Publications

 

New York Times blog: 'Business Defeating Poverty'
by Nicholas D. Kristof

'I was at a conference over the weekend in the Bahamas to explore issues relating to global poverty — a bit incongruous a setting, to be sure. Maybe we should have done it in Haiti. The conference was sponsored by Templeton Foundation and was focused on using business rather than foreign aid to whittle away at poverty.

The conference was off the record, but one of the participants, Kim Tan, said it was fine to quote him. He runs a venture capital company in London, SpringHill Management, that invests in the developing world, and he argues strongly that foreign aid isn’t going to rescue poor countries but that foreign direct investment just might be able to: “FDI is the key. I’m from Asia, and that’s how Asia has developed, bringing in capital, technology and inspiring young entrepreneurs who build businesses.”

I’m also a believer in aid, particularly health and education interventions. But I also believe that business can raise living standards on a scale that aid never can, and that we need to focus more on building manufacturing in poor countries. The need to bring more of a business-sensibility to development has been growing in recent years and is also a theme in two recent books. One is Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World, by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, which I’m in the middle of reading right now. Another is The Blue Sweater, forthcoming from Jacqueline Novogratz, head of the Acumen Fund, which is next on my reading list.

It’s something that I probably haven’t written enough about, and I’ll try to pursue the issue some more in the next year.'

 

'How Business Can Aid in the Fight Against Global Poverty'
by Kim Tan

 

'Fighting Poverty Through Enterprise: The case for Social Venture Capital
by Lord Brian Griffiths and Dr Kim Tan

Nearly 50% of the world’s population – almost 3 billion people – live on less than $2a day. 10 million children die every year from easily preventable diseases. AIDS kills 3 million people every year and 1 billion people lack access to sanitation. About one-quarter of children in poor countries do not finish primary school and some 1 billion adults are illiterate.

To date, the debate on tackling global poverty has been dominated by the case for providing more aid. The authors of this booklet certainly believe that foreign aid has a role to play in facing this challenge. However, here they voice the need for greater emphasis to be given to the part that business and enterprise can play in reducing poverty.

In recent years China and India have proved dramatic examples of countries which have reformed their economies, opened up to trade and investment, embraced an enterprise culture, and lifted millions of their citizens out of poverty. Griffiths and Tan believe Africa has the same potential as Asia. Micro-credit has been a crucial first step in directly helping the poor escape poverty. Using case studies they argue that social venture capital has the potential to become a new asset class and a critical second step to support the growth of small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries, so creating jobs and reducing poverty.

This book is now available from the Transformational Business Network.

 

'Enterprise Against Poverty'
by Kim Tan