PSD Blog - The World Bank Group

Did you celebrate Microinsurance Month?

Today marks the end of the first-ever Microinsurance Month in the Philippines. The country is already out in front on mobile banking. Here's hoping that they'll generate the same kind of enthusiasm for microinsurance.

For the nitty-gritty, see a dated but extensive report on microinsurance in the Philippines from the International Labour Organization. Published in 2002, it calls for policies to meet the huge unmet demand for insurance against natural disaster.

Mind the (visual) gap

No, not an ad for London's underground, but a healthy reminder from Hans Rosling, co-founder of Gapminder of how the lack of common data standards and compelling visual display is hampering development work and perpetuating stereotypes.

In a must-see presentation for TED, Rosling deconstructs a few development myths through a tour de force of animated graphics. One could almost hear Edward Tufte clapping in the background.

The potential for the private sector? Enormous, as Rosling hints. Imagine, for example, an application that allows local communities to visually display the impact of a project on their surroundings. Or a map that draws together biodiversity or indigenous populations' data from all available sources for a unified view of a selected project area.

A couple of other sites (in no particular order) that are trying to fill the visual gap:

• Maplecroft maps offer global maps of dozens of social, environmental and political issues relevant to business and civil society - from corruption to landmines to tuberculosis
• UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics library collects maps from the last 15 years on issues related to environment and sustainable development
• Worldmapper promises to show you the world as you've never seen it before
• And the World Bank's own Pegasys focuses on natural disaster hotspots and the MDGs.

Any graphically-minded entrepreneur out there ready to take up Rosling's challenge?

Gates gives $24 million for mobile banking

The Gates Foundation has given a $24 million grant to support mobile banking and other programs that use technology to expand access to financial services. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is the recipient of the 4-year grant announced today. Statistics on mobile phone use from the press release:

The business case for serving poor people has long been apparent to many in the telecommunications industry, which has seen the number of mobile phone subscribers double -- to two billion -- in just over two years. Some 80 percent of that growth has been in developing countries.

Mobile phone penetration has definitely outpaced the reach of microfinance providers, like Grameen. More from the release:

With many thousands of providers worldwide, the microfinance industry has grown considerably, but penetration remains low, especially among the very poorest. Barriers to that penetration include weak institutions, ineffective aid, and inappropriate policies and regulations.

For more information, see CGAP's Technology Program.

Aceh Diary: newsletter

Our Aceh diarist, David Lawrence, sends greetings and the promise of a new post coming soon. To tide you over until then, here's the latest newsletter from his office. Read up on aquaculture projects in Aceh and look for the photo of fellow PSD blogger Laurence Carter.

Less is more Madonna?

For reasons unknown, the Material Girl's 'Material World' has been swirling round my head. I believe this is called an 'earworm' and sadly, there is no known cure: I just have to wait for the next song to take its place.

While the song is anchored in 1980s excess (impress/depress yourself... in which year did the song come out?), it may be due for recycling. A Millennium version of 'Material World' might carry the opposite connotation - less is more.

The concept of materiality has long been part of the legal and financial worlds, yet it is now featuring much more prominently in the ESG (environmental, social, governance) arena. For the uninitiated, materiality means identifying the crucial bits of information when a decision needs to be made from the noise of surrounding bits.

On the web, necessity breeds invention

So, what are the smartest non-profits online? The answer is in an interactive list put together by NetSquared, Squidoo and GetActive. Non-profits are ranked based on their ability to integrate web 2.0 technologies in their business model. Quite why the list stops at 59 is beyond me.

A quick look at the top entries clearly shows that a (presumably) small budget for web development is not always a curse, as long as the creativity and willingness to experiment are there. As often is the case, trust fundraisers to be ahead of the curve. Private sector (and, dare I say it, financial institutions), take note.

Long-time PSD blog readers will not be surprised to find Kiva at #4 on the list (for now). The site's ability to create one-to-one connections and loan money to small entrepreneurs in emerging markets fully justifies the ranking.

A pair of organizations that didn't make the list, but have some nice features worth visiting:

1. USAID has posted audio interviews with microenterprise development specialists. I like the way they've used supporting slides to complement the interviews.
2. UNICEF has launched Media Magic Digest, a quarterly multimedia newsletter "for people interested in how young people create media around the world [which] aims to promote dialogue between broadcasters and young media enthusiasts."

New blogger: Giulio Quaggiotto

In rapid succession, I'd like to introduce a second Italian blogger. Giulio Quaggiotto has long been supporting PSD Blog behind the scenes, and I'm glad we've finally convinced him to take his ideas public. Giulio is a program officer in Knowledge and Innovation for IFC's Environment and Social Development Department. Among other things, he'll be writing about how new technologies are being used in international development.

To do this week

Finding yourself with some extra time this week? A few ideas:

• Follow the Davos conversation via YouTube. So far only a few have accepted the invitation from Jeff Jarvis to submit video questions for delegates to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. Don't be shy.
• Join the International Private Enterprise Group (IPEG) for a discussion on Thursday evening. If you live in DC, enjoy networking (or is that redundant?) and want to discuss the private sector and development, find your way to Oxfam (15th & L) at 6:30 tomorrow. Full details at NextBillion.
• Propose an innovative and practical idea that would improve the lives of low- and middle- income people of Bangladesh, win $25,000. Essay contest deadline is June 30.

Peace

After the evacuation, we're back in Chad. I'm the first to fly in, Saturday night, and I grab onto my friend who picks me up at the airport and I don't let him go. He says it's like a dream. I literally reach down and scratch myself a handful of Chadian dirt.

We're allowed back because there is relative peace in the capital, N'Djamena, although fighting continues in the east. I'm not sure I know what peace is or isn't. My timing is horribly off - for days I can't sleep at night, so one night after staring at the ceiling for three hours I head to the office. I see headlights coming from behind, and I think to outrun them, but me and my motorcycle on a sandy road are no match for a truck, seven men, and guns. They grab my keys, demand my identity papers, ask me what I'm doing. I've learned to fight: they have no right to stop me, just look at my diplomatic license plate. We go back and forth. I'm let go, rattled.

I wonder what role we, IFC and the World Bank, play in war and peace in this country.

THE key to poverty reduction, or not

Does having a good business environment help reduce poverty? The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development - a group of aid agencies which support private sector development - recently hosted a debate in Bangkok on the motion: "Business Environment Reform is the Key Element in the Reduction of Poverty". There were around 200 participants from donor agencies, Asian governments, the private sector, and civil society.

Strong views were expressed on both sides, with the Doing Business report indicators being used as shorthand to refer to business environment reform. It was agreed that the DB report had put the issue of the business environment on the political agenda. It was agreed that business environment reform facilitates private sector growth - and that there are opportunities for donor agencies to support such reforms. However, some questioned whether the experience of accelerated growth in say, China or India, had been the result of business environment reforms. There were also questions about the extent to which a reformed business environment would assist the poorest.

A show of hands at the end of the debate showed a consensus against the motion. The sense was that "the key element" was just too much. All of the presentations from the Bangkok Conference can be found online.