people.”

In South Africa, WIZZIT, a banking provider that offers low-cost customer accounts using cell phones for payments, transfers and purchases, have committed to provide personal loans to 10,000 people. More than 340 loans will go to small and medium size enterprises and nearly 3,000 loans to micro-entrepreneurs by 2015 through a new loan offering that will be available through mobile phones and WIZZIT’s agent network.

Since 2004, WIZZIT’s customers have been using mobile phones for making and receiving payments, along with a debit card which can also be used at ATMs and stores. The company is now expanding its range of services to allow users, who typically live far from bank branches, to access microloans and credit through their phones.

“The availability of credit can make the difference between success and failure, growth and stagnation for small, medium and micro-entrepreneurs,” said Charles Rowlinson, Chairman of Wizzit. “Small loans at affordable rates can be vitally important for low-income working families as well, who use them to pay for education, healthcare and other fundamental services.”

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For more information please contact:

Vortex: Sabarinath Nair, sabari@vortexindia.co.in, +91 9500001442

WIZZIT: Brian Richardson, Brianr@Wizzit.co.za, +27 836750171

BCtA: Lorin Kavanaugh-Ulku, lorin@businesscalltoaction.org, Tel: +1 703-587-3219

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WIZZIT offers a secure and efficient payment mechanism to the unbanked and under-banked people of South Africa, and has already taken its model with partner banks into 6 African Countries. The product offered is a low cost, transactional bank account that uses cell phones for making person-to-person payments, transfers and pre-paid purchases, and a Maestro debit card for making payments in the formal retail environment.

Vortex Engineering Pvt Ltd, a company headquartered at Chennai, aims to address the lack of access to formal financial services in poor and underserved communities by providing ATMs and associated technologies for rural/semi-urban areas. Vortex is the pioneer and leading provider of innovative low power consuming ATMs specially designed for this segment. Built on years of R&D in collaboration with IIT Madras, and with a focus on rural needs, Vortex is now changing the face of banking with its Gramateller ATMs.

Mobile technology is transforming the face of health care in low-income communities around the globe. A driving force behind this change is new and innovative business models that harness mobile technology to decrease the cost of care and create new applications that improve health care outcomes.  On December 8, the Business Call to Action (BCtA) brought together Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Dimagi, and Mohamed Haider, Vice President of Sales at Sproxil, for a webinar discussion about how inclusive business models are helping to promote better health care in the developing world.

Jonathan Jackson opened the webinar by presenting on Dimagi’s efforts to promote a mobile-phone based application that boosts rural health workers’ abilities to collect data and monitor patient care in rural Indian markets, where up to 70 percent of the population lack access to basic health services.

In these markets, community health programs help to bring basic levels of care to areas that lack access to health clinics or hospitals. The problem with these programs, says Jonathan Jackson of Dimagi, is that it is “difficult to scale up the health impacts that community health programs have been proven to have in research studies.”

The Massachusetts-based tech firm developed CommCare in response to this challenge.  CommCare is an open source mobile application that helps community health workers store and access patient information and monitor at-risk patients with its simple-to-use registration forms, surveillance questions and health prompts.

The company plans to make this application available to over 70,000 community health workers in India over the next three years.  Watch Jonathan Jackson’s presentation.

While Dimagi seeks to promote access to better health care, Sproxil is providing low-income communities with an effective tool to combat the lucrative but dangerous counterfeit drug trade that is so prevalent in the developing world.

“The main juncture where the counterfeit manufacturing is produced, is in the distribution channels and this is where the trade of counterfeit products needs to be arrested,” said Mohamed Haider of Sproxil. “That is where we come in.”

Each year, an estimated 700,000 people die because of fake malaria and TB medication. To help consumers determine if their medication is real, Sproxil has developed a mobile application that quickly and accurately verifies if a medicine is genuine.

The process is simple, consumers and patients purchasing medication simply text a simple numeric code placed on the drugs. In response, consumers gets a SMS indicating whether the medication is “Ok” or “Fake”.

In Nigeria, Sproxil’s codes have already been used on over 1.4 million blister packs with thousands of users signing up every month. See Mohamed Haider’s presentation.

Amanda Gardiner, Acting Programme Manager of the BCtA, closed the webinar with questions about future trends and opportunities for inclusive business in mHealth and solicited feedback about how donors and others could create an enabling environment to ensure the success of mHealth solutions.