Paul Polak: Global Poverty Fighter

[ISF (Computer Scientists without Frontiers, Italy)]

Hello,
I've just read following BusinessWeek special report by Jessie Scanlon
at

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2009/id20090112_546367.htm

where Paul Polak's strategy involves helping the world's poor earn
more by seeing them "as customers rather than charity recipients".

Did you already know this project and in case which are your
experience about explained approach?

Thanks for sharing your expert ideas

WKR,
Aldo

[Jeff Mowatt]

Yes Aldo, He has a group called Out of Poverty on Facebook where I tried to create a discussion last year. Didn't get anything from him but met a Harvard guy running something called Openworld. The idea of making customers of poor people is more generally associated by the disciples of CK Prahalad I think, whereas Yunus takes the line that business shouldn't profit from poor people. Jeff      --- On Tue, 27/1/09, ISF (Computer Scientists without Frontiers, Italy) <ceccare...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Aldo Ceccarelli]

Thanks Jeff your comment is very important as I am new of the discipline and did not know about these different trends and tendencies.

This morning I see two more press news this time from Grameen Foundation that I like to share with you in Group.

Heifer International's World Ark Magazine, discusses growth and future of microfinance movement: Grameen Foundation president Alex Counts and several microfinance leaders offer their vision for microfinance's expanded role in alleviating poverty in the January/February 2009 issue of Heifer International's World Ark magazine.
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.4860827/#

US Banker discusses commercial investing in microfinance institutions
with Camilla Nestor, director of GF's Capital Management and Advisory Center, explaining financing options for microfinance in the February 2009 issue of U.S. Banker.
http://www.americanbanker.com/usb_article.html?id=20090126JLCSNV6Y

WKR,
Aldo

2009/1/28 Jeff Mowatt <jeff....@btinternet.com>

[Jeff Mowatt]

I'm no expert in this area Aldo and I'm discovering more as I look into it. The Grameen model of microcredit has no collateral, depending on trust between borrowers who must demonstrate a viable business model. This is the creation of Yunus.    In later years, other began to think of ways to generate investment to seed microcredit. FINCA  began in the mid-80s for example, Acumen another philanthropy based approach a little later. "Acumen Fund was incorporated on April 1, 2001, with seed capital from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation and three individual philanthropists. Since then our network of investors and advisors has grown to include a wide range of individuals and organizations who share our belief in using entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty." Another approach was that conceived by Matt Flannery in KIVA, which leveraged direct public investment with no interest repaid. It now has several lookalikes.        My colleague Terry made his pitch for a business driven approach in 1996 and sourced the Tomsk initiative in Russia with his own $4000 investment in 1999. In total it leveraged 10 million dollars from USAID which was deployed by FINCA and a slightly modified version of the Grameen model to create 10,000 new businesses in one city http://www.p-ced.com/projects/russia/ As I've learned more recently Oxfam followed behind in Russia in 2003 and in approximately the same timescale managed to seed 4,000 new businesses from public donations..        http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/countries/russia.html An interesting point perhaps is that in the UK, charities are not permitted to lobby politicians and making the case for investment in Russia involved putting the case to US goverment, this is something Oxfam would not have been able to do, even if they wanted to.   I'm sure there are many mechanisms for leveraging investment in microcredit, those are just the ones I know about. Jeff --- On Wed, 28/1/09, Aldo Ceccarelli <ceccare...@gmail.com> wrote: