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CHANGING THE WORLD Exclusive: Bill Gates on giving in the Gulf, and his $2.5bn plan to combat poverty in the Muslim world
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SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT Abdulla and Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair will change the futures of 15,000 young Arabs. Here’s how
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EDUCATING INDIA Why India’s most generous man, Azim Premji, dreams of a shakeup in India’s public school system
Middle East, Africa, South Asia
ISSUE 11 JULY – SEPT 2016
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ONE WORLD BUILDING TIES THROUGH GLOBAL GIVING
ON THE FRONTLINE DISASTER AID WHERE IT’S NEEDED, WHEN IT’S NEEDED
THE GENDER GAP EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
NEXT GENER ATION UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF AR AB YOUTH
EXCLUSIVE: PRINCESS LAMIA ALSAUD, THE NEW HEAD OF ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES, GIVES HER FIRST INTERVIEW
YOUR PARTNER IN GIVING
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CONTENTS
IN THIS ISSUE... REGULARS 08 THE MOMENT 10 NEED TO KNOW 12 VIEWPOINT 14 GLOBAL EYE 16 ONE DAY 18 76 COMMENT 20 60 82 BIG PICTURE 81 NEXT STEP 22 CHANGING THE WORLD The world’s most influential philanthropist, Bill Gates, talks exclusively about why doing good takes more than just money 28 THE YOUTH VOTE In the Arab world, youth matters. From jobs to stability, we explore the findings of a new poll of young people’s hopes for the future 32 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT Abdulla Al Ghurair last year pledged to donate $1.1bn to a new foundation. Alongside his son, Abdul Aziz, he tells us why education is vital for the Arab world
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22 “The goal of
philanthropy is to be a laboratory of innovation for breakthrough work; to think about things”
Bill Gates co-founder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
38 KEEPING SYRIA ALIVE As war demolishes Syria’s cultural landmarks, exiled artists in Jordan’s Za’atari camp are recreating them in miniature 42 HOW TO SPEND $32bn In an exclusive interview Princess Lamia AlSaud, head of Alwaleed Philanthropies, tells us how they hope to contribute to a better world 48 IT TAKES A MENTOR A good mentor is the difference between startup success and failure, says Tony Bury, founder of Mowgli Foundation 52 EDUCATING INDIA India’s most generous man, Azim Premji, describes his mission to transform public education and inspire future philanthropists 56 WASTE NOT, WANT NOT Hunger blights the lives of millions globally, yet food waste is rampant. We meet the volunteer army in India, Pakistan and beyond determined to even the balance
CONTENTS
FROM THE WEB The latest from PhilanthropyAge.org
EDUCATION AT WAR The destruction of schools in war zones is on the rise. It’s time to fight back, says Qatar’s Sheikha Moza
56 62 SOCIAL CAPITAL Need, passion and money are fuelling a rise in social enterprise in Africa. We meet the entrepreneurs who are doing good business
FLEXIBLE FUND The Global Fund unveils $70m plan to tackle rising cases of TB, HIV/Aids and malaria in the Middle East
68 WHEELS OF CHANGE WBR’s durable bicycles are paving the way for Africa’s students, smallholders and workers to ride into a brighter future 72 NEXT GENERATION From green packaging to smartphone apps, these young entrepreneurs are taking a triplebottom-line approach to business 78 IN THE LINE OF FIRE International Medical Corps CEO Nancy Aossey talks risk, funding and what the global aid industry could learn from the Middle East
GIVING MORE GCC billionaires swell the ranks of the Giving Pledge, promising to donate at least half their fortunes to charity
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
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Q AIS AL-KHONJI
PETER SINGER
Qais Al-Khonji is an Omani businessman, the founder of Qais United and Genesis International, and a vocal advocate for Omani entrepreneurs. In this issue, he argues that much more needs to be done to aid GCC startups.
Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and author of books such as The Most Good You Can Do. Here, he explains why effective philanthropy means being ruled by your head rather than your heart.
CHRISTOPHER HERWIG
JASON DUTCH
Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig has covered more than 90 countries and worked extensively with aid agencies in Asia, Africa and the Middle East to put a human face to their statistics. In this issue, he takes us to Za’atari in Jordan to the exiled artists recreating Syria’s landmarks to help preserve the homeland they have left behind.
Jason Dutch is a London-based creative director, 3D artist and photographer for Touchline with more than a decade of experience in the creative and publishing fields. For this issue, he photographed British surgeon David Nott whose foundation aims to train frontline volunteers to operate in disaster and war zones.
Anas Ahmad Albounni; Mark Makhlouf; Liz Rankin; Celina Lucey; Ana Burmester; Morwenna Smith
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Contributors: Qais Al-Khonji; Peter Singer; Stuart Matthews; Christopher Herwig/UNHCR; Jason Dutch; Brooke Slezak; Gareth Bentley; Mohammed Khalafalla; Robin Hood Army Images: Getty; Reuters; BMGF; Al Ghurair Foundation for Education; Alwaleed Philanthropies; mPharma; Prodigy Finance; Sanergy; International Medical Corps, Mowgli Foundation ISSN: 2305-6525 Distributed by: GLS Media Services Printed by: Emirates Printing Press, Dubai Founder sponsor:
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THE MOMENT
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THE MOMENT
22nd March 2016
AMPLIFIED GIVING Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid unveils a new venture in the push to support social causes in the Arab world
A
global consultancy launched by the ruler of Dubai is to offer free advice to donors in an effort to bolster the impact of awqaf (Islamic endowments) and increase big-ticket giving to social causes in the Arab world. The Mohammed bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy (MBRGCEC), unveiled in March, will promote more efficient use of awqaf as the city seeks to become a global centre for the business of sharia-compliant giving. “We’ve opened the doors to become the most supportive nation for endowment for the service of humanity,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also vice president and prime minister of the UAE. “Many businessmen provide charity in secret. We want them to announce their endowments and lead by example.” Awqaf are believed to control billions of dollars worth of assets around the Muslim world, where people contribute a portion of their wealth, in cash or other forms, to charitable projects such as schools and mosques. But management of these endowments has often been criticised as limited and inefficient. By modernising the industry, MBRGCEC hopes to improve the profitability of awqaf assets and maximise their social impact. In tandem with the launch, Sheikh Mohammed unveiled a $1.36bn
endowment of his own, spread across an innovation fund of $272m and a $952m knowledge fund. A further $136m was set aside for other charitable purposes. The event also saw the inauguration of the Dubai Awqaf and Endowments District, described as the region’s first social real estate project. Rental income generated by the district will be funnelled back into charitable giving. The MBRGCEC is the latest in a series of initiatives coalesced under the umbrella of Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives (MRGI), a foundation set up in October to tackle poverty and illness, build communities and drive innovation in more than 116 countries across the world.
“Many businessmen provide charity in secret. We want them to lead by example”
Its aim is to reach 130 million people over the coming years, through 1,400 development programmes. With an annual budget of $272m, it clusters together the work of existing state-backed agencies – such as Noor Dubai, Dubai Cares and UAE Water Aid – under a single banner. “The UAE will always be the capital of humanity through its initiatives and efforts aimed at serving people,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
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NEED TO KNOW
TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW $30.5 BILLION
$364 BILLION
VALUE OF GRANTS given by foundations between 2002 and 2012 to global development goals
GRANTS FORECAST TO be given by foundations by 2030 towards global development goals
*S ource: Foundation Centre
14% GLOBAL ECONOMIES could shrivel by 2050 as fresh water grows scarce due to climate change. The Middle East could be hardest hit, with GDP slipping as much as 14 per cent with impacts on agriculture and incomes, according to the World Bank.
