In Your Words

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Inclusive Business Action Network

The Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) is a global initiative supporting the scaling and replication of inclusive business models. Through its strategic pillars iBAN blue and iBAN weave, iBAN manages an innovative online knowledge platform on inclusive business (inclusivebusiness.net) and offers a focused Capacity Development Programme for selected companies and policymakers in developing and emerging countries. iBAN creates a space where evidence-based knowledge transforms into learning and new partnerships. With its focus on promoting the scale-up of inclusive business models, thereby improving the lives of the poor, iBAN is actively contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. iBAN is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union. It is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

In August 2019, iBAN and the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) initiated a policy roadshow in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana to demonstrate the challenges faced in building a robust policy environment for increased social investment and inclusive business. During the roadshow, we asked people:

Why do you personally feel that an increase in social investment and good inclusive business policy must work hand in hand to solve our world’s most complex challenges?

This is what they said!

Nancy Kairo, AVPA’s Executive Director for East Africa:

"It makes good business and survival sense to include the majority in all investment and business practices. The world's most complex challenges will eventually affect all of us equally. The approaches used to tackle these challenges so far have not worked, so we need to change course and quickly. Social investment and inclusive business are people centric."

Patsian Low, Chief of Staff, AVPN Executive Leader and Capacity-Builder for Social Economy, Venture Philanthropy and Non-profit Sector:

"Although we know that complex global issues need the support of resources from diverse sectors, supportive policy environments, robust infrastructure and strong ecosystems are catalysts to unlocking and deploying such capital more effectively for impact.

To implement this, a continuum of capital providers that supports the growth of inclusive businesses ecosystems need to be developed, and policymakers play an important role in lowering barriers and creating new opportunities for philanthropic and private capital to invest in inclusive businesses."

Toyin Adegbite Moore, AVPA’s Executive Director for West Africa

"We know that the public sector alone cannot solve our complex challenges and the private sector and/or social sector cannot solve the world's challenges by themselves.

We can only begin to witness the transformative power of the Social Investment and Inclusive Business models when all the sectors work together and harness the power of partnerships, using financial and non-financial capital to invest in innovative solutions to drive sustainable development. Good Inclusive Business policy will enable the public sector to enact laws which make doing business easier for the private sector and create other incentives.

This will result in the public sector creating policy, while the private sector creates more economic opportunities for the people at the bottom of the pyramid throughout their value chain, resulting in positive improvement in the conditions and prospects of communities throughout Africa."

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"In this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world, impact can be made by dealing with the often untapped market, by doing business beyond the usual. Inclusive business and social investments definitely co-exist in an ecosystem. The blend of social impact and commercial viability paves way for more opportunities to solve the most complex challenges in society. IB policy in the Philippines offers impact-driven solutions and gives importance to social investments in advancing societal solutions such as curbing poverty."

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