Technological innovations are contributing to the fight against global inequality \u2013 in healthcare, education, agriculture and finance. Globalisation has now increased access to technology all over the world. The increased access to tech tools is opening endless possibilities for social entrepreneurs to fight inequality, boost social development and scale their social impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, technological devices reach more and more people, including those in developing countries. The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to be 5 billion by the end of this year, according to a prediction by the GSM Association, a trade body of mobile phone operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe phone is a portal to financial freedom and more inclusion,\u201d says Anis Kallel, founder of \u2018Kaoun\u2019, a financial technology company that builds reliable decentralised infrastructure for payments and credit in Tunisia, allowing the large unbanked population there access to financial services. \u201cPeople have technology, but they don\u2019t have services,\u201d he says, explaining how phones can be used to tackle financial inequality.
Haroon Yasin, founder of the \u2018Orenda Welfare Trust\u2019 in Pakistan, says \u201csmartphones are becoming a great equaliser.\u201d Yasin leads a company that is spreading education through smartphones to underserved children across the country. \u201cPakistan is a place where 50% of children are malnourished, but at the same time 50% of people have smartphones,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a teacher, I saw that as an opportunity to take education to places where it hadn\u2019t been before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another example of how mobile phones create impact comes from iCow, \u201ca practical academy in how you can improve dairy farming,\u201d says Peter Wuffli, founder of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization, a philanthropic impact investor which fights extreme poverty by investing in social enterprises. iCow is a mobile phone platform started in Kenya by social entrepreneur Su Kahumbu. Funded by the elea Foundation, the platform helps farmers by sending them information via text messages on how to increase productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technology is not only a tool for social enterprises to do good. It also plays an important role when it comes to scaling enterprises and amplifying their social impact. Technology enables enterprises to \u201ccollect data cost-effectively and be able to understand in real time whether or not their products, services, interventions and business model are actually having the intended impact that they want,\u201d says Katherine Milligan, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Geneva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the case of iCow, technology has supported the scalability of what was initially a local project involving 500 farmers, helping the platform to reach 60,000 farmers in Kenya and other African countries. The service\u2019s subscribers pay for the app, too. \u201ciCow is an example where the mobile revolution plus technology has helped scale social businesses,\u201d Wuffli says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before spreading to other countries, iCow started as a local initiative. Local expertise plays an essential role in tackling problems in specific areas or countries. \u201cWhen you work at the local level, you manage to contextualise everything very well,\u201d Yasin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Wuffli, initiatives and ideas that are successful in some countries do not necessarily work for other parts of the world. \u201cHistory is full of examples of well-meant ideas brought to other geographies where the cultural conditions were different and there was a lack of commitment, understanding, and knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why elea invests in local businesses that are trying to make a social impact but need investment. \u201cImpact is created when you bring entrepreneurship together with capital,\u201d Wuffli says.
However, capital is not equally distributed around the world: While globalisation has increased access to technological capital, access to financial capital remains limited. The unequal distribution not only produces inequalities between individuals and countries, but it also affects local entrepreneurs seeking investments for their companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, entrepreneurs in developing countries cannot always count on domestic capital. One solution is to seek investors abroad. Yasin says: \u201cForeign capital is a way for young local start-ups to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local entrepreneurs can drive change through technology, but they often require foreign investments to thrive \u2013 and have a social impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n