Introduction

A certain idea of globalization has opened the field to de-territorialize our economies, supported by the revolution of new information technologies - those technologies that were supposed to render the very concept of territory obsolete. “Businesses need to reinvent their relationship with territories so that they can make the transition from a risk prevention logic to an active strategy of shared wealth creation.” But at the same time, in both urban and rural territories, in OECD members as..

Economic and social issues around Last Mile Delivery

Last Mile Delivery is a subject at the crossroads of economic and social issues. On the one hand, the ability to reach out to very low income populations deprived of access to basic services, particularly those in isolated rural areas, has long been one of the main concerns of many humanitarian organizations or development NGOs. On the other, for a few years now a growing number of businesses have become interested in a segment that is too often forgotten by economic glottalization: populatio..

Supporting the entrepreneurial fabric: leveraging big companies’ social acceptability and sustainable impact on local development

In view of the challenges developing countries are facing, big companies are setting up new models that seek to benefit both themselves and local populations. Often conducted in partnership with NGOs, these projects involve training young people and providing support for SMEs, and enable big companies to undertake actions that have a lasting impact on a country’s development. In this interview, Xavier Boutin highlights the means to implement successful programs adapted to the local context by talking about the different projects carried out by the IECD in partnership with major companies. He also reveals the elements necessary for the success and sustainability of projects to train young people and support the local entrepreneurial fabric

NGO-Business Partnerships: a Win-Win Model

NGO-business partnerships have been multiplying for several years now. These new alliances help to strengthen the legitimacy and social acceptability of companies, but they also – above all – make essential goods and services accessible to a wider population. In this way, these partnerships boost the efficacy of NGO actions while reinventing the way in which businesses envisage their activity in developing countries. In this interview, Franck Renaudin goes back over the potentialities, the key success factors and the possible risks associated with these new forms of partnership. The founder and executive director of the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde explains how these partnerships appear to offer a win-win model for NGOs and for businesses – provided that they are put in place with sincerity, conviction and good will

Conditions needed for scaling up successfully

There are a number of pitfalls to avoid when talking about innovation. First is not embracing an overly romanticized vision of bottom-up innovations. Then there is the risk of blithely embracing technophilia. Many initiatives remain small scale and might never have the reach needed to overcome the challenges of accessing essential services across Africa. There are a number of seemingly vital success conditions to meet if innovative solutions for accessing services are to see lasting improveme..

Access to essential services: key figures and progress on the African continent

Urban population (in thousands) on the African continent, 1950 to 2050 Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, the 2018 Revision In recent years, many areas of Africa have seen progress in closing the gap in terms of access to essential services in water, sanitation, energy and waste management. But provision remains sadly insufficient to provide for most of people’s needs against a background of unparalleled population growth. The Sustainable Development Goals set out ambitiou..

High-potential innovations for a fast-changing continent

Africa, particularly the sub-Saharan regions, has long been handicapped by the prevalence of simplistic images, rooted either in afro-pessimism or over-valuing the leapfrog effect to transform its development gap into new comparative advantages. Countless reports have highlighted this new narrative, depicting an Africa that is digital and innovative, mobile money being an iconic example of this powerful new movement. However, there is less focus on the vision of development, urban in particu..

Heading towards 2030: outlook and challenges for essential services in Africa

The demographic revolution sweeping modern Africa is primarily urban. Everybody knows that population numbers are rising and with Africa already home to close to 15% of the world’s population, compared to 7% in 1960, it also has the fastest rate of population growth of any region of the world. Africa’s population is also the world’s youngest: 60% of Africans are aged under 25, compared to 44% in emerging economies, and 80% of its people earn under $5 a day. This combination of phenomena – a ..

From ecological transition to ecological transformation: consensus and fault lines

At a time when there is growing consensus in international policy-making about the urge to act on climate change, debate continues to rage over the approach and mechanisms to adopt for implementing the ecological transition. The events of 2022, including the rising number of environmental disasters during the summer, have served as a wake-up call, heightening the sense of urgency. But ecological transition is a complex matter, raising issues that involve more than just environmental and climate challenges. It is also vital to look at how such a transition interacts with the fight against inequalities, the realities of crises and geopolitical relationships, and the specific growth — or degrowth — model that we collectively wish to put in place

Reinventing our modes of production and organization

While there is increasing unanimity about the diagnosis, the same cannot be said for the question of how to implement ecological transformation. The debate is intense between those who maintain that it is possible to sever the link between increasing GDP and greenhouse gas emissions, and those who refuse a view they judge unrealistic and likely to keep us prisoner of present-day models. Fabrice Bonnifet invites us to think of businesses’ purpose in new ways, rendering them “contributive” and..