1
Potential slide in GDP by 2050, by region:
7.1%
Central Asia
10.7%
11.7% 14%
Middle East
Central Africa
Sahel
* Source: World Bank
5
Education is the key for the success of the “Arab world. With well-educated men and women, they will take us to the next level” ABDUL AZIZ AL GHURAIR at the launch of the $1.1bn Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, which aims to help 15,000 Arabs into university by 2026
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$20 MILLION ABU DHABI IS to allocate $20m through the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development to support the growth of small businesses in Yemen, among the Arab world’s poorest states with widespread unemployment. 6
ONE IN THREE
IF 10 PER CENT of the nearly $1.7 trillion spent on military budgets was given to development, it could cover the UN’s global goals on poverty and hunger, said Stockholm think tank SIPRI. 3
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A THIRD OF people in the Arab world paid a bribe to public officials last year, found a poll of 11,000 adults in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen. The kickbacks were for services such as medical care and electricity, said Transparency International.
FOUR IN FIVE
150 DRONES A US-BASED startup is to use a fleet of drones to deliver blood and other vital medical supplies to remote areas in Rwanda. The UPS Foundation has given Zipline $800,000 for its idea to fly.
Some 75 per cent reported paying a bribe for public services in Yemen
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7
NEED TO KNOW
“Let’s use our
entrepreneurial skills to adopt at least one problem in the world. If every business can do that, most of the problems in this world will be solved” RICHARD BRANSON, the billionaire entrepreneur, issues a clarion call to the private sector 8
40.8 MILLION THE NUMBER OF people uprooted inside their own countries by war and violence hit a record 40.8 million in 2015, according to the International Displacement Monitoring Centre. Globally there were 8.6 million fresh cases of people fleeing conflict last year within borders, an average of 24,000 a day. More than half of those were in the Middle East, with Yemen accounting for 2.2 million people.
2.2 million
4.8 million
8.6 million
27.8 million
Source: IDMC
Global displacements in 2015 Displacements linked to violence and conflict Displacements in the Middle East in 2015 Displacements in Yemen in 2015 9
CLIMATE CHANGE PUTS 1.3BN PEOPLE AT RISK, WARNS WORLD BANK GLOBAL NATIONS are poorly prepared for a rapid rise in extreme weather and natural disasters that by 2050 will see 1.3 billion people at risk of those threats, warned a World Bank body. Cities must do more to offset the impact of climate change, a report published by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) said, warning that assets worth $158 trillion would be in jeopardy by mid-century without preventive action. Total damages from disasters have ballooned to $140bn in recent decades, and worse could be in store as a toxic mix of global warming and rapid population growth hurts already overcrowded coastal cities.
These areas are “woefully underprepared”, said John Roome, the World Bank Group’s senior director for climate change. “Unless we change our approach to future planning for cities and coastal areas, we run the real risk of locking in decisions that will lead to drastic increases in future losses.” The report cites studies showing annual losses in 136 coastal cities could increase from $6bn in 2010 to $1 trillion in 2070. But governments can lower their disaster risk with policies to tackle climate change, by building resilient infrastructure and relocating economic assets. “Decision makers must seize the moment,” said Francis Ghesquiere, head of the secretariat at GFDRR. 10
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VIEWPOINT
WHEN CHOOSING A CAUSE OR CHARITY TO SUPPORT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR ? MUNA EASA AL GURG BOARD ME MB E R , E A SA SALE H A L G U R G F O U N D AT I O N
SOUHEIL HA JJAR BOARD ME MB E R , E N D E AVO R UA E
PRADEEP PURSNANI DEPUT Y DIRECTOR, S H E L L F O U N D AT I O N
I’ve always supported causes that resonate emotionally with me. Access to tertiary education is limited in many parts of the Arab world, so the instant I am told a personal story of how a scholarship I funded has impacted the life of a student and their family, I feel urged to do more. An important factor I try to consider on every level of giving is sustainability. How can I help people to help themselves, as opposed to the type of philanthropy that has temporary resolve? When considering a charity I look into its track record and data. However, I also ask myself: with the right skills and tools, how are charities able to develop long-term solutions to local problems and how do they empower the recipient? I think of this as Charity 2.0.
Assessing a social enterprise is no different to analysing any business, but with key extra factors of social and environmental impact. I get excited when I see entrepreneurs have passion, focus and depth of understanding of their market. Entrepreneurs with exciting social impact ideas need to show good business acumen and have a business strategy with solid qualitative and quantitative factors – I like to see scalable activities, simplicity and direct impact. The enterprise must have financial strength, a growth path and sustainability. What worries me is a scattered and complex strategy and an overconfident entrepreneur that doesn’t take advice. Their passion must be coupled with strong leadership and management expertise.
I focus on two core areas when assessing opportunities. First is impact. The ideas need to be gamechangers, with the potential to help millions of the world’s poorest access services and products that improve health, education and income generation. We know it may take a long time, but scalable models are crucial. Second, it is all about the people. There will be failures as technologies and models adapt to true market needs, but a strong founding team with conviction, courage and competence is key. We look at their track record, their ability to recruit talent, their awareness of their weaknesses and their ‘skin in the game’. We are in it for the long haul, so we look for people who live and breathe to solve a world challenge.
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DIARY
ABDUL AZIZ AL GHURAIR C HAIR M AN, BOAR D OF TRUS TE E S, AB DU LL A AL G H U R AIR FOUN DATION FOR E DUCATION As our business has grown we can start to institutionalise philanthropic activities. For those activities to be successful, you have to approach it like any business and look for gaps in support. Education is critical for the success of the Middle East region. We did a survey to find out where best we could act. We found the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are understudied and, where offered, are of relatively low quality. Therefore, there is a deep shortage of quality engineers and scientists. We know the market may change over time, supply and demand will change, so we may have to modify our actions accordingly. Still, we need more philanthropists to come forward and talk about their successes. We hope to foster stories of students who attain great things, in the hope they can grow a culture of philanthropy. R I C H A R D H AW K E S C EO, TH E B R ITI S H ASIAN TRUST I am always attracted to initiatives that feel different or risky – projects that might have difficulties securing support. The two most important things I look for are vision and leadership. When it comes to vision, I want to understand the positive social change that will be achieved. What is going to change? How will the world be a better place if we’re successful? This is much more important than just counting the numbers of people who will be affected. On leadership I want to see passion and honesty. Can you articulate clearly the value proposition in a way I can understand? Don’t overpromise or exaggerate. Be bold and ambitious, but be realistic about the challenges, too.
KEY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY EVENTS FOR THE NEXT QUARTER LONDON
WA S H I N G T O N D C
SAN FRANCISCO
J U LY 4 - 6 Billed as Europe’s largest event for professional fundraisers, the three-day Fundraising Convention 2016 aims to bring together 2,500 people to discuss the latest trends in the charitable sphere, including digital fundraising, individual giving and philanthropy.
