A natural question about our strategy for developing successful businesses in Africa can be stated simply: "how can you make profits selling to poor people?" The answer lies in Prof. C.K. Prahalad's book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, in which he describes the profits to be made by marketing products and services to the "bottom of the pyramid" of the world's consumers (click on image at right for details about the book). We believe that the success stories he has found in India can be duplicated — even surpassed — in Africa by building on its unique social assets: the ability to create, through community-based organizations, trust-based business networks with shared ownership. We call these networks The WILMA Business Ecosystem for Africa.

A key component of our strategy is the Community Enterprise Corporation (CEC). WILMA aims to form at least one CEC per country, and each will be an umbrella organization to oversee and partly own all JVCEs in the country. WILMA also seeks existing multinational corporations with an interest in Africa that want to become part of this strategy. As Prof. Prahalad has demonstrated, this is not an appeal for charity: this is an opportunity to open new markets and realize profits. While Africa poses unique problems, this continent also offers unique opportunities, and WILMA seeks multinational partners that are interested in tackling the special challenges and opportunities of Africa. Detailed information is available in The WILMA Business Ecosystem for Africa (PDF, 430kb, revised February 2009) and its associated Microsoft Powerpoint presentation, WILMA's SEED (PPT, 70kb, revised October 2008).