Guidance

Business Innovation Facility (BIF)

How companies can help developing countries through the development and uptake of inclusive business models.

Overview

皇冠体育app helps the development and uptake of inclusive business models by companies in developing countries. 皇冠体育app term 鈥榠nclusive business鈥� refers to profitable core business activity that has high development impacts; creating jobs, integrating local farmers and entrepreneurs in international supply chains and providing quality and affordable services to low-income consumers.

皇冠体育app facility provides advisory support and facilitation. It supports companies that are developing inclusive business projects in Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia. In these 5 countries the facility helps companies directly by facilitating the process of developing inclusive business, brokering partnerships, signposting to other sources of support, and/or sharing the cost of consultancy support.

It also offers information exchange and insight. To help practitioners of inclusive business in any country, the BIF Practitioner Hub provides a gateway to the latest information, insights from peers, good practice, useful resources, and lessons learnt about developing and implementing inclusive business.

皇冠体育app BIF is funded by the Department for International Development and was designed as a 3-year project (2010 to 2013) to pilot this new approach to supporting the role of business in the development of low-income countries.

Eligibility to apply or access support and advice

皇冠体育appre is an initial engagement between representatives of interested companies and the facility team to determine whether the company has an inclusive business project that may require support from the facility.

Once this has been established, the facility supports the company to identify internal or external constraints and provides information to the company on sources of help. This may include support from the facility or sign-posting to other sources of support beyond what is available from the facility. 皇冠体育app facility offers consultancy support for business planning, value chain mapping etc and brokering and strengthening of partnerships.

皇冠体育app process

A company will have to pay towards this consultancy support, but the facility can share the costs. Cost-sharing from facility funds will require a proposal to be prepared for the facility鈥檚 selection committee. 皇冠体育app committee, which meets every 2 months, will recommend support to inclusive business projects that best meet the facility鈥檚 criteria for support, which include the financial viability and the development impacts of the initiative. 皇冠体育app company will have a major role in deciding on the providers of the consultancy support, as well as the exact nature of the support.

Updates to this page

Published 25 March 2013

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