S E P T E M B E R 7- 8 The AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit promises to gather UN, government, NGO and private sector representatives to explore practical solutions to a growing roster of crises. The event this year focuses on logistics, transport and procurement.
S E P T E M B E R 13 -16 SOCAP16 seeks to unite entrepreneurs, investors and foundations to discuss new challenges and opportunities in impact investing and social enterprise. Over three days, this event will examine innovation in urban areas, clean energy and agriculture.
SYDNEY
C H I C AG O
DULLES
S E P T E M B E R 21- 2 2 Philanthropy Australia’s biennial conference promises a line-up of global philanthropists and strategists. Titled Evolution or Revolution, the event seeks to examine what the sector needs to do to stay ahead of the game in a changing society.
S E P T E M B E R 2 6 -2 8 Exponent Philanthropy’s biennial national conference is designed for foundations and philanthropic families with few or no staff. The event aims to attract some 1,000 donors to swap lessons and meet other professionals to boost giving.
S E P T E M B E R 2 6 -2 8 The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs’ annual conference targets its investor, foundation, banking and corporate members. The event seeks to help organisations support entrepreneurship in emerging markets.
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GLOBAL EYE
NEW MONEY IT’S NO SECRET that the Middle East is grappling with vast humanitarian problems. The good news is that local philanthropists are increasingly stepping up to help address these woes; and in doing so, are fast catching up with their peers around the world. Giving in the Middle East surged the most last year
compared to the US, Asia and Europe, where it stayed largely flat. An annual global index of philanthropy found that unrest in the region has lit a spark under donors and encouraged people to dedicate more resources through financial and in-kind giving. The rise in the sums given by Arab donors, how much they talk
GOAL-ORIENTATED IMPACT INVESTING AND collaborative philanthropy are seen as the top two methods for driving results, according to donors polled by the study. Yet this contrasts with preferred modes of giving; most said earmarked gifts were the most effective form of donation. Estimates of how much will be dedicated to impact investing globally by 2020 range from $400bn to $3 trillion. Still, these forecasts pale next to traditional investments – some $102 trillion in assets by 2020 – meaning socially-guided finance has a way to catch up.
DRIVING RESULTS: WHAT WORKS? Earmarked gifts
49%
Programme-related investments
45%
Mission-related investments
35%
Unrestricted gifts to charity
34%
Restricted gifts
33%
Blended capital
17%
Capital projects
14% *Source: 2016 BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Index
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GLOBAL EYE
these factors. Despite ups and downs, the Middle East’s score has climbed from 33.2 in 2013 to 42.8 in the latest index, inching it closer to the leaders of the poll – US donors with 54.6. American philanthropists look set to keep the top spot, too. Almost 40 per cent of those polled plan to leave at least
about giving, and how effectively they spend their charitable dollars, is helping them close in on philanthropists in the other three regions, found the 2016 BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Index. The annual study of more than 450 high-net-worth individuals scores each region out of 100, based on
one-third of their fortune to charity, compared to 13 per cent in the Middle East. Yet what donors of all stripes have in common is ambition. Some 68 per cent want to wipe out the problem they are tackling completely, said the study. For philanthropists around the world, the fight goes on.
OLD WORLD, NEW WORLD MIDDLE EAST PHILANTHROPISTS surged ahead in their giving last year. Spurred on by local crises, the region’s donors scored 42.8 out of 100 in the 2016 index, their highest score since 2013.
HOW THE MIDDLE EAST’S DONORS FARED
33.2
29.4
30.3
42.8
2013
2014
2015
2016
TALKING THE TALK THE US AND Middle East rank similarly when it comes to publicising their giving – badly. Donors in the two regions are loathe to blow their own horns and score 5.9 and 6.7 out of 25, respectively. The reluctance to promote philanthropy – using traditional or social media – stems from faith being a primary driver of giving and the attitude of modesty it creates, the study found. No region excels, however, with top ranked Europe still far off the maximum score of 25 with 8.1 points, despite the huge humanitarian need on its doorstep.
In Europe the outlook was not so rosy. Donors dropped 3.8 points – down to 51.7 – due to lower levels of giving; a result of Europe’s economic malaise rather than a falling desire to do good, said the study.
TOP MOTIVATION FOR GIVING, BY REGION
52%
43%
US Personal experience
58%
47%
EUROPE Sense of duty
MIDDLE EAST Faith
ASIA Desire to give back to society
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ONE DAY
‘YOU CARRY ON BECAUSE YOU’RE SAVING SOMEBODY ELSE’S LIFE’ British surgeon David Nott has spent two decades operating on thousands of people in war zones, making life and death decisions under fire. Now he hopes to pass his hard-earned skills on to a small army of frontline volunteers W R I T E R S S T U A R T M AT T H E W S A N D A D R I E N N E C E R N I G O I
T
here’s a simple reason why I keep going back: I feel sorry for those caught up in conflict. Everyone needs access to healthcare, and I try to be the person to provide it. I first volunteered in the besieged city of Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1993 after seeing TV coverage of the conflict. What happened to me there changed my life. I’ve worked in conflict and catastrophe zones ever since: from Liberia and Darfur, to Haiti, Syria and Yemen. In places wracked by war or natural disaster, there are few surgical provisions. There are limited blood supplies, few drugs and no diagnostic aids to speak of, so you rely on your medical skill. Yet, in war, most of the senior surgeons will have fled and it is the junior medics who are left behind. They may know basic surgical techniques, but they are faced with the most difficult wounds imaginable, from gunshots, snipers, IEDs and mines. I take part in up to three missions a year with bodies such as Syria Relief,
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Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). I go for three weeks at most if it is a really hot war zone; six weeks if the frontline is further away. If there are no casualties from the night before, my day starts around 7am, with a security briefing at 7.30am. I take an hour to visit patients and from 9am there are either new patients to see in the clinic or, if there are casualties in the emergency room, I begin operating. I can be doing that all day and sometimes all night. At my longest stretch, I operated for 22 hours. You forget the time, although you’re absolutely worn out. You carry on because you’re saving somebody else’s life – and somebody else and somebody else. You sleep where and when you can. In quieter periods, I teach. In Syria, for example, there are lots of junior surgeons who are not particularly well trained. They accompany me in the operating room and we do the surgery together. I show them first, and then they
pick up the knife, scissors and forceps. Speed and accuracy are very important. I teach techniques to limit blood loss, and quick procedures. You get very engrossed in surgery – even though you are in a war zone, your mind is utterly focused on the job at hand. War surgery is all to do with decisionmaking. There isn’t enough time or resources to treat everyone. You need the insight to see what the problem is and how you could treat it. But you also need foresight; to think ahead to after the operation – is there an intensive care unit? Is the patient going to have chest problems as a result? If there are likely to be post-operative complications, then the right thing is not to start at all. You need to preserve blood and provisions for people with injuries you can possibly save. You have to be unemotional. If you become emotional you can’t make rational decisions. But sometimes it is impossible, such as when a child comes in very badly blown up and there is nothing you can do. In war zones, you just have to hope you will be among the lucky ones who come back. So far, I’ve been that person. Five of my colleagues in Aleppo were killed going from hospital to hospital. You must always have your wits about you and be extremely neutral. While in Aleppo, a group of ISIS fighters came into surgery with their Kalashnikovs and surrounded the table as I was operating on one of their group who had a gunshot wound to the chest. It was very tense. I just had to try and ignore them and continue. You are a humanitarian surgeon there to save lives – not to be political or pass judgement. Sometimes the difficulties are more prosaic, such as getting sick yourself. If you need to go to the toilet every 20 minutes while trying to operate that is very challenging; never mind the bombs in the distance. In 2014, I treated a 4-year-old boy injured by a barrel bomb in Aleppo. It took out all the blood vessels in his lower leg and foot. It would have been
ONE DAY
“You have to hope you will be among the lucky ones who come back. So far, I’ve been that person”
easy to amputate, but all the surgeons got together and I showed them how to take a vein from one leg, make it into an artery and put it into the damaged leg, and then cover it with a plastic surgical skin flap. It was a very difficult operation. But we saved his leg and he was walking in two months. The Syrian surgeons sent me a Whatsapp picture of him playing football – what a fantastic feeling. The idea for the foundation came in 2011, when I was in Libya. The surgeons were struggling to manage the very severe injuries that came in, so I held lectures and courses, and this gave rise to the idea of training surgeons for the frontline. The David Nott Foundation launched in February. We offer a course three times a year at the UK’s Royal College of Surgeons, and around 30 surgeons from all over the world attend to learn 50 operations they will need in war or
01
disaster situations. Most volunteer with MSF and ICRC. The course is $2,000 and the foundation aims to pay for those who can’t afford it. I also run a three-day satellite course that takes the training to local surgeons. The course is free for participants, but costs the foundation around $20,000 to run. In April, we ran one in Gaziantep, Turkey, for 30 Syrian surgeons. Yemen and Jordan are planned for later this year. People put their hands up for humanitarian work but few do it where it is needed most – on the frontlines. It is the local doctors and surgeons who are left to manage. I hope to help them.
