Information is the first step towards understanding low-income markets, and how inclusive business models and social enterprise models can improve livelihoods in low-income communities.

Companies, academic institutions and international organisations typically need to answer questions such as:

 

  • What are the needs and expectations that need to be addressed, and how big is the market?
  • How do the spending patterns change, and how are products and services used?
  • Who sells them, and through which distribution channels?
  • What innovative business models have already achieved results in the lower income segments, and how have they been implemented?

Over the past 10 years, Reciprocity has compiled a significant body of research on these questions in a variety of sectors such as Energy, Housing, Financial services, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, and Health Care. Our clients include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The World Bank, German Development Agency GIZ, Southern Africa Trust, and the Southern Africa Regional Programme on Access to Medicines and Diagnostics (SARPAM).

Information is a first step towards developing a low-income market strategy.
From here, you can decide to immerse yourself in the dynamics of low-income markets, investigate,

design and implement a pilot, or do all three of those.

Our Experience

UNDP : INCLUSIVE TOURISM UGANDA
UNDP : GROWING INCLUSIVE MARKETS (GIM) INITIATIVE
GERMAN FEDERAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
THE BOP LEARNING LAB SOUTHERN AFRICA
UNDP: SOLAR ENERGY IN SENEGAL

UNDP, in collaboration with both public and private institutions in the tourism sector in Uganda, has sought  to promote the development of inclusive business models in the tourism sector and and maximise their impact, especially through the inclusion of low-income communities. The tourism sector in Uganda is currently facing a number of challenges preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Reciprocity, in collaboration with Endeva, co-organised a workshop in Kampala aimed at creating a “collaborative platform” involving key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, and civil society.

The collaborative platform launched by the Minister of Tourism of Uganda in April 2017, presented a specific plan of action in 5 strategic domains. 

Launched in 2006, UNDP’s Growing Inclusive Markets (GIM) initiative has compiled the world’s most extensive database of inclusive business models on six continents. Reciprocity contributed two case studies to this growing body of knowledge:
– Mondi Paper Recycling: Outsourcing the Supply Chain
– Moladi : An affordable Housing solution for the poor ?

Over the past 15 years, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been one of the leading global organisations conducting extensive research on inclusive business models and their developmental impact, based on the premise that “the private sector is a great untapped resource for investment and innovation to achieve the Millennium Development Goals” (see: Creating Value for all: Strategies for doing business with the poor – UNDP GIM Report, 2008). The MDGs were replaced in 2015 by the Sustainable Development Goals, and UNDP continues to promote inclusive growth through inclusive business models through its partnership strategy with the private sector. 

 

In late 2010, The German Federal Development Agency GIZ (formerly GTZ) conducted an extensive study on the impact of business on development in 6 countries around the world: Brazil, China, South Africa, Egypt, India and Mexico.

Reciprocity was appointed country team for South Africa by Endeva, GIZ’s contractor.

We produced a country profile as well as two case studies:

  • South Africa: A country profile
  • SABMiller: Case Study
  • Standard Bank: Case Study

The BoP Learning Lab was established in 2006 as a joint initiative by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) and United States professors Stuart Hart and Michael Gordon. Spanning over four continents, the global network of BoP Learning Labs represents a “consortium of leading thinkers and practitioners interested in exploring new business opportunities in low-income communities that would benefit business as well as the local community”.

The aim of the Learning Lab Southern Africa is to provide coverage and exposure to local inclusive business models and innovative business approaches with a high socio-economic impact.

Between 2008 and 2015, Reciprocity organised events and wrote publications of the BoP Learning Lab. During that time, the BoP Learning Lab’s publishing unit has compiled an extensive collection of fact sheets, documenting the private sector’s role as a driver of socio-economic transformation.
Access the publications

As part of an "ecosystem" approach to promote inclusive growth in strategic sectors such as energy, UNDP commissioned Reciprocity in 2016 to carry out an ecosystem mapping of Senegal's solar energy sector that identified a number of challenges within Senegal’s solar energy ecosystem. These included a lack of positive incentives, quality standards, access to financing, workforce capacity, and awareness.

During the mapping, UNDP and Reciprocity identified and engaged key stakeholders. They included representatives of government (the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Energy, the National Agency for the Promotion of Renewable Energy (ANER), and the Agency for Rural Electrification (ASER)), Senegal’s renewable energy business council COPERES, the Centre for Studies on Renewable Energy of Senegal (CERER), banks, beneficiary organisations, and private sector companies. The mapping exercise led to to the creation of a collaborative platform which advanced the agenda of solar energy in Senegal and led to tangible positive outcomes by 2020, including regulatory changes and better access to finance for solar energy companies operating in Senegal.