SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

INNOVATIONS (SEI)
PROGRAM
Natalia Agapitova
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit, T&C
SEI RATIONALE

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SEs as opportunity for inclusive growth

■ Reduced poverty: pursue social or ■ Innovation: Represent innovation from the

environmental objectives status quo
■ Entrepreneurship: operate on business ■ Inclusive jobs: employ rural poor, youth,
principles women, disabled
■ Sustainability: independent of governments, ■ Flexibility: nimble and adaptable, close to BoP
aim for financial sustainability customers
■ Shared values: reinvest profits back into ■ Supports value chains: integrates grassroots
business model organizations

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 Legal Definition of SEs
Country Examples
Feature of the
Italy South Korea United Kingdom
definition

Any legal form  
Broad pre-defined list of forms


Specifically defines the activities to be 
Enterprise is to fulfill Provides vulnerable groups with
covered, unless the social enterprise employs Benefits social and/or
a specific purpose social services or jobs or
a certain percentage of underprivileged environmental aims
contributes to local communities
workers
Restriction on   
distribution of Restriction of 0 percent: no distribution Restriction of 33 percent Restriction of 50 percent
profits possible
 

Economic activity 70 percent turnover from activity Employs paid workers and
75 percent turnover from activity
conducts business activities
Stakeholder
participation in  
governance X
Some form of asset Absent from the working definition
 
lock but features in the CIC legal form
Transparency of
 
activities

Source: WBG (2016), Legal Frameworks for Social Enterprise. Lessons from a Comparative Study of Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States
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Improving Last Mile Healthcare
Example of SE: Living Goods Empowers Community Health Workers

Challenge Solution
Rural poor • Recruit and train CHWs
lack effective • Inventory loan at below market
drug treatment interest rates
• Supply drugs at wholesale prices
Incentives
• Shortage of
healthcare • Door-to-door sale of health
workers products and services:
• CounterfeitCommunity • Paid on performance + 15-20% of
Health Workers
margin from sales
drugs
• Part-time $15-20/month
Low-cost drug
• Free public procurement and
healthcare is Evidence from Uganda
distribution systems
geographically • 1,200 self-employed CHWs serve 1M patients
distant and • 25% decrease in child mortality, for less than
$2/year per person
unreliable, so it • 15-18% decrease in sales of counterfeit
is NOT free for Results medicine
the poor • Decrease in price of anti-malarial drugs by 15-
20%
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SEI PROGRAM
Products, Services and Operational Engagements

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Snapshot of SEI Program
Objective: Expand low-income markets and inclusive jobs opportunities by
supporting growth of the social enterprise sector to realize its potential to
generate economic, social and environmental results for the poor

Products and
Beneficiaries Outcomes
Services

Governments Sustainable solutions to

Innovative solutions to
development challenges
Social Entrepreneurs
Improved access to
funding and capacity
development
WBG and Donors
Reduced cost of engaging
SEs in development Ops
poverty reduce costs to
governments
Growth of SE sector, e.g.
New social enterprises
Improved SE results
Women/youth entrepreneurs
Inclusion
Jobs for marginalized poor
Improved service delivery
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 SEI Operational Engagements
SURR: Tunisia (P4R); T&C/SP IDF
SURR: Azerbaijan (IPF)
• Ecosystem diagnostic of SE sector
• Policy dialogue and facilitation
• Support government on strategy design for SE
of knowledge exchange among
sector development in poor regions Education: India (P4R)
on uses of social enterprises to
• Jobs for youth and women • Build capacity on
improve results of
decentralization crowdsourcing tools and
SP: Morocco (IPF) • Ecosystem diagnostic of social methodologies
• Support regional knowledge exchange among MENA enterprises in rural contexts • Identify SE models for
countries on results of SE sector youth skilling at scale
• Ecosystem diagnostic to support policy reforms • E-learning course for
SEIs
CMU: Guinea Bissau (Strategy), Ghana
(Strategy), Gambia (Strategy)
AG: South Sudan (IPF) Water GP: India (PA,
• Knowledge sharing
Capacity development for the TA), Indonesia (PA),
• Conduct ecosystems diagnostics
government to surface and support Philippines (PA)
• Support multi-stakeholder dialogue
SEs to improve agricultural • Analyze SEs supported
productivity and food security through WASH facilitate
T&C: Colombia
(DPL) T&C: Ethiopia (TA) multi-stakeholder
• Ecosystem GOV Liberia (IPF) Capacity development for the MSME dialogue
diagnostics • Support design of the SE incubator Development Agency, and the Ethiopian • Design and
• Facilitation of and share international experience Entrepreneurships Development Centre implementation of
policy design for • Learning for policy makers to identify mechanisms of support to SE competition to surface
using SEI to sector SEIs in solid liquid waste
support sustainable Governance: Kenya (P4R) management
growth and income • Facilitate public-private dialogue
convergence between SEs and the government to
HNP: Benin (IPF)
improve service delivery to the poor
• Help implement SE innovations to
• Learning for policy makers on use
advance project implementation to
of SEs for service delivery
improve nutrition outcomes
• Learning for community managers 8
 Ecosystem ■ Methodology for SE ecosystem diagnostic

