Golden nugget from the new BAA report: "A step change in the way stakeholders collaborate to achieve real and transformative scale"

[Beth Jenkins]

The new BAA report, "From Crisis to Opportunity," is a nice collection of articles from some preeminent folks. For me, the collection was on the whole a bit macro, leaving me wanting more on the "so what" and "how." But there was a really interesting theme in this vein that came out in a couple of the articles in section 3: the need for "a step change in the way stakeholders collaborate to achieve real and transformative scale."

All the articles stressed the importance of private sector-led growth and innovation. So what are we all doing to unleash it? The development community has stepped up work on the overall business enabling environment, and infrastructure seems to be getting trendy again - at the same time more micro issues like the role of individual business models and larger value chains are getting more attention. There's an increasing amount of advocacy and awareness raising going on (case studies, flagship publications, CEO commitment initiatives, awards programs, and the like). Some clear practical support has come "on the market" as well - one key offering, mentioned by Diageo Africa’s Dr. Nick Blazquez and Yara’s Arne Cartridge and Sean de Cleene, being DfID's Challenge Funds. These Challenge Funds reduce the cost and risk to a company of trying out a new inclusive business model - sometimes they come with technical assistance as well.

Collectively, these efforts have helped trigger private sector innovation in development through enterprise - especially as they move from advocacy and awareness raising to practical support. Blazquez, Cartridge, and De Cleene couldn't have been more appreciative of the Challenge Funds. But it's great to see that they're also already asking how we're going to "replicate and scale up these important initiatives." Blazquez mentions expanding access to more, and more local, companies. Cartridge and De Cleene get even more ambitious, calling for "a step change in the way stakeholders collaborate to achieve real and transformative scale."

This is really exciting. They talk about "greater willingness to share the risks associated with early stage investment" - certainly there's scope for more challenge funds, and probably lots of variations on the theme as well, for example matching grants that come with options to invest on preferred terms. They also mention "linking the challenge fund concept to a broader range of patient and commercial capital flows." Could investors look at challenge fund "portfolios" as sources of "dealflow"? And finally, Cartridge and De Cleene call for "region-specific public-private partnership value chain initiatives" to address the fundamental issue Collier points out in his piece - that systemic challenges that often stymie the efforts of individual companies, especially first movers, in low-income markets.

I hadn't heard of these guys before, but I love their thinking. My question is, are there examples out there where these things are already happening? WEF's food value chain alliance in Kenya might count in the third category... what else are people aware of?

[Vincent K. MISS]

I would like to correspond with you. My name is Vincent.