The term Bottom of the Pyramid is one that has garnered significant attention in recent years. C.K. Pralahad championed the term in his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, and numerous other publications have taken hold of it. The term aims to classify the poorest segment of the world population — those 4 [...]
IFMR Centre for Development Finance and the World Resources Institute are coming out with a report focusing on clean energy options for the base of pyramid in India, this report is titled “Power to the people” and it is being launched in Mumbai on the 28th of September 2010 in front of a host of [...]
The challenges of creating functional and reliable distribution networks to (and from) India’s rural base-of-pyramid are well documented. Although some methods have shown varying degrees of success, the costs of creating new networks for consumer products go well beyond the capacity of many social entrepreneurs. Have we been looking at it from the wrong angle? [...]
We have seen many innovative products targeting BOP consumers in India over the last few years. However, Godrej & Boyce, the Indian conglomerate is arguably taking it to the next level by launching the world’s cheapest refrigerator. Launched by Indian conglomerate Godrej and Boyce, ChotuKool’s $69 price tag is not the only reason it can be called [...]
Ajaita Shah is the Founder of Frontier Markets. She has 4 years of microfinance experience as a Credit Plus Manager at Ujjivan Financial Services, and Director for Swayam Krishi Sangam (SKS). She has consulted with the Social Performance Task Force through CGAP and Ford Foundation about microfinance in South Asia. Ajaita holds her B.A. in International Relations [...]
Question: Which manufactured consumer product has the deepest market penetration in rural India? Answer: Matches In fact, 97% of rural households purchase matches on a monthly basis. Matches are a unique product because of their high, constant demand and low price point. Their ubiquitous presence provides fascinating insights into India’s rural distribution networks, and offer [...]
Editors’ note: The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with first-hand insights from groundbreaking changemakers. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers and Change-Agent tags. This week, Vinay sat down (over the phone) with Dheeraj Batra of Innosight Ventures, a unique venture capital firm that employs the [...]
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Nextbillion.net recently published a great interview with C. K. Prahalad on the role of private enterprise in development and poverty alleviation. Prahalad is the author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid and one of the pioneers of the idea of BOP (the 4 billion people living [...]
The Centre for Development Finance (CDF) announces some very exciting internship opportunities for this summer. If you’re looking for something more long term, word has it that CDF will likely be releasing postings for BoP related full time positions in the coming weeks… check back for more information! Total Immersion Programme in Finance and Development [...]
Nokia is about to launch a set of “Life Tools” to be embedded in its mobile phones in an effort to expand its base into rural India. These Life Tools cater to the needs of the rural community with information on three different sectors namely Agriculture, Education, Entertainment. On agriculture, the Life Tool is likely [...]