02
01 David Nott has launched his own foundation to train volunteer and local surgeons in war surgery 02 Hospitals, including those of aid agency MSF, are increasingly coming under attack in conflict zones
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COMMENT
GOING IT ALONE Entrepreneurship could be a partial answer to the GCC’s vast youth unemployment crisis, says Qais Al-Khonji – but only if more is done to smooth the path for startups
G 01
Qais Al-Khonji is an Omani businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Qais United and Genesis International, and a vocal advocate for Omani entrepreneurs and SMEs. He was named ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ for Oman in 2015 by Business Worldwide magazine
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ulf economies are evolving. From Saudi Arabia’s sweeping reforms, to my native Oman, where plans are in play to halve the country’s dependence on oil by 2020, the push for diversified economic growth leads every regional agenda. But just as critical as the rush for economic growth is the task of fixing our youth unemployment crisis. Across the GCC, growing numbers of young Arabs are struggling to secure a job, and find their place in society. The region’s future depends on accelerating job creation – and it’s my belief that entrepreneurship forms part of the answer. Around the world, innovative startups are an engine of growth. In the right hands, they are a tool to slash unemployment, to spur job creation, and to deliver opportunity to our best and brightest graduates. But we all – both private and public sector – must do more to smooth the path, and help entrepreneurs to move ahead. If the GCC is to be a hub for startups, the process begins with government policies.
Encouragement in the form of funds offering seed or startup capital, and an effort to strip out the red tape and difficulties that can plague the commercial environment will be key to fostering a culture of entrepreneurship. Streamlined licensing and one-stop startup shops could act as a spur. In Oman, we are conservative in how we look at a business’ ratio of expatriate workers to locals. That can constrain any startup that requires employees with certain skillsets – ones that may not be readily available in the local market. It is a chicken and egg situation. Easing these regulations, where necessary, could help to spark new and scalable businesses in previously untapped industry sectors – which in turn could lead to significantly greater employment of nationals. Governments might also consider offering incentives to public sector staff toying with the idea of going it alone. Sabbaticals would allow employees to dip a toe in the market, and try to build a
business without forfeiting their job. In this way, budding entrepreneurs could be given a chance to prove themselves and create a potentially successful business. Targeting state employees could also open gaps in the existing labour market, for new graduates to fill. Not all startups are created equal. Mass job creation won’t happen by encouraging young Arabs to open businesses
“Arguments rage over if entrepreneurs are born or made; for me, it is a skillset that must be taught”
in the food and beverage or lifestyle sectors. There is great appeal in these cash-led, easy to understand operations, which require minimal seed funding. But their capacity for scale is strictly limited. To create new ventures with the potential to grow rapidly, we must encourage entrepreneurs to look to sectors such as oil and gas, manufacturing or
01 University is too late to raise the issue of entrepreneurship, says Al-Khonji 02 Around one third of Middle East youth are unemployed, according to the UN
COMMENT
fast-moving technologies – whether that means disrupting the status quo with new ideas, or helping to make established companies more innovative and competitive. The drawbacks to such operations include securing the capital needed to begin, and the longer timescales required before seeing a return on investment. Encouraging banks to extend lending to SMEs, or forming state-backed funds to aid entrepreneurs, are both ways of loosening credit lines to these potentially critical businesses. Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, is that of creating entrepreneurs in the first place. Arguments rage over whether entrepreneurs are born or made: for me, I believe it is a skillset that can, and must, be taught. Graduates in the GCC typically weigh two options when they enter the labour market: whether to join the private sector, or the public sector. We must help them see that there
02
is a third option – but this will require a shakeup of the region’s education sector, to put entrepreneurship firmly on the curricula. The right time to raise the subject of entrepreneurship is not at university; it is at school. During the final three years of high school, I would like to see Oman, and other GCC countries, teach students
about launching and running their own businesses. From financial skills, to operational management, to marketing, this subject would ensure graduates leave school with a basic understanding of business. The course could integrate with core subjects already in the curriculum and culminate in a small project, or even a trial startup business, or offer students the potential to intern within existing companies. Even as we educate our youth about the potential of entrepreneurship they also need to learn to overcome significant hurdles. Our economies are monopolised by large, family brands, and it gives entrepreneurs very little space to grow. If you are limited to certain levels of capital, bigger players will always have the money to buy whatever you bought, or take
your agency through the power of their name and stature. Lack of payment is another issue. Carrying the cost of doing business with large organisations can hurt a small business’ cash flow and shrink its lifespan. Entrepreneurship is not an easy path. It is for this reason that we must instill confidence and ambition in our youth. They are faced with a labour market where the pace of job creation does not match the need for employment; where the oil price is in flux and the social contracts that have long been in place in the GCC are shifting. It is a time of change – but also one where we have the opportunity to create a truly bright, sustainable future for the generations to come. High-growth entrepreneurship will be a vital piece of this process. I hope we can all do our part.
19
BIG PICTURE ROME, ITALY PHOTOGRAPHER – A R AL-BAKER
It was a meeting of two worlds, with one aim: to spread hope through education. On 4th June, Qatar’s Sheikha Moza bint Nasser met Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi. The visit to Rome highlighted the plight of refugees and particularly children, whose futures must emerge from the rubble of their schools destroyed by fighting. Between 2009 and 2012 some 30 countries were affected by attacks on schools. Education has become a battleground, said Sheikha Moza. “When refugees are asked what they want above all else, there is a common answer: education,” she said. “They recognise the lifeline that education gives.”
