The launch event in Nairobi on 31st July 2013 brought together around 100 leaders of private and public sector, media and academia. Together with the presentation and panel discussions, my personal highlight was the Live TV interview for Kenyan national TV station KTN. Watch the 4 minute video here:
It was great to discuss with private sector companies such as Novartis, development partners (DFID, Sweden, Denmark), government representatives, media and UNDP Kenya colleagues the concept and successful cases of inclusive business models in Africa.
Kenya is such a hotbed for business innovation and together with South Africa has the most inclusive business models as identified in the report. Most cases are in agriculture, financial services, ICT, energy, water and extractive industries. Read the report for more details.
Below a photo with key representatives including UNDP Kenya Country Director Maria-Threase Keating (middle), Inclusive Economic Growth Team Leader Carolin Averbeck (2nd left) ) and Business Call to Action representatives Karen Newman (left) and PanAAC CEO Lucy Muchoki (right):
Personally I see Inclusive Business demonstrating that good business does well by taking a more holistic and long-term perspective with a shared value and triple bottom line approach of social, environmental and financial dimensions.
This goes hand in hand with the current paradigm shift in development cooperation from traditional aid towards greater individual empowerment, self-responsibility, local ownership and business engagement leading to more inclusive markets and sustainable development.
For more follow also on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Business4Good and www.twitter.com/UNDP_AFIM
