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Inclusive Business in Africa

September 10, 2010 By

Ethnic Supplies was invited to join Business Fights Poverty and the Department for International Development  UK (DFID)  in organising a Practitioners workshop in Kampala Uganda on 10 May 2010.

The aim of the workshop was to bring together International Businesses, Ugandan businesses and Donors to look at some of the innovative ways of running inclusive businesses.  Inclusive businesses are those businesses that incorporate the poor both as consumers and or producers, or if you like they are businesses that look beyond the traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

I was a panelist at that workshop and we had a few questions to explore in relation to inclusive business. I will explore  one at a time over the next few posts

Question 1

WHAT ARE THE MSOT IMPORTANT  LESSONS YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT HOW TO START AND SCALE AN INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL?

  1. The women I work with are  producers in developing economies producing goods for  sophisticated consumers in developed economies and as such what looks good in their workshops/homes does not necessarily translate to commercial success. It is therefore necessary to do thorough market research when selecting products to bring to market
  2. Managing expectations that arise as a result of cultural differences such as time keeping. Whilst here in the West we are used to instant information, timely  deliveries the sense of urgency may not necessarily filter through. In other words whilst producers in the developing economies want access to markets in the developed economies they are not always willing to adapt to market expectations of the developed economies and as such they have sometimes missed out on opportunities to trade with folk in the developed economies.

An example of point 2 : We recently had an opportunity to tap into funding for the benefit of a group of women in Uganda. Part of the of the application criteria to access the funding was that we had to demonstrate that we were indeed working in partnership/ with this group and they were happy for us to apply for this funding on their  behalf. The group was required to send us their accounts and project outline. They confirmed in a telephone conversation that they had this information and would email it through before  the deadline. The deadline for submission of the application was 1/9/2010 and the women sent us their information on 6/9/10. I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed by this whole episode, but there we are. All we could say to the group leader was..Oh Well! perhaps there will be other opportunities!

KNOWING WHAT I  KNOW NOW WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?

  1. I am a  strong believer in helping people to help themselves   and as such I believe that information and skills sharing is vital in this area of work to ensure that business in developing economies are ready to supply quality products that the market wants at the right price and on time. I would therefore seek to work with partners with expertise in product development
  2. I would also be more selective when choosing who to work with on the ground as a mismatch of ideals can lead to poor working relations and disappointment on either side

In the next post I will be answering a question on the role of financial institutions in inclusive businesses, in the mean time if you have a view on any of the points raised here please leave a comment

Filed Under: Business, Latest, Sustainable development Tagged With: , , , , ,

Can Africa grow its own volunteers

August 14, 2009 By

This question has been on my mind for sometime now. Due to the current economic environment we have struggled to get volunteers from the traditional sources to out to our project in SW Uganda. I did wonder if Africa could tap into the skills and knowledge on the ground?

The other reason this is on my mind is that the Obama administration’s policy toward Africa appears to be one of tough love. You the Africans have to get your house in order, you need to start trading with each are some of the messages that have come from both Obama and Clinton. I wholly subcribe to that kind of thinking.

I would wonder therefore if folk on the ground will rise to the challenge and form their own NGO’s for instance. Whilst thinking about this idea of “Africa growing its won volunteers” I do wonder too whether it is a question of how voluntary work is organised in Africa. Africans families tend to be very large (extended) and every one helps out including whole villages when required. However voluntary in the western world appears to be orgnaised in what I would describe as a formal structure.

But what about Africans in the diaspora, Could they take time out to go and volunteer in their countries of origin? Certainly this is something that the Department for International development (DFID) is keen to encourage so much so that they have joined forces with the VSO and come up with a whole programmes to encourage Africans in the diaspora to volunteer. I am however not sure how well publicised this programme is.

Have you got a view on this either way? Are you an African that has participated in the VSO diaspora programme? If so how did you find it?

If you are an African that would like to volunteer would you know where to start?

Would you be interested in your views

Filed Under: Good Practice, Policy, Volunteering Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Are Millennium Goals helping me?

July 7, 2009 By

This week the Department for International Development here in the UK has issued a new report ELIMINATING POVERTY : Building Common future,  which spells out a new direction  and  desire to address issue of poverty in the developing world and amongst other things the report looks at the impact of the economic downturn on those in the developing countries.

And at the UN summit of September 2000 the richest nations in the world made pledges to the development world that are summed up in what has become to be known as the

Millennium Development Goals or MDGs

  • Goal 1:  Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  • Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
  • Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
  • Goal 4:  Reduce child mortality
  • Goal 5:  Improve maternal health
  • Goal 6:  Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
  • Goal 7:  Ensure environmental sustainability
  • Goal 8:  Develop a Global Partnership for Development

This was an ambitious undertaking on the one hand but one that gave hope  to folk in the developing world that we in the developed world are committed to making things better for them.

The question I ask today is whether these goals will be realised?  There has been an increase in AID but will increased AID have  made a difference in 2015? Can we in the west wait that long? what about the  folk in the developing can they wait until 2015 for the goals to be realised?

There is concern in some quarters that the MDGS will not be realised in some African countries and this appears to stem from the fact that

  • not everyone signed up to the MDGS ( it was reported earlier this year that France and Italy are two of the countries that ahve failed to honour the pledges made towards Africa)
  • increased insecurity in some  of the African countries
  • impact of diseases such as malaria and HIV
  • family breakdown
  • food availability
  • Climate change
  • and AID distribution to name but a few

Most including myself argue that the surest way to lift people out of poverty in a sustainable way is through trade.  That being the case how are we doing on that front? Are trade agreements more equitable now than they were in 2000? Are folk in the developing countries treated as equal or even potential trading partners?

Well one thing that is certain, is that Africa in particular has seen an increase in cheap imports from china, second  hand clothing and FOOD AID. Only last week I was speaking to a man I met at the Africa Matters get together. He lived in Zambia for many years as a farmer and produced vegetable oil.

He was put out of business in 6 months when cooking Oil given to Mozambique by USAID as part of teh FOOD AID package ended up for sale on the streets of Lusaka. I understand that cotton farmers in Zambia and Malawi suffered a similar fate with the increased cheap imports from China as well as second hand clothing.

Some African governments are fighting back by imposing huge DUTY on these cheap imports but what do you about FOOD AID?

So I ask the question are Millennium goals helping me?

Filed Under: AID, Development Policy, Poverty Tagged With: , , , , , ,