BIG PICTURE
21
PHILANTHROPY AGE
IDEAS TO CHANGE THE WORLD He is the world’s richest man, and now he is its most influential philanthropist. Bill Gates talks giving, the Gulf, and his plan to help combat poverty in the Muslim world WRITER JOANNE BLADD
O
01
f the 1 billion people worldwide existing in extreme penury, 40 per cent live in the Muslim world. For these stricken households, life may be looking up. Last June, to little fuss, Bill Gates, cofounder of the world’s wealthiest private foundation, and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) unveiled a $2.5bn fund aimed at hoisting some 400 million people over the poverty line, and out of destitution. “We have the expertise, and IBD knows how to get things done in the region,” Gates says of the partnership. “Those are really the things that count.” The plan hinges on cheap loans. Over five years, the IDB will disburse $2bn
to projects in health, agriculture and infrastructure in the 30 poorest Muslim countries. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is raising $500m in grants to trim the interest payments on these loans and put them in reach of the most impoverished states, chipping in $100m itself. The IBDbacked Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development has pitched in a further $100m, while Qatar in April put in $50m. Gates, beating the drum for further donors, hailed it as “an incredible opportunity for anyone who cares about driving social change”. “It’s a pretty significant fund,” he says today. “I’m hopeful.”
23
PHILANTHROPY AGE
01
At 60, Gates is still seeking out new frontiers. A Harvard dropout, he made his name as a tech titan, building the world’s first software fortune in the totemic Microsoft Corp. The company listed in 1986 and within a year, Gates, at 31, had become the youngest selfmade billionaire. He stepped down in 2008, as one of the world’s richest men, to devote his time to the foundation launched eight years earlier with his wife, Melinda. Today, BMGF is the world’s biggest private philanthropic foundation, doling out close to $4bn a year to causes as diverse as education, sanitation and women’s health, in the pursuit of battling poverty and disease. By all accounts, Gates is the most influential philanthropist on the planet. For all involved, it’s been a rapid ride. The foundation’s approach is catalytic philanthropy; or seeding high-risk innovations that could offer outsized
24
payoffs for some of the world’s biggest social and economic ills. This giving exists in the gap between government and market forces and its role – as Gates explains it – “is to get things started” where others can’t, or won’t. “The goal of philanthropy is to be a laboratory of innovation for breakthrough work; to have that willingness to think about things,” he says. Malaria is a case in point. The mosquito-borne disease killed 438,000 people in 2015, mostly children under the age of five. There are 200 million cases of the illness each year. Yet because its victims are mainly poor, there has been little appetite for finding a breakthrough vaccine. The BMGF is changing this. The foundation has funnelled millions of dollars into efforts to eradicate the disease, most recently in January
“The goal of philanthropy is to be a laboratory of innovation for breakthrough work; to think about things” unveiling a $4.28bn fund with the British government. Its end goal is audacious: a malaria-free world by 2040. BMGF is not without its critics. Some argue the foundation has disproportionate sway: with its $40bn clout, it can skew the thrust of research and aid priorities, potentially smothering rival approaches. In answer, BMGF points to its transparency, and its close ties to the myriad governments, nonprofits 01 Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been a key partner to the Gates Foundation in the battle to eradicate polio 02 The foundation’s aim is to seed high-risk innovations that offer big payoffs, such as investing in ways to tackle the mosquito-borne disease, malaria
PHILANTHROPY AGE
and partners that help drive its giving priorities. “The way that people can hold us accountable is to look at what we’ve achieved,” CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann told the FT in March. Moving the needle takes more than just money. Gates has brought the same unflinching intellect to bear on philanthropy as he did business. From rethinking the vaccine cold chain, to reinventing the toilet, no issue is too mundane or unglamorous to escape scrutiny, if the gains are big enough. (Meeting the press after a 2011 meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-president Christian Wulff, Gates memorably told waiting journalists they had not talked politics, but instead had discussed the idea of the “ultimate toilet”.) And BMGF’s goals, rather like its budget, are huge. Its vaccine strategy calls for the global rollout of existing, lifesaving jabs – from rotavirus to measles – to all people, in all communities by 2020. The plan, which has the backing of 194 countries, has the potential to prevent more than 11
02
More than
70%
of the world’s unvaccinated children live in just 10 countries
GETTING TO ZERO
BMGF annual grant payments (US$bn) 2015
$4.2bn
$3.9bn
2014
$3.6bn
2013
$3.2bn
2012
$0 bn
1
2
3
4
5
This year, the world may see its last case of polio. Against all odds, a virus that as recently as 1988 blazed its way through 150 countries is teetering on eradication. Just 12 cases have been recorded worldwide so far this year, in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The global campaign to combat polio has been in play since 1998, and BMGF became its lead donor in 2004. Since then, thanks to mass vaccination and surveillance campaigns, the virus has been wiped out in India, with Nigeria also on course to be declared polio-free. “A victory here wouldn’t only mean that we’d go from 300,000 kids a year being paralysed to zero,” says Gates. “It would also mean our confidence that now we can go after malaria, measles and other diseases would be greatly enhanced.” The GCC has been key to this battle. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have all invested in the global eradication effort, with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi donating $100m to vaccinate children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At a 2013 summit held in the UAE capital, donors pledged a mammoth $4bn to fund a six-year eradication plan. “We’re willing to be aggressive on the spending,” says Gates. “And absent a surprise, with a little bit of luck, the last case will be sometime next year.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
Universal vaccine coverage by 2020 could prevent:
250 200 150 100 50 0 million
11
million deaths
3.9
million disabilities
264
million illnesses
million people dying worldwide and some 3.9 million disabilities. In sub-Saharan Africa, it wants to ignite a green revolution. Taking its lead from the post-war shake-up that transformed agriculture in Asia, BMGF believes farmers in Africa could, with
01
26
the right help, bolster their productivity by 50 per cent. By 2030, the continent could feed itself – scrapping a food import bill that currently weighs in at $50bn a year. “Africa’s agricultural productivity is currently a sixth of the United States’ and getting it up to half is very doable,” says Gates. “That’s how you get rid of malnutrition; that’s how you feed the world. That’s how you raise incomes to help parents to pay for school fees.” The foundation has spun more than $2bn into helping small farmers beef up crop yields and earnings, and gain better access to markets. Ideas it has backed range from snazzy hybrid seeds able to resist disease and drought, to systems able to deliver vital data on soil, livestock, prices and more to farmers’ mobile phones. Then there is the issue of persuading states to repair shoddy roads, and fund vital infrastructure projects. It currently costs up to four times as much to move
“The generosity in the Gulf is very, very strong. But some of it tends to favour the pure charity side” goods along roads in Africa as it does in developed nations. Fixing these bottlenecks could do far more than aid alone to reverse poverty and encourage inclusive economic growth. “If you can manage to get health and education and stability right, then you get miracles like China where they lifted more people out of poverty between 1980 and today than any country ever has,” adds Gates. “What we see in Africa is very encouraging.” Saving the world is not a one-man job. Coaxing others into the fray is critical. In 2010, Gates and his wife, along with Warren Buffett, launched the Giving Pledge, a campaign that asks billionaires to donate at least half their wealth to charity. Some 154 pledgers have joined to date – from the UK’s Richard Branson, to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – taking up the cudgels against global challenges. “Some have been giving for decades and others are just starting out, but they all see the value of giving in a bold and effective way,” Gates says. In June, Saudi Arabian royal Prince Alwaleed joined their ranks, the first Arab Muslim to do so. Less than a year earlier he’d pledged to give his $32bn fortune to charity via his foundation,
