Ten of the best

There are ten winners of the 2008 World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) which showcase innovative private sector initiatives contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Announced on 24 September the winning companies represent inspiring examples from all over the globe, together improving the lives of over 75 million people.

Established by the International Chamber of Commerce in 2000, and later joined by The International Business Leaders Forum and the United Nations Development Programme, the WBDA recognise the contribution of the private sector to achieve the MDGs through their core business. The 2008 WBDA received an unprecedented 104 applications from 44 countries.

Four European companies, three African, two companies from Asia and one from South America won awards in 2008.

3K&A, a Ghanaian firm, developed a profitable soybean processing plant and developed new soy products. It profited from rapid growth in soybean production, made possible through investment in farming techniques, commercial skills and planning. In consequence, 2,800 local farmers are now earning over £530 per agricultural season.

Nigeria is the second largest rice importer in the world. Olam Nigeria Limited decided to invest in local production of high quality rice for Nigeria’s domestic market. In partnership with USAID/Nigeria it developed a supply chain model that encouraged the use of improved technologies, farmer capacity building and commercial linkages to market outlets, leading to on-farm productivity increases of 260 per cent in 2006.

M-PESA is the third African winner. It has brought mobile banking to millions of Kenyans, helping poorer communities build incomes and work their way out of poverty. M-PESA is widely commented on in this magazine (see pages 13-15, 24-25, and page 26).

Diageo joined a programme to develop the cultivation of a beer-friendly sorghum in Nigeria and train farmers to grow the crop. Diageo breweries in Nigeria now source 95 per cent of their grain from local farms and sustain around 27,000 jobs.

Haygrove identified a willingness amongst high-value tourist hotels and restaurants in Gambia to switch from imported to locally- grown produce. The barrier was unreliability and poor quality of supply. Haygrove and partners breach this barrier through ‘Gambia is Good’, a project that dramatically improved local horticultural production’s yield, quality and diversification.

Endesa, Spain’s largest utilities company, set out to make electricity accessible to the poorest Brazilians. It created a system of credits in return for recyclable waste, thus improving recycling and helping low-income customers to pay for their electricity or to get connected for the first time.

Syngenta helps farmers increase their yields sustainably through innovative tools and technologies. It developed a tropical sugar beet yielding the same quantity of sugar per hectare as cane, in half the time. This directly improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their communities in developing countries, helps increase food production and generates employment, protects and improves soils, and ensures more efficient use of precious resources, especially water.

ZMQ Software Systems develops ICT products for new markets at the base of the economic pyramid by reaching out to grassroot and under-privileged, marginalised communities. ZMQ released four mobile games on HIV/AIDS awareness and in just 15 months the four games reached 42 million people in India with a download of 10.3 million game sessions.

Sistema Ser (SSer) improves the lives of those at the bottom of the pyramid by increasing their access to healthcare in poor regions in Argentina. It has a self-financed system that provides primary care at low prices. Purchasing a card for about $4 per year allows people to buy a variety of medical services and prescription drugs at rates significantly below the market. It currently has 20,000 members.

Before SMART Communications introduced low-cost mobile phone subscriptions in the Philippines in 1994, the country had only one million landline subscribers and 102,400 mobile phone owners, all of whom belonged to the more affluent social classes. By end of March 2008, there were 58.9 million mobile phone owners, of which 31.6 million subscribed to the SMART network, giving the poor access to communication and micro-enterprise opportunities (see also pages 9-10, pages 13-15 and page 26).