Grassroots Business Organizations GBO Workshop

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Grassroots Business Organizations (GBO)Workshop
Washington, DC
April 21-22, 2005
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Welcome/Logistics

• Thank everyone for coming
• Need help with logistics? Marjorie or Jane
• Materials weve given them
• The event - - what its about?
• engagement, opening up, and GBO getting better
• schedule
• In house rules
• openness, frankness, and things said should
  stay within the room

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What is GBO all about?

• Economic empowerment of the poor and
  disadvantaged, especially via strengthening
  businesses that reach out to and economically
  empower the poor and disadvantaged
• Our mission statement To support businesses
  focused on creating sustainable economic
  opportunities for poor and marginalized people
• We do this mainly by working with organizations
  (NGOs, companies, other forms)
• Building socially-oriented businesses, which can
  be efficient and sustainable, yet true to their
  social mission
• Moving to wholesale i.e., use retail GBO
  transactions to inform broader capacitybuilding
  and knowledge management work

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Whats been done so far?

• Strengthening Grassroots Business Initiative
  (SGBI) launched
• in May 2004
• Initial activities
• 12 projects approved, 7 more under preparation
• total portfolio of 9 projects (taken on from
  the
• Development Marketplace and Capacity
  Building Facility)
• 2.4 m committed and 0.5 m disbursed to date,
  with
• estimated additional commitments of 1.2 by
  June 30, 2005
• Weve gathered a good idea of GBOs business
  fundamentals,
• development needs, etc.
• GBO Depts systems and procedures established,
  developing

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Whats been done so far? (part 2)

• Fundraising
• Good donor interest at the project level, with
  approx.
• 7.0 m mobilized (31 ratio to WBG funding)
• Potential for initiative-level fundraising
  (Canadians, Dutch)
• Good foundation of wholesale initiatives and
  good tie-in
• with local business community 5 wholesale
  initiatives,
• including - -
• Youth entrepreneurship/mentoring
• Design and Export Promotion Center
• Working Capital Facility
• Communications, Knowledge Management (KM),
• Relationship development / strengthening
  some early
• progress, lots more to be done. KM might be
  ripe for
• partnership work.

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Main lessons/learnings

• Results are promising, but this work is
  challenging - - building
• NGOs into sustainable businesses is hard,
  and progress is
• painstaking and uneven
• Requires change in GBOs mindset governance,
  management,
• marketing, ME
• Blending of objectives and capital poses
  challenges
• Charismatic leaders need management support
  moving their
• organizations to the next level
• IFC needs to lighten up i.e., learn to adapt
  to the situation
• at hand

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Issues looking forward

• How to have broader impact, including
  increasing geographic
• coverage, going deeper within a country, or
  sector, and
• scaling up models that work?
• Where to find institutional/sectoral inputs?
• Mechanisms for effective delivery of business
  assistance
• (via partners, wholesale activities)
• Fundraising is difficult - - but should improve
  as critical mass
• develops, and results materialize

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Plans for the Workshop

• Event not academic, try to be practical,
  operationally oriented
• Openness is essential
• Use our own cases to illustrate bigger issues,
  also introdouce to some GBOs through example
• Three topic areas, not the only ones, but perhaps
  three of the most important/urgent
• Encourage networking, also other issues to be
  addressed informally, off-line
• How to follow through - newsletter, topic-group
  follow through? website postings?
• Feedback? Pls complete survey

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SGBI
THANK YOU! For more information about our
activities, visit our website at http//www.ifc.o
rg/gbo