© Picture: SNV/Aidan Dockery

What is IBA?

The Inclusive Business Accelerator

The Inclusive Business Accelerator facilitates the acceleration of impactful entrepreneurship in Base of the Pyramid (BoP) markets. We do this by building a structure that supports the delivery of substantial numbers of investment-ready inclusive business plans that improve the well-being of people at the BoP.

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We invest in three components to create an one-stop shop for businesses to innovate, grow, replicate and improve their inclusive business strategy:


Inclusive Business Accelerator Global: building a global network, creating market intelligence and strategic scoping activities. The aim is to build impact coalitions and improve the enabling environment to mainstream inclusive business.
 


Inclusive Business Accelerator Local: creating local platforms of inclusive business advisory services to identify, incubate and accelerate business solutions to development challenges. Currently we build platforms in Uganda, Mozambique en Vietnam and will soon expand to other countries.
 


Inclusive Business Accelerator Online: providing an open innovation platform that connects social innovators, business coaches, impact investors and businesses.

Sectors

Initially the Inclusive Business Accelerator services aim at the three sectors with the highest potential for inclusive business and positive impact.

Agriculture and Food
In addition to being the sector contributing most to GDP, agriculture is one of the main sources of employment and there are good opportunities in the market for affordable and nutritious food. Investing in agriculture and food is one of the most cost-effective ways to meet the world’s development challenges. And could increase a country’s GDP by 2 - 3% per annum.

Water and Sanitation
Over 2.1 billion poor people still lack access to safe water and an estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to safe sanitation. Innovations addressing (waste-) water treatment and re-use of water can drive economic growth at approximately 2% to even 7% of GDP in some countries.

Sustainable Energy
Approximately 1.6 billion people live without electricity while 3 billion people still use traditional biomass for cooking, accelerating deforestation. Availability of sustainable, clean and reliable sources of energy is an essential driver for development. In developing countries there is an opportunity to leapfrog energy poverty through local renewable energy projects where there is currently no access to fossil fuel or fossil-based power.

Partnership

The IBA started as a partnership between BoPInc, SNV and VC4Africa. Together these three organisations have a long track-record of supporting enterprises in developing countries. Since January 1st, 2017, the IBA became an independent foundation.

The BoP Innovation Center accelerates the number and impact of inclusive innovations in low-income markets. Inclusive innovations serve the demand of the poor and create shared value for all stakeholders involved.
SNV
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a worldwide network of professionals in agriculture, renewable energy and water, sanitation and hygiene.
VC4Africa is the Africa platform for startup funding, the largest online community of entrepreneurs and investors on the continent.
Nyenrode Business University
Nyenrode Business University was founded in 1946 as a private university and builds on the motto ‘for and by business’.