Diagnostic
■ Diagnostic toolkit

Understand constraints and opportunities

■ SE Survey tool
■ Ecosystem diagnostics from 19 countries in
SAR, AFR, MENA
■ Database of ecosystem diagnostics from
partners
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 Design ■ Catalogue of policy instruments to support the
Operations SE sector

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 ■ Policy dialogue, public-private dialogue
Capacity – Research on rationale for Government

Building support to SE sector

– Analysis of SE policies in 40 countries (with
14 case studies)
■ Database of Business Model Innovations
and social enterprises with proven results
■ Course for public sector officials on how to
engage social enterprise sector in SDGs
■ Training for implementation agencies
■ Capacity development of SE enablers
■ Training for social entrepreneurs (F2F or e-
learning)

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 Systematize ■ Collect and aggregate evidence and lessons from
social enterprise innovations

learning ■ Curate knowledge in a user-friendly format (briefs,

how-to notes, case studies)
■ Advance the SE research agenda with partners
•Decentralized •Last mile grid •Empowering
water treatment connection Community Health ■ Disseminate through existing platforms like the
Workers (Living
ATMs (Waterlife)
•Serviced Toilets
(Barrio Electrico)
•Solar home
Goods) Innovation Policy Platform
•Mobile Health Clinics
(Sanergy) systems (Mobisol) (Rides for Lives)

Access to Access to Last Mile Quality

WASH Energy Health Access

•Specialized •Low Cost Chain •Agriculture

clinics (salaUno) Schools (Bridge) Productivity (Esoko)
•Teacher Quality (STIR)
•Telemedicine •School Ratings and
•Media-based farmer
(Meradoctor) Management (Gray education (Digital
•mHealth (Dimagi) Matters) Green)

Improving Agricultural
Affordable
Educational
Health Services Productivity
Outcomes

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 DISCUSSION
What can we do to support the Human-Centered Business Models?

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 Inclusive Support livelihoods opportunities and
job creation for marginalized poor
Economic – Scale SE innovations for upskilling
Opportunities – Improve policies for SE support
– Increase entrepreneurship opportunities by
providing training at scale

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Private Sector Solutions for Skills Building – Examples from India
Yuva Parivartan: Vocational training for schools dropouts
Learning Avanti Learning Centers: Science/math training to prepare low-income youth for
Centers college entrance
Center for Digital Inclusion: ICT courses and Internet access for marginalized poor
TARA Akshar: Interactive Hindi literacy program for women in rural India using
laptops
Skills iMerit (India): provision of Human-Assisted computing services, while also helping
Outsourcing raise people above the poverty line through upskilling and the creation of digital jobs

UpSkill: Finances technical/vocational training, job placement. Students repay 22.5%

of their salary when they enter paid six-month internships after completing their
Financing
training.
Upskilling
Milaap: Online platform enables lending to low-income Indians. Job-linked training for
youth provides rural people in the informal sector with skills.

Babajob.com (India): web/mobile platform to connect employers and informal sector

Skills Matching workers (e.g. maids, cooks, drivers, etc.). Job seekers have access to better paying,
Platforms closer job opportunities that are easily and cheaply available on their mobile phones.

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 SE Solutions to address the cycles of
Refugees and poverty that begins in refugee camps
Migrants – Improve employment opportunities
(improve skills and employability of
refugees, support refugee entrepreneurs,
integrate refugees in local labor markets)
– Address the service delivery challenge at
scale (sustainable, clean, low-cost, refugee-
powered solutions)
– Improve security and reduce violence
against women and children
– Promote access to finance through SEs
– Crowd-in private sector solutions
– Build Government capacity to partner with
SEs
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Improving Educational Outcomes
Example of SE: Bridge Academy provides quality education to low income students

• Provides standardized content,

Challenges: SE: Bridge ensuring quality of material being
delivered in a timely manner
Poor quality • Centralized administration and other
education in features lowers costs
• Employs and trains from the local
low income
community
areas impedes
educational • Families pay $7/month – a cost
attainment and Students about the 1/3 of government
expenditure per pupil
limits income • Over 450 primary schools serving
potential over 100,000 students

• National exams – mean score of

264, with 250 being passing.
• Bridge’s pioneer students had a
Results 40% higher chance of passing the
national primary exit exams than
their counterparts

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 Improve Nurturing SE sector to uproot
sources of violence
resilience to – Support community-based solutions to
conflict prevent conflict and violence
– Mobilize SEs for service delivery
(sustainable, clean, low-cost)
– Cultivate young businesses in fragile
markets
– Support replication and scale of inclusive
innovations in low-income markets
– Build inclusive value chains through SE
support

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Improving Agricultural Productivity
Example of SE: Esoko Extension Service Model Empowers Farmers

• Esoko provides SMS messages on

Challenges: SE: Esoko weather, market prices, farming tips
• Call centers to answer questions
Poor flow of • Connects them to traders
real-time • Mobilizes local community leaders
market
information
within • Subscribers pay a small fee to
agriculture Farmers •
receive SMS with price information
Over 350,000 farmers served in 10
sector among countries
farmers and
traders that • Esoko clients experience 11%
increase in income, solely based on
affects supply
access to price information
and demand • Esoko has reduced cost of
transacting business and searching
Results for market information
• Due to greater price transparency,
farmer have gained greater
negotiating power
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