01 B ill Gates and Kuwait parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim, during a visit to the Gulf state last year 02 Gates launched the Giving Pledge in 2010. To date, 154 billionaires have joined the campaign 03 B MGF is the world’s biggest private philanthropic organisation, giving out close to $4bn a year to causes ranging from education to sanitation
PHILANTHROPY AGE
Alwaleed Philanthropies, citing Gates as a major influence. He joins two other GCC residents – entrepreneur Sunny Varkey and PNC Menon, the Dubaibased founder of Sobha Group – on the list, in a sign many hope infers a new pattern of strategic, big-ticket giving among the GCC’s super rich. “The generosity in the Gulf is very, very strong,” says Gates. “But some of it tends to favour the pure charity side. The willingness to be open about what is being done – to encourage others to do it, to share what is going well and what is not – I think there is a trend in that direction, and I hope we’re helping to push that forward.” This trend matters. By Forbes’ lights, the Middle East is home to 72 of the world’s richest people, worth a combined $174.8bn. Yet few have created the kind of large-scale endowments that go hand-in-hand with bold, long-view philanthropy. If more did, it could go some way towards fuelling the fight against maladies such as poverty, unemployment and disease, which blight many Muslim states. Achieving
03
02
a measure of economic stability in these countries, says Gates, could work wonders. “There’s no doubt that as countries move up to middle-income level, and as you end extreme poverty, you won’t see this level of instability,” he notes. “It’s a journey – but there’s still decades to go to get there.” The $2.5bn Lives and Livelihood Fund launched by BMGF and IDB may be a
“As you end extreme
poverty, you won’t see this level of instability”
blueprint for future tie-ups, pairing regional capital with the foundation’s philanthropic expertise. And already, the roots of catalytic giving are beginning to bloom. Last year, the UAE’s Abdullah Al-Ghurair gave more than $1bn – a third of his business empire – to a foundation supporting education in the Arab world. BMGF itself is part of the Shefa Fund, a giving initiative backed by Saudi’s elite, which aids global health projects. The fund, led by businessman Khaled Ahmed Al Juffali and his wife, Olfat, supports the creation of low-cost vaccines and treatments for diseases that impact the very poor. As this form of impact-led investment gathers pace, the returns for the Middle East region – both in social and economic terms – could be gamechanging. “There is a trend towards more philanthropy, better philanthropy and philanthropists learning from each other,” Gates says. “I’m very happy to be a part of it, and to see it grow.”
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THE YOU T H VOTE
What do young Arabs want? Stability, jobs and personal freedom, according to a poll of the region’s youth WRITER JOANNE BLADD
PHILANTHROPY AGE
I
n the Arab world, youth matters. More than half of the region’s population is under the age of 25, and it is this generation that will shape the direction of the Middle East. The eighth annual Arab Youth Survey offers a snapshot of this future. The survey – carried out in early 2016 by Penn Schoen Berland, on behalf of Asda’a Burson-Marsteller – polled
3,500 young adults aged 18 to 24 in 16 countries, on topics ranging from fears of economic decline, to issues of security, to women’s rights. From Saudi Arabia, to Morocco and Yemen, the resulting poll is a barometer for the aspirations of the MENA region’s more than 100 million teens and young adults. Here is what they had to say:
Opportunity cost
How concerned are you about falling energy prices?
Fear of economic hardship is a common thread across the Arab world, where youth joblessness is the highest globally. Some 66 per cent of Arab youth admitted to concern over falling oil prices, up from 52 per cent in 2015. Despite this, 78 per cent believe they are still entitled to energy subsidies and any cuts should only affect expatriate residents. “For the Middle East as a whole, the economic prospects have dimmed significantly,” Christian
Koch, director of the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center Foundation, said of the findings. As a result, many Arab states are eyeing subsidy cuts and tax increases, and increasing their efforts in economic diversification. “All of this is happening in a region where more than half of the population is under the age of 25,” he said. “Governments will have to adjust to the fact that today’s youth seek not only economic but also political opportunities.”
80 5
15
29 All
54 39 7
Not concerned
Don’t know
Non-OPEC countries
If your government were to stop subsidising energy, electricity and transport fuel, do you think the subsidies should be removed for...
Do you think energy, electricity and transport fuel such as gasoline and diesel should be subsidised by your government?
Yes
49%
9% 13%
OPEC countries 66
Concerned
78%
5
Don’t Know
37%
No Only expatriates
Both nationals and expatriates
29
PHILANTHROPY AGE
Stability first
“Following the Arab Spring, I feel the Arab world is better off”
There is growing disillusionment among young Arabs with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. In 2016, only 36 per cent of young people said they felt the Arab world was in better shape following the upheaval, down from 72 per cent in 2012. Of the 16 countries in the poll, only Egypt was felt to be better positioned after its uprising. More than half of teens and young adults agreed that maintaining stability was more important than promoting democracy. In 2011, 92 per cent of Arab youth said “living in a democracy” was their most cherished wish. Young Arabs again picked the UAE as their top country to live in, with 22 per cent of votes, followed by the US. The GCC state is seen by youth as a country that is secure, and a good place to start a business.
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the statement? All countries (% in agreement) 72
The four Arab Spring countries (% in agreement)
70
54
38
36
2015
2016
50
Egypt
61
35
Tunisia
24
37
Libya
14
6
2012
2013
2014
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the statement?
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the statement?
GCC
19
Levant & Yemen 53
North Africa
28 Agree
80
Kuwait UAE
Egypt
87
30
90
Saudi Arabia
87
Disagree
62 36
23 43
58
15 21
18
24
Unsure/ Don’t know
Unfinished business 76
(Top six states with the highest percentage in agreement)
2016
“Given the current circumstances in the Middle East, promoting stability in the region is more important than promoting democracy”
“Arab leaders should do more to improve the personal freedom and human rights of women”
80
18
Yemen
2015
Yemen
Oman
Two-thirds of young Arabs want their leaders to do more to improve their personal freedoms and to safeguard human rights, particularly for the women in their country. In Saudi Arabia – where the female labour force participation rate is just 20 per cent – 90 per cent of respondents said leaders should do more to aid women. In Oman, Yemen and the UAE, 87 per cent and 76 per cent respectively lent their support to women’s rights.
PHILANTHROPY AGE
Fighting back A chronic lack of jobs and economic hardship is seen to be the primary recruitment driver for ISIS. More than 20 per cent of Arab youth said widespread unemployment helped to draw people to ISIS, with youth in half the countries polled citing it as a bigger factor than religious extremism.
But while half of teens and young people saw ISIS as the biggest problem currently facing the Middle East, the survey tracked a steep decline in support for its message. Just 13 per cent of young Arabs could imagine supporting the extremist group, down from 19 per cent in 2015. The vast majority, 76 per cent,
believes ISIS will fail in creating a caliphate in the Arab world. “Daesh exploits existing problems,” said Hassan Hassab, a resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. “Daesh is a symptom of a growing disease that needs to be tackled, and not just the disease itself.”
