Business Fights Poverty

In December 2010: "Both the Commission for Africa’s reports in 2005 and 2010 emphasised the role the private sector had to play in promoting a strong and prosperous Africa – alone and in partnership with others. It was in this vein that the head of the Commission’s Secretariat Myles Wickstead chaired a Business Fights Poverty event in London last week that looked at new models of partnership between business, government and civil society.

"The event brought companies together with government and NGOs to discuss what made for successful partnerships between the three sectors – and coincided with the launch of Business Action for Africa’s report on the same theme.

"Deputy Director of the Shell Foundation Clare Woodcraft’s opening remarks focused on the lessons they had learned from scaling up projects, summarised in a report being launched that day. The clear lesson is that projects need to be designed to accommodate expansion from the outset.

"From the government side, Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, who is Head of Profession for Private Sector Development at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), spoke of DFID’s work to improve its communication with and support to the private sector. William Asiko, President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and Chair of Business Action for Africa, gave the private sector perspective on partnerships. Dame Barbara Stocking, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, described some of the work her organisation had done with private companies – including in helping smallholder farmers in Azerbaijan become suppliers for Unilever. Finally, Natalie Africa, Executive Director of the Business Call to Action partnership, gave an overview of their work to bring private companies together with donors and multilateral agencies to promote development."

Team
Accessed February 2013:


 * Founder and Director - Zahid Torres-Rahman
 * Insights Director - Beth Jenkins
 * Member Engagement Director - Yvette Torres-Rahman
 * Community Manager - Natasha Ncube
 * Creative Director - Lee Rael
 * Communications Director - Richard Gilbert

Advisory Circle
Accessed February 2013:


 * Graham Baxter, Director, Global Programmes, International Business Leaders Forum.
 * Ethan Kapstein, Paul Dubrule Professor of Sustainable Development at INSEAD, and Visiting Fellow at the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales
 * Simon Maxwell CBE is a development economist.
 * Jane Nelson, is Director of Harvard Kennedy School's Corporate Social Responsibility.
 * Maria Sipka, social media entrepreneur, Founding CEO of Linqia, Founder of The Moderator Community, and formerly COO of Xing.

Contact
Web: http://www.businessfightspoverty.org