Publication database

Microinsurance is growing and expanding throughout Africa. Led by the ILO's Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the MicroInsurance Centre, Briefing Note #1 identified over fourteen million low-income people in Africa who were covered by microinsurance at the end of 2008. The outreach almost doubled over the last 4 years. Even with such growth, there are clearly significant gaps. Substantial parts of the continent remain almost barren of microinsurance. Health, agriculture and property covers, all significantly in need by the low-income market, are evident as a mere fraction of life insurance coverage. This study provides a detailed picture of microinsurance in Africa and discusses challenges in the years to come in order to facilitate broader, high-quality expansion.

This brief summarises the experience of the Spier Hotel in South Africa which implemented strategies to bring local entrepreneurs into its supply chain. It demonstrates the substantial development impact that can be generated by localising procurement, and it provides practical tips on how to bring local micro and small enterprises into corporate supply chains.

This study investigates the availability, price, and characteristics of off-grid electric lighting products in three Kenyan towns. It provides a detailed analysis and presents findings which include estimate market sizes, challenges observed, and an overview of the products market.

This report assesses links between tourist activity and the poor in the local economy in Ethiopia; it suggests a range of interventions to improve the poverty reducing impact of tourism; and provides suggestions as to how the emerging Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Development Project can be designed to most effectively support tourism that leads to poverty reduction in Ethiopia.

Starting with water kiosks in Zambia and ending with examples in Tanzania and Kenya, the paper illustrates how water kiosks respond to the challenges of water supply in low-income countries. It provides the reader with a management concept on how to set up water kiosks in other countries . It illustrates the role of the government and highlights appropriate regulations and indicates the activities of German Development Cooperation.

This report explores the Manual Distribution Centers (MDC) model implemented by Coca-Cola Sabco, one of the Coca-Cola Company’s bottling partners, in Tanzania and Ethiopia. It examines two elements, how the MDC business model is structured and implemented and how the business model is contributing to expand economic opportunity and human capital development in the two countries.

This case study reviews the 'Livestock Marketing and Enterprise Project' and 'Livestock Purchasing Fund' in Kenya, which aimed to create a responsible livestock marketing system that would integrate 5,000 pastoralists from the Carissa district of Kenya into the livestock markets in Nairobi and Mombasa, thereby improving pastoralist incomes. It discusses the enterprise's value chain and model; the challenges and successes; and details the strategy behind the Livestock Purchasing Fund.

This comprehensive report provides findings from a study which focused on Bangalore in India, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Sa?o Paulo in Brazil and Shanghai in China to better understand how public agencies, business and civil society in these rapidly growing cities are working to develop solutions to the mobility opportunity divide and the negative impacts associated with mobility.

This article focuses on external financial institutions operating in Africa and Latin America that use innovative approaches to value chain finance to serve both small-scale rural producers, and the small and growing businesses that link them to urban and export markets.

This case looks at the banana producers of Manhiça in Mozambique, and discusses three key areas in the banana value chain needed to be solved: improvement of the quality of the produce, access to markets and access to financing. It reviews how SNV is working to solve these issues with 500 Manhiça small farmers; and it looks at the challenges and impacts.