What do you believe is the biggest obstacle facing the Middle East? (%)
22 13
17
Lack of opportunities for women
1
Don’t know
1
Other
23
Lack of democracy
Rise of Daesh
Unemployment
Rising cost of living
PalestinianIsrael conflict
50
36
30
The threat of a nuclear Iran
16
Slow economic growth
How concerned would you say you are about the rise of Daesh?
17
22
Loss of traditional values
25
Lack of Arab unity
34
Lack of strong political leadership
38
Civil unrest
Threat of terrorism
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the statement?
“If Daesh did not use so much violence, I could see myself supporting it”
“Daesh will ultimately establish an Islamic State in the Arab world”
22% Not concerned
9
1%
9
13
15
Don’t know Agree Disagree 78
77%
76
Unsure/ don’t know
Concerned 9
50%
are very concerned
4 13
72 89 76
19 7 11
GCC Levant & Yemen North Africa
19 7
71 87
17
71
10 6 12
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
A NEW SCHOOL OF THOUGHT In July last year UAE businessman Abdulla Al Ghurair announced he would donate $1.1bn to creating one of the largest privately-funded philanthropic education initiatives in the world. Together with his son Abdul Aziz and other family members, Abdulla is institutionalising his giving and laying down a blueprint for change that will affect more than 15,000 students, helping to address the needs of young people and employers across the Arab world
WRITER ANDREW WHITE
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
I
n the early 1960s when Abdulla Al Ghurair built his first school, he did so in the foothills of Fujairah, an emirate known more for its jagged mountains than the glass-and-steel skylines of other UAE emirates. The Masafi School was built beside the Al Ghurair family farm and attracted students from all over the country. Although it was open for less than a decade, the UAE’s first boarding school counts cabinet ministers and business leaders among its alumni. Today it is still possible to spy the old school, a handful of concrete buildings bounded by scratched-dirt roads, from the farmstead. Yet Abdulla’s perspective has shifted fundamentally in the halfcentury since that facility opened. His gaze is now fastened firmly on longlasting change, on a legacy that will stand for far more than just the sum of his past. In July last year Abdulla announced that he would donate one third of his wealth, amounting to an estimated $1.1bn, to education in the Arab world, over a 10-year period. The Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE) would take a systematic approach to tackling one of the region’s greatest challenges. It would strive to improve education standards across the region, through offering scholarships enabling a minimum of 15,000 promising Arab youth from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue quality higher education. “The first Quranic verse that descended on Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said ‘Read’,” notes Abdulla today. “The foundation did not stem from a dream but from my faith, and it is Islam that urges me to do good on this journey. “The formation of our identity begins with education; education is where it all starts,” he continues. “It is a necessity and other charitable causes don’t have the same vast potential.” Abdulla will not carry this fight alone: AGFE is a family affair and one intended
to enshrine a culture of giving within future generations of Al Ghurairs. Abdulla’s son Abdul Aziz, CEO of Mashreq bank and a former Speaker of the House of the UAE’s Federal National Council, is chair of the foundation’s board of trustees. He is the man charged with ensuring that his father’s vision becomes reality for a new tranche of Arab youth – those with the potential to become either the region’s greatest asset, or liability. “As a region, education will be the key to our future and to any success we might enjoy,” says Abdul Aziz. “We don’t want to focus on anything else but that. And we don’t want to do anything else except give bright young people access to the best education in the world.” Within that remit, the foundation is concentrating on areas of study that will enable students to match the needs of employers across the Arab world. Graduates of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects are in acute demand, and so AGFE is channelling its efforts into that space in a bid to peel back youth unemployment, which stood near 30 per cent in the Middle East in 2014, according to the World Bank. “We need to make sure that all of our candidates graduate in subjects that are needed by their nation and the region, so that they can contribute to building and supporting the region,” says Abdul Aziz. “We want our scholars not only to be successful and leaders of the future, but also to give back. I hope that the beneficiaries today will be in a position to help others in the future.” Father and son are alike in frame and bearing: tall, imposing, and each disposed to long moments of stillness, as if observing their surroundings with an
01 Abdulla Al Ghurair and his son, Abdul Aziz, hope to achieve a lasting legacy of education for Arab youth
“The foundation did not
stem from a dream but from my faith, and it is Islam that urges me to do good on this journey” analytical eye – a characteristic honed, perhaps, through lives spent charting the myriad complexities of the business and banking worlds. Their studied demeanour is reflected in the foundation’s approach, which is committed to maximum impact and minimal overheads: every dollar must count towards an education. “My father was initially of the view that we shouldn’t announce the work of the foundation and continue to work discreetly, away from the spotlight,” recalls Abdul Aziz. “However this is a huge undertaking: how can we get 15,000 students within 10 years without announcing or promoting the initiative? My father agreed that the work should be institutionalised, and accordingly we now have a foundation that is run by a CEO just like any of our other enterprises.” To fill this role the family turned to Maysa Jalbout, an expert in education for sustainable development. Before joining AGFE, Jalbout was founding CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development, where she spent five years working to improve opportunities for young people in Jordan. “We’ve made a commitment to ensure that impact and assessment is embedded in the way we are set up, in the way we design the programmes, and the way we function as an organisation,” says Jalbout. “We have hired a monitoring and evaluation expert and we have rooted it in our operational plan: results will inform not only board decisions but how we review our programmes and change them on a regular basis to respond to the needs of students.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
The foundation will support students through three distinct channels. The STEM Scholars programme will fund undergraduate and graduate students wishing to study at leading universities in the region and abroad: if they have the talent and the application, AGFE will provide the means. The Young Thinkers programme, which has yet to launch, will cater exclusively to Emirati students completing their high school education and transitioning to university. Finally, the Open Learning programme will allow students from anywhere across the region to study at top accredited universities through online degrees and credentials. Applications for the first cohort of STEM Scholars closed in June; the foundation received more than 14,500 submissions in five weeks. Those who have been successful will be notified in August, though the final award of the scholarship will depend on the student securing admission to one of four universities with which the foundation has partnered so far: American University in Cairo, American University of Sharjah, American University of Beirut, and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. The foundation has also signed a collaboration agreement with the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to expand access to and use of accredited digital learning environments. MIT, through its Office of Digital Learning, will provide academic
01
01 Youth unemployment in the Arab world was more than 29 per cent in 2014, says the World Bank 02 Maysa Jalbout, CEO of AGFE, spent five years steering Jordan’s youth towards a better future 03 Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, chair of AGFE’s board of trustees, will drive the foundation’s agenda 04 Father and son reminisce over the legacy of Masafi School, the first education establishment set up by Abdulla Al Ghurair in the 1960s in Fujairah
“As a region, education
will be the key to our future and to any success we might enjoy”
credentials to Open Learning students across the region. The promise of this collaboration has encouraged AGFE to issue an open invitation to academic institutions to pitch innovative ideas to
34
02
tackle some of the challenges with which Arab youth are faced. Take refugees: conflict in the region has forced 13 million children out of school, according to a 2015 UNICEF report; find a new way to deliver quality education to some of those displaced millions, and the foundation will provide support to pilot and scale. “Secondary education is not enough in today’s world if we’re going to get ahead, innovate, and be able to compete on a global level,” says Jalbout. “We know for a fact there is a hunger among Arab youth to learn, to go to universities that provide higher quality education, and for students who have been through the cycle, to upgrade their skills so they can attain the jobs of the future. Scholarships are becoming an increasingly important tool for achieving those things.” Successful applicants, Jalbout says, will be possessed of a spirit familiar to Abdulla and the family. “We’ve clearly articulated that hard work is essential in success and we’re looking for young people who want to work hard and aspire to big things,” she says. “That’s an ethos that has come directly from the family and we hope to pass on to as many young people as possible.” “I remember in the 1960s when [my father] was giving zakat he would do it himself, going from door to door and handing it directly to people,” recalls Abdul Aziz. “He made sure that my
PHILANTHROPY AGE
“In the region there are many good people who wish to help others”
03
brother and I came with him to see what he was doing and to learn about the importance of charity.” It is a message that has been passed down the generations. In summer 2015 Abdul Aziz’s daughters volunteered to travel to Zanzibar in Tanzania, East Africa, to work at an orphanage and in
schools on the island. Word spread among their friends and fellow students, and in the end around 50 young people made the trip. “I was shocked that so many would do something like this,” he says. “But I realise that in the region there are many good people who wish to help others.
