Editor’s note: This post first appeared on VisionSpring’s Business in a Bag blog. Acumen Fund is an investor in VisionSpring, having made them a $500,000 loan in 2006. Thanks to Miriam Stone for giving us permission to cross-post this on the Acumen Fund blog.
BRAC, the largest non-profit organization in the developing world, is a dream partner for a small organization. But landing the partnership is only the first part. What happens next is where it gets interesting…VisionSpring’s Franchise Partner Manager Lalit Kumar reports from the field.
By Lalit Kumar
We often joke here at VisionSpring that working with BRAC is like landing a contract with Walmart. It’s the kind of opportunity that every small NGO dreams of – BRAC is known for its massive scale and...
The Cato Institute held an interesting event today, “How Nations Prosper: Economic Freedom and Doing Business around the World,” featuring James Gwartney and Robert Lawson, co-authors of the Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report (co-published by Fraser Institute and Cato Institute) and Simeon Djankov, creator of the World Bank’s Doing Business report.
The first two speakers focused on analyzing the implications of the 2008 edition of the Economic Freedom report and its historical trends. The findings clearly demonstrate the connection between economic freedom and greater prosperity. Private investment as a share of GDP is higher in countries with more economic freedom. In turn, investment increases long-term economic growth rates, and sustained growth over time leads to...
Entrepreneurship involves risk. According to a March 6th article in the Economist, “Betting the Fazenda,” Brazilian entrepreneurs are less willing to take risk than their Chinese and Russian counterparts. What could account for this? Well it doesn’t take long to figure out why once you look at the stats from the IFC’s “Doing Business” report. Here’s what the Economist points out:
Starting a business takes 152 days and requires 18 different procedures, according to the IFC’s annual worldwide “Doing Business” study. It takes 2,600 hours for a medium-sized business to keep up with its taxes each year. The same hypothetical business would pay 69% of its second-year profits in tax, if it played by the rules and did not receive special tax breaks.
Geez! Considering...
IMF thinks things are not so bad in Africa, unlike it is often perceived. Macroeconomic conditions are improving, exports to Asia are on the rise, good policies are more common than in the past, and debt relief is paying off by injecting more stability into the economic climate. Yet, while poverty is on the decline and debt relief/aid are lauded in the article, the mention of micro conditions can’t be ignored:
However, while aid is important, a more dynamic private sector is essential for raising African growth rates and making progress toward the MDGs. Improving the business environment in the region would go a long way toward fostering private sector activity.
And while macro environment is certainly important, things like large informal sectors and poor property rights...