Fighting poverty profitably?

Is engagement in development a genuine business opportunity? Maybe so according to a new report Fighting Poverty – A Business Opportunity by InWEnt, United Nations Global Compact, World Bank Institute and Instituto Ethos. Just launched on April 10, 2006 at the Business, NGOs and Development conference, the report reviews concrete business initiatives presented at the International Business Forum on Business and the Millennium Development Goals last September, suggesting that innovative business approaches at the country level can generate positive outcomes for a company’s bottom line as well as for local development. Of course, familiar challenges remain, notably how to take such successful initiatives to scale and replicate best practices across borders and sectors.