They need a role model and I believe that in institutionalising his giving like this, my father can be that role model. Today I am blessed to have a father like him, not only one who gives his money away, but one who ensures that this giving will be sustained long into the future.” While Abdulla and his children may no longer press alms directly into the hands of those they help, their actions today carry a greater weight than any coin or purse. The impact of such a strategic approach to investing in youth is invaluable; the number of Al Ghurair scholars who might one day change the world themselves, incalculable.
04
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
KEEPING SYRIA ALIVE As war demolishes Syria’s cultural landmarks, exiled artists in Za’atari refugee camp are recreating them in miniature PHOTOGRAPHER CHRISTOPHER HERWIG/UNHCR WRITER JOANNE BLADD
M
ahmoud Hariri was carefully putting the finishing touches to a model of Palmyra he had spent months creating when he learned the ancient Syrian city had fallen to ISIS fighters. Hariri, 25, who was an art teacher and painter in Syria before fleeing to Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan in 2013, watched in horror over subsequent months as Palmyra’s ancient temples and monuments were destroyed. “This site represents our history and culture, not just for Syrians but all
01
38
of humanity,” he told the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. “If it is destroyed it can never be rebuilt.” Syria’s cultural heritage is just one of the casualties of the country’s bloody five-year conflict. But in Jordan’s largest refugee camp, a group of artists – all from the southwest city of Dara’a – are working to help preserve the homeland they have left behind. Using materials such as polystyrene, kebab skewers, clay and local stone, the group named ‘Art from Zaatari’ are painstakingly recreating Syria’s most famous landmarks in an effort to preserve their cultural history. “This is a way for them not to forget,” said Hariri. “As artists, we have an important role to play.”
01 Ismail Hariri, 44, was an interior designer before the conflict forced him to flee to Jordan in 2013. He has made several sculptures for the exhibition, including miniature versions of the Nabatean gate and arch at Bosra, near Dara’a. 02 The sculptures are made from volcanic rock, found in the refugee camp. “It’s the first thing I’ve made for a long time,” Ismail said. “For the first few days I hit my hand more than I hit the stone.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
Among the landmarks that the artists have recreated is a model of Palmyra, made of clay and kebab skewers; the Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge, which was destroyed by shelling in 2013; and a replica of the war-scarred Citadel of Aleppo, a military fortress on the frontlines of the conflict. The group work from photos and their memories. The models have been displayed both at a community centre within the refugee camp, and at an exhibition in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Ahmad Hariri, who instigated the project, hopes the miniatures will introduce thousands of young refugees – many of whom have little or no memory of their homeland – to some of Syria’s greatest cultural treasures. “There are lots of kids living here who have never seen Syria or who have no memory of it. They know more about Jordan than about their own country,” he said. The project has also given the artists a sense of purpose, he added. “By doing this work, they feel like they are at least doing something to preserve their culture.” The war in Syria has left more than 250,000 dead and sparked the world’s worst refugee crisis since World War Two. Some 4.3 million Syrians have fled the country, while 6.6 million more remain displaced within Syria.
01 All of the artists live in Za’atari refugee camp, in northern Jordan, some 15km from the Syrian border. The group used a combination of online photographs and their own memories of visits to the cultural sites to create the models.
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02 Mahmoud Hariri, who forged the Syrian city of Palmyra from clay and wooden sticks, has been a resident of Za’atari refugee camp for three years. “I only expected to be here for a week or two,” the former art teacher said. “When I realised it would be years, I knew I had to start again or lose my skills.” 03 The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, and has suffered significant damage during Syria’s five-year war. UNESCO placed the citadel on a list of endangered sites in 2013, but the full extent of the damage is still unknown.
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04 A replica of the bronze statue of 12th century military and political leader Ayyubid Sultan Saladin, which stands before the medieval Citadel of Damascus. The statue was unveiled in 1993 to mark the 800th anniversary of Saladin’s death, and is one of Syria’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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05 Ahmad Hariri brought the artists together, and convinced them to use their skills to highlight Syria’s most iconic sites. The project is also a means to draw attention to the ongoing conflict in the Arab state. Art “doesn’t need to be translated,” he said.
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HOW TO SPEND $32bn DOING GOOD In her first interview as the head of Alwaleed Philanthropies, Princess Lamia AlSaud explains how the organisation hopes to build bridges towards a better world W R I T E R L E O N A R D S TA L L
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n 2015, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced he would give his entire wealth to philanthropic causes. The news, given in a press conference in Riyadh, marked a turning point for giving in the Middle East – not least because of the sum involved; an astonishing $32bn. In that moment, Alwaleed became the first Muslim Arab to make such a landmark pledge, redrawing the boundaries of giving in a region already known for its generosity. The Saudi royal has long been a major donor to causes around the world. This year alone, Alwaleed has pledged $1m to aid victims of twin earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador and a further $1m to the thousands affected by flooding in Sri Lanka. His aid has, to date, reached people in 120 countries. But it is his $32bn pledge – and the creation of a new master vehicle, Alwaleed Philanthropies (AP), to support it – that has, for the first time, pushed his philanthropy into the international spotlight. The reality is that little has changed in the prince’s approach, but the pace has certainly quickened. Fellow Saudi royal,
Princess Lamia AlSaud, the new secretary general of AP, quotes the aspirations of her chairman, when she says: “After 35 years HRH says he is only taxiing; we haven’t taken off yet.” But there is little doubt his giving has become more prominent. In June, Alwaleed was one of 17 new signatories to the Giving Pledge, the global campaign led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, which asks billionaires to give away at least half their wealth to philanthropic causes. He is the first Gulf Arab to sign the pledge, joining names such as the UK
entrepreneur Richard Branson, Airbnb founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk, and the US businessman Michael Bloomberg. The stated mission of AP is to build bridges and move towards a better, more tolerant world. It seeks to foster cultural ties through education, to develop communities, and empower women and youth. It also aims to provide relief in times of catastrophe. All of these strands are already work in progress. Tolerance and respect are central. In the words of its founder: “Humanity has no religion,
01 Princess Lamia AlSaud took over the reins of Alwaleed Philanthropies in April this year 02 Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the first Muslim Arab to sign the Bill Gates-backed Giving Pledge 02
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“We are living