Is Financial Democracy a click away?

Is Financial Democracy a click away? This is the name of a new USAID report on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending commissioned under USAID’s Financial Services Knowledge Generation task order.

Investors Without Borders (IWB) is profiled in the USAID report along with pioneering services such as Prosper and Kiva. IWB Board member and Live Green GEO, Steve Ma, participated in a USAID Microfinance and Learning Innovations After Hours Seminar panel, along with Harvey Grasty of MicroPlace, on October 20, 2008 in Washington, DC, to discuss the opportunities and challenges ahead in the growing world of P2P lending.

Check out the other exciting topics offered through the Microfinance and Learning Innovation After Hours Seminar Series in DC – audio recordings of most programs are available for free online!

Steve shared insights on how P2P lending will make it possible to fuel IWB’s small business lending pilot in Ghana, West Africa. He highlighted how a P2P model is ideal for the formal sector businesses IWB is targeting that have a proven track record, but are not established/collateralized enough to be prime investments for traditional institutional lenders – especially in countries where credit ratings and contract enforcement is lacking!

IWB will allow “regular” people to become pioneer lenders and take the leap of faith in extending credit to underserved businesses in developing markets. These pioneers can begin to unlock the potential of promising small to medium-sized businesses that the Harvard Entrepreneurial Finance Lab estimates to represent $3.5T of potential additional revenue worldwide.

P2P lending has been around for thousands of years in a variety of forms – from Mediterranean trading groups in the 11^th century to Rotating Savings and Credit Associations in a number of modern-day developing markets. Simply put, it involves “regular” people lending to one another outside of traditional financial institutions. This informal method of allocating resources through relationships, reputation, and future expectations has survived the test of time.

Now that the world is “going global” and “getting wired” person-to-person lending has reemerged with magnified potential. Can’t wait to see what’s coming! Any thoughts or insight on P2P lending? Let us know!

What’s going on in Ghana? Small Business Profile

Natural-Scientific Pharmaceuticals

Time-tested herbal remedies for the modern man

Natural-Scientific Pharmaceuticals (NSP) is a registered company in Ghana, which is interested in funding to help bring two new products to market.

Neemfresh Herbal Mouthwash

NSP processes time-tested local herbs and natural ingredients into pharmaceutical products for mainstream medical use.

In 2006, NSP won US$25,000 in seed capital from “Believe-Begin-Become”, a business plan competition organized by the Google Foundation and Technoserve Inc. This allowed them to begin selling their first two products: Neemfresh Herbal Mouthwash and Sinuclear Nasal Decongestant.

Sales have been strong and are expected to grow! NSP has two more promising products already registered with the Food and Drugs Board of Ghana and a malaria treatment and herbal toothpaste in development. With access to an affordable loan, NSP can purchase production and packaging equipment to get their 2 natural skin cream products to market.

CEO and founder, Isaac Bohulu holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honors) degree from the University of Science

Isaac Bohulu, CEO & Founder NSP

and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and an MBA with specialization in Marketing from the University of Ghana.

Isaac and his team participated in the IWB small business focus group, helping us to refine our services to suit local needs. Many thanks to Isaac and everyone at NSP. We wish them continued success!!

IWB to participate in TANCon 2008 – African Entrepreneurship Conference

Investors Without Borders is honored and excited to participate in TANCon 2008 in Accra, Ghana! Themed “Fostering African Entrepreneurship”, TANCon 2008 is a gathering of pioneering individuals and organizations that is sure to inspire anyone interested in the exciting growth, reform, and innovation taking place across Africa.

The event is bringing together a diverse group from Fortune 500 business leaders and Venture Capitalists to Social Entrepreneurs and Policy Makers. Among the many distinguished speakers are Founder of Ashesi University in Ghana, Patrick Awuah, and George B.N. Ayittey, PhD Economist from American University. Oh yes, and the distinguished Founder & Managing Director of Investors Without Borders, Tricia Chirumbole, who will be speaking on a Social Entrepreneurship panel that promises to enlighten!

The action takes place on Saturday, August 16^th at La Palm Beach Hotel in Accra – quite a nice spot to spend a day or two! So if you’re in or near Accra, come check it out, there’s still room left! If not, no worries, you have a second chance to get involved: TANCon 2008 will be visiting the United States on November 1 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto, California. The line up includes entrepreneur and author, Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures, and an advocate of affirmative action, recipient of Service Business of the Year and author, Frederick E. Jordan of F.E. Jordan and Associates.

TANCon 2008 is organized and inspired by The African Network, a global nonprofit organization founded in Silicon Valley, with the “sole mandate of fostering entrepreneurship and technology in Africa and among people of African descent”. The time is now to get involved in the emerging markets in Africa – So…get involved with The African Network, come to TANCon USA 2008, and Register with IWB for updates! Thoughts or questions about opportunities in Africa?? Be sure to leave your comments and questions below!

