Publication database

This report examines the impacts and implications of mobile water payments with a comparative assessment from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. It analyses levels of adoption, customer motivations and barriers, and the distribution of costs and benefits across stakeholders.

Distribution to the BoP is a highly under-researched field, but one that has the potential to improve the well-being of millions. Most research in this field has been focussed on the process of innovating for product design, with less focused on distribution. While this research focuses on Ghana, this work aims to create the foundation for a better BoP distribution model which can contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development in developing countries around the world. 

As a consequence of climate change, agriculture in many parts of the world has become a riskier business activity. Given the dependence on agriculture in developing countries, this increased risk has a potentially dramatic effect on the lives of people throughout the developing world especially as it relates to their financial inclusion and sustainable access to capital. Research Paper #7 analyses the relationships between rainfall per crop gestation period and crop yields and studies the likelihood of crop yield losses. It makes recommendations on how this information could be used to develop a trigger for index insurance to help mitigate the financial risks to farmers and lenders who make loans to farmers in Ghana. The paper concludes by describing limitations and challenges that must be overcome in order to develop such risk management tools and by describing the potential for crop loss index insurance based on area crop yield in northern Ghana.

Research Paper #4 presents a survey-based study on preferences for microinsurance products in rural Kenya. More specifically, the study examines preferences for deductibles and rebates. Like consumers in developed countries, the majority of the respondents in this study have a preference for policies without deductibles and for policies with rebates. Risk aversion, financial literacy, health shocks, economic activities and prior experience with insurance affect these preferences. The results of the study suggest that higher uptake of microinsurance might be achieved by taking these preferences and their determinants into account in the design of microinsurance products. 

While limited access to health care in rural areas of Cameroon may be attributed to an inability to pay out-of-pocket costs for health care services, a Community-based prepayment scheme specifically designed to overcome this barrier and increase access to health care has received limited take-up among rural households in Cameroon. Research Paper #3, led by researchers at the University of Yaoundé II and the University of Western Cape, seeks to assess the economic value of a community-based prepayment health care system in Cameroon. The researchers use a willingness-to-pay approach based on the contingent valuation method. The results indicate that rural households are willing to pay on average FCFA 1010 or $2.15/person/month and further suggest that there is great demand for a community health care prepayment scheme in rural Cameroon.

The aim of Research Paper #2 conducted by researchers at the University of Otago is to analyse the determinants of the use of curative care from qualified workers in Senegal, an area where 94% of the population does not have health insurance coverage. While most studies focus on characteristics of the demand for health care, this study also examines characteristics of the closest facility to analyse the impact of accessibility in addition to price and quality of medical services on health-seeking behaviour. The study reveals that household economic status, price, and quality of care are important determinants of the likelihood of seeking treatment from a qualified provider.

This report identifies the emerging class of home-grown sub-Saharan African multinational corporations 'MNC's' and it details their expansion strategies and contribution to development. It share insights for other African companies about how to expand effectively and maximize development impact; and for policymakers that can shape the business climate to encourage MNC expansion.

This report includes a set of 31 case studies on IFC’s portfolio companies with inclusive business models. The presented companies are profitably providing goods, services, and livelihood opportunities to the Base of the Pyramid. In the case studies the reader gets an insight in the specific background of the companies, the business models as well as drivers for the specific business models and results of the latter.

This study looks at the Niloo project, a collaborative venture between WSUP, Unilever and design consultants IDEO which focused on developing an innovative solution to sanitation issues in low-income districts of the Ghanaian city of Kumasi.

This report provides detailed findings from a study of enterprises that use market mechanisms to improve the lives and livelihoods of people living at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Examining data from 439 enterprises in 14 sectors and nine sub-Saharan companies, the report suggests three models that work and three models to watch. It describes the success factors, routes to scale and the lessons to learn from the case examples illustrated.