Growing Sustainable Business

Growing Sustainable Business for Poverty Reduction

“It is the absence of broad-based business activity, not its presence, that condemns much of humanity to suffering.” Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Financial Times, September 14 2005


The GSB's objective is to facilitate business-led enterprise solutions to poverty in advancement of the MDGs. These enterprise solutions accelerate and sustain access by the poor to needed goods and services; and/or employment and livelihoods opportunities.

Companies participating in the GSB With operations in 12 countries currently and ambitious expansion plans, examples of GSB projects include: • Ericsson – Rural telecommunications • Unilever – Value chain development for Allanblackia Oil • Yamaha – Water Sanitation in Rural Communities • Nokia – Rural Telecommunications • Total – Hydro-carbon transportation • E7 fund – Rural electrification, US$ 23 million • Société Générale – SME lending • Kevian – Fruit processing • BushProof – Clean water

The GSB initiative engages the private sector in innovative partnerships grounded in market-based incentives. Business-led enterprise solutions to poverty are challenging and are often perceived as representing unquantifiable risk and additional costs to business, causing potentially interested investors to place opportunities on the “too complicated” pile. The value proposition of the GSB to business is to help address these challenges at relevant points in the investment cycle and thus reduce the risks and costs associated with the investment.

At the core of the program are the full-time GSB brokers in each country, who help solve problems, maintain momentum, and monitor investments during implementation. Drawn largely from the ranks of the private sector and situated in UNDP’s local offices, GSB brokers are well positioned to bridge the gap between the private and public sectors. Brokers are also supported by a national steering committee, where issues are raised and best practices shared among representatives from government, civil society, and local and foreign companies. More...

Click here to download the GSB brochure