25

Turning challenges into opportunities

Creating positive change through collaboration

From collaboration to co-creation

It has been an amazing journey working with iBAN over the last seven and a half years. When I assumed the role of Executive Director in August 2015, iBAN had just been launched and was tasked with raising awareness, providing information on inclusive business and supporting companies in a not yet defined way in three continents, all sectors, supporting the whole ecosystem. Beside a small team of four highly motivated colleagues, we were lucky that we had partners like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) on board who were already active in this field and shared their experiences with us from the beginning. 

Since then, we have participated in a range of activities together, including working on the Policy dialogue on alleviating poverty through Inclusive Business in Berlin during the German G20 Presidency and collaborating on various studies on aspects of IB in different countries. The result of the latest collaboration is the IB Features, which we developed together with IFC, ADB and UNDP, and many other stakeholders from the IB ecosystem. In Southeast Asia we collaborated with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in supporting ASEAN with organising annual ASEAN IB Summits and the development of IB strategies. This October, the fifth ASEAN IB Summit took place in Cambodia. In 2023 the sixth ASEAN IB Summit will take place in Indonesia. This indicates that the IB Summit is already established in ASEAN and will continue even when iBAN is not around anymore. This is for me the best proof that real ownership has been created. The beauty of the ASEAN IB Summit is also that this is not a talk shop but rather an inspiring exchange among peers about the progress that has been made in the individual 10 member states of ASEAN in the field of Inclusive Business. 

These are all examples that show our path from collaboration to co-creation, which reflects the philosophy iBAN has always followed. We have always tried to identify partners with whom we can collaborate in order to co-create. This applies as well to the inclusivebusiness.net platform. Together with partners from the whole ecosystem, and especially with our knowledge partners, we were able to create the world’s largest online knowledge platform on IB.

iBAN was blessed with so many partners who collaborated with us over time, with a single goal in mind that united us. We reached more than 1,000 companies with trainings and capacity building measures and supported 12 governments to improve the framework conditions for Inclusive Business.  We had the pleasure of having inspiring and high calibre experts in their respective fields as members of the CLUED-iN editorial committee who dedicated their time freely to strengthen the flow of information within the IB ecosystem and helped us tell the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs. Therefore a big thank you goes out to Caroline Ashley, who is the “mother” of the IB platform as she managed the Practitioners Hub which later became the inclusivebusiness.net platform; to Alexis Bonnell, former Chief Innovation Officer at USAID and now with Google; to Ndidi Nwuneli, an extraordinary woman who never stops advocating for better nutrition and improved agricultural systems in Africa; Stuart Hart, one of the founding fathers of the ‘base of the pyramid’ economic theory; and the brilliant Royston Braganza from Grameen Capital India who is such an inspiration to many people. These are all extraordinary personalities who lent us regularly and pro-bono their minds and time over the years. THANK YOU!

In this current and final issue of CLUED-iN, thought leaders from the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), Business Fights Poverty, African Food Changemakers and UNESCAP are featured, among others. Personally, I was always convinced that collaboration is not only the key to success, but also achieves more sustainable impact over the long term. The iBAN team has continuously focused on identifying partners with whom we could collaborate, in the sense of working together towards a common goal and at the same time enhancing each other’s strengths. The best collaboration was always when all partners involved were open to listening and learning from each other. In this way we not only achieved our common goal, but also learned from and inspired each other.

The advantages and benefits of inclusive businesses are becoming more and more evident. Companies and governments are increasingly recognizing that inclusive businesses not only reduce inequality and poverty, but also address issues like climate change and women’s economic empowerment. We at iBAN are proud to have contributed to raising awareness of inclusive business globally and ultimately improving the lives of the people living at the base of the economic pyramid. 

As I said at the beginning, it was an amazing journey that is now coming to an end for us. I am confident that every end is also the beginning of something new. Therefore, I wish to impart positive energy to those who continue to promote inclusive business so that IB will become mainstream and more people from the base of the economic pyramid can improve their livelihoods.

