This week, the CEO and Secretary General of CARE International, Dr Wolfgang Jamann, is at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos. Here, he will be discussing with business leaders and politicians from around the world the impact of the fourth industrial revolution, and in particular the opportunities digital disruption could bring to international development.
We live in uncertain times. As a species our activities have impacted the planet to such an extent since the onset of the first industrial revolution in the late 1700’s that we’re now entering a new epoch, the anthropocene. Ecosystems are in decline, and climate change threatens our own survival.
Ecosystems are not the only thing under threat. Rapid innovation in technology threatens many businesses of the past while allowing new models to thrive, just look at Uber, Airbnb, iTunes and Netflix. Yet many new and emerging technologies also have great potential in developing economies, allowing fledgling industries to leapfrog traditional ways of doing business. Healthcare delivery can be handled more directly through digitally connected public spaces, or a patient’s own mobile phone. Financial services can be offered to tens of millions without the need for the bricks and mortar approach of the traditional banking sector.
Despite these new technologies, poverty and inequality still persist on a global scale. Now CARE and other NGOs are working to leverage the development potential of these new technologies to benefit the world’s poorest.
Indeed, CARE’s programs are anything but business as usual. Thirty percent of our projects test new models, methods, or actions for fighting poverty, and we use what we’ve learned to influence broader social change and end injustices that keep people poor.
CARE’s innovative programs foster solidarity and connections across borders. The Lendwithcare program demonstrates the strength of these connections: Lendwithcare brings together entrepreneurs in developing countries with the people who have the power to help them. The process is simple: People lend amounts as small as $20 through the lendwithcare platform to an entrepreneur, the lender is updated on the entrepreneur’s progress as they grow their business, and the loan is repaid. Over 28,000 people have lent money so far, and the community continues to grow.
Working with the private sector is critical to reduce poverty and inequality, and through our various partnerships with businesses we create new ways of working to bring about lasting change.
Over two billion people in the developing world are excluded from basic financial services. Our partnership with Barclays is using an innovative approach to get more people saving. Since it began, the partnership has enabled more than three quarters of a million people to gain access to informal financial services and better manage their money. It’s done so by setting up over 35,000 Village Savings and Loans Associations. Members of these groups save on average $58/year; no small task for people with extremely limited incomes.
Over 3,600 savings groups (approximately 96,000 people) have been linked to formal financial institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. This includes over 1,900 savings groups who have been linked to Barclays.
CARE’s partnership with GSK trains community health workers to boost the quantity and quality of health care in poor and remote communities. So far, 16,500 community health workers have been trained, resulting in nearly four million community members now benefitting from quality health services.
At this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, CARE and our business partners Accenture and Barclays Africa will share insights and new business models to transform financial services in developing countries. A joint report, “Within Reach – Opportunities in emerging economies to grow profitable and inclusive financial services” provides evidence on how financial inclusion works for communities and banks alike. The report estimates that the global financial inclusion opportunity for banks is worth $380 billion.
Business as usual hasn’t been working for the world’s poor. This is why at CARE we are thinking about how we can make use of emerging technologies and also support local self-help groups, NGOs, and entrepreneurs who independently develop their own locally appropriate technologies and businesses models.
After all, they are often the owners of the problems. It makes sense if they become the owners of the solutions, too.
For more from Davos, follow Dr Jamann at @wjamann