IWB is recognized by The William James Foundation!

The William James Foundation is a Washington DC based organization actively supporting new entrepreneurs who are committed to forging pathways toward a sustainable global economy.

Investors Without Borders is honored to have been recognized by The William James Foundation as an honorable mention finalist in their 5th annual Socially Responsible Business Plan Competition. All finalists were acknowledged at an event at the World Resources Institute in Washington DC on Friday, March 7th. The competition received entrants from over 10 countries and plans were reviewed by over 100 reading judges.Readers included experts in both social ventures and traditional business plans, community activists, Wall Street professionals, academics, and CEOs of national for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.The extensive and insightful feedback was truly an invaluable reward in itself – First class consulting at a 100% discount!

IWB sincerely thanks The William James Foundation and their wide network of volunteers and sponsors who dedicate their efforts to supporting social entrepreneurs. IWB wants to give a special thank you to Affinity Labs and Wall Street Without Walls – the two sponsors whose support IWB is pleased to receive as a competition finalist.

Please take the time to learn about The William James Foundation Socially Responsible Business Plan sponsors and donors – pioneering organizations and people supporting a global revolution of socially responsible business with their dedication, time, and vision.

IWB is an Echoing Green Semifinalist!

Echoing Green is an innovative organization that advances social change by supporting bold visions and promising social entrepreneurs. Through a 2-year fellowship program, Echoing Green has invested $25 million in seed funding and hands-on support to nearly 450 social entrepreneurs across the world! Echoing Green’s rigorous selection process seeks out new, high-impact solutions and strong leaders.

Investors Without Borders is honored and excited to have been invited to participate in Phase 2 of the Echoing Green selection process for the 2008 Echoing Green Fellows program!

Any thoughts to help IWB improve our services or website? Let us know!

Foundations ramp up “mission-related investing”

LA Times reports that leading philanthropic foundations are making a fast dash to align their endowment investment decisions with their missions. The LA Times has written a series of stories about big players like the Gates Foundation and how their investments either bolster or threaten to contradict the work they do to advance causes through grant support. This LA Times article discusses the trend of mission-related investing and its growth.

Check out a few interesting excerpts:

” The $7.8-billion W.K. Kellogg Foundation, based in Battle Creek, Mich., established a $100-million fund for social and mission-related investing in the United States and Africa…The Kellogg Foundation will use the new fund to bolster grant support for needy children, families and communities, said Anne Mosely, vice president for programs. It might invest in education or supermarket development in distressed areas, or in programs to mitigate the sub-prime lending crisis, she said. If successful, the fund would be expanded.”

“…the Ford Foundation, the [United States'] second-largest, and some smaller foundations, such as the F.B. Herron Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, have long worked to align their charitable and investment practices.”

“Stamm, at the Meyer Trust, said the larger foundation community was showing sudden flexibility on investment strategies. ‘I am amazed,” he said. “This field is moving far faster than anyone could have predicted.’”

Imagine the even greater impact that the foundation community can have if they channel their substantial investment power to socially responsible, or “triple bottom line” investment options. Investors Without Borders is excited to watch these trends develop among philanthropic foundations. IWB was created on the belief that investment in private sector stimulation is the best possible support for sustainable poverty reduction. Foundations endowed to improve conditions in developing countries may just have the right passion and knowledge that will propel them to become leaders of institutional investing in the frontier markets of the developing world.

IWB is a Winner of the BID Challenge 2007!

On December 4, 2007 Investors Without Borders (IWB) was chosen as a winner of the BID Challenge 2007 – an international business plan competition hosted in Amsterdam, The Netherlands by the BID Network. After several competition rounds and many months, IWB was selected out of a pool of 2275 businesses from 144 countries!!

A grant of 5,000 Euro was awarded by BID Network sponsor, Berenschot – the leading Dutch management consulting firm – who expressed their support for the IWB mission and the innovativeness of the IWB model. After a week full of pitches, judges, networking, and dancing in Amsterdam, 17 entrepreneurs went home with a prize that will help each person achieve their dream of using business to make a difference for the poor and disenfranchised. Check out IWB and the BID Network!

The BID Challenge

BiD Challenge challenges entrepreneurs from all over the world to develop and implement innovative business plans with growth potential. In this way, the competition aims to contribute to economic growth and employment in developing countries. Since 2005, the BiD Challenge supported the start-up of over 60 businesses and the creation of more than 1000 jobs in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Worldwide over 800 professionals were engaged in the competition as screener, coach or jury member. The BiD Challenge is supported by over 60 companies from all over the globe.

Welcome to Investors Without Borders!

Investors without Borders (IWB) will link the global community of investors with opportunities to invest directly in businesses in emerging markets. Via our Web-based, financial networking platform, investors can lend to businesses to help them grow, hire, and create wealth in their communities. IWB plans to initially launch in Ghana, with additional emerging markets to follow.