Announcing the winners of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation

By Toshi Masuoka, Director, Inclusive Business Models Group, IFC

Winners of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation

The 15 winners of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation were announced on June 18, 2012 at the G20 Leaders Summit in Los Cabos Mexico. Ambassador Mr. Rogelio Granguillhome, Executive Secretary of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation and Chair of the G20 Development Working Group presented the awards.

Business Fights Poverty first wrote about the G20 Challenge in December 2011 in a previous post, which explained that inclusive businesses – firms that include low-income people in their value chain–are boosting income and generating more goods and services for poor people.

The G20 Challenge defines inclusive business as a private sector approach to providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people at the base of the pyramid by making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers.

The competition sought out inclusive businesses from around the world, receiving applications from 72 countries.

The companies operate in a wide range of sectors, with particularly high representation from the agriculture, health and education, and retail industries. After the Challenge received 167 full applications from among the 291 businesses that began the application process, a judging panel composed of 12 renowned experts from the private sector, academia, and international organizations selected 15 winners. Inclusive businesses that applied to the G20 Challenge were evaluated on innovation, financial sustainability, development results, potential for growth, and environmental and social sustainability. Together, the 15 winners reach more than 40 million people living at the base of the economic pyramid—as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers—in more than 10 countries.

The winners are:

The 15 winners demonstrate that commercially viable companies can provide economic opportunities for poor people—along with better access to clean water, electricity, health care, education, housing, phone services and financial services. They have identified good business opportunities through new applications for technology and new business models. The winners of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation exemplify how we can make a difference for the poor and at the same time support economic growth in developing countries. They provide impressive examples for others to follow.

Click here to read more about the winners and other highlights of the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation.

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