All the best, 

Christian Jahn
on behalf of the whole iBAN team.  

 

Christian Jahn
Christian is heading the iBAN secretariat and is responsible for the management of the global programme. Before Christian became the Executive Director of the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) in September 2015, he was based for five years in Addis Ababa as Deputy Country Director of GIZ GmbH overseeing a broad portfolio including the private-public-partnership programmes. He has more than 20 years of experience in international development cooperation with a thematic focus on health systems, population dynamics and social franchise systems. He worked mainly in the Africa and Asia region as long-term and short-term expert and provided advisory services to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also worked for five years in the private sector and was an entrepreneur and founder of a company in the food sector. Christian holds a Master degree and PhD in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin.

featured story

Creating a supportive ecosystem to help entrepreneurs address global challenges

Our current global landscape faces many challenges, from food security to climate change. “Yet, in those very challenges there are opportunities – for inclusive businesses to innovate in areas of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), in the areas of clean energy and agri supply chains,” Royston Braganza of Grameen Capital tells us. Local entrepreneurs are embracing innovative ideas, but they rely on an ecosystem of partners, investors, policymakers, and peers. In this final issue of CLUED-iN we feature partners and editorial committee members who have collaborated to support entrepreneurs and share their stories.

Alexandra Harris

Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about collaboration and our partners by reading this twenty-fifth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer based in Brussels.…

Christopher Malapitan

editorial

From collaboration to co-creation

In his editorial, iBAN Executive Director Christian Jahn reflects on the program's journey and shares examples of positive change through collaboration that reflect the philosophy iBAN has followed: "We have always tried to identify partners with whom we can collaborate in order to co-create."

Christian Jahn

feature story

Creating a supportive ecosystem to help entrepreneurs address global challenges

Our current global landscape faces many challenges, from food security to climate change. “Yet, in those very challenges there are opportunities – for inclusive businesses to innovate in areas of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), in the areas of clean energy and agri supply chains,” Royston Braganza of Grameen Capital tells us. Local entrepreneurs are embracing innovative ideas, but they rely on an ecosystem of partners, investors, policymakers, and peers. In this final issue of CLUED-iN we feature partners and editorial committee members who have collaborated to support entrepreneurs and share their stories.

Alexandra Harris

Voices of the Editorial Committee

What does the future of Inclusive Business hold? In this Voices piece, our CLUED-iN Editorial Committee members share their thoughts about important issues and trends in Inclusive Business alongside advice for entrepreneurs.

Partnering for Inclusive Business in Southeast Asia

“The moment for impact businesses has arrived. Social enterprises and inclusive businesses are no longer a rarity, and a whole movement to make impact business more common is taking place.”

A collaborative approach to pandemic recovery

“We will need to be innovative in the recovery, and balance the demand for short-term crisis management support alongside longer-term investments to build economic, social and governance resiliency.”

Strengthening farmer organisations for genuine inclusion

“The businesses wanting to do justice to being called inclusive will need to heed the signs and act upon the societies’ most pressing needs.”

Inflation and climate change: Overcoming obstacles together

“It is likely inevitable that inclusive business models will need to undergo some form of adaptation/evolution if they are to stand the test of time in an ever-changing world.”

Facing The Poverty Tsunami: How Business Can Support the Lives, Livelihoods and Access to Learning of the Most Vulnerable People and Communities

COVID, conflict and climate change are among a confluence of challenges driving a tsunami of poverty that is already crashing into the lives of vulnerable people and communities around the world. This article explores these trends and the role businesses can and should play.

Voices of Partners

iBAN partners share their thoughts about CLUED-iN and the pressing issues in Inclusive Business they are tackling in their work.

Voices: Behind the scenes

In this Voices piece, the CLUED-iN team takes you behind the scenes to share what inspired us and what we will take away from the experience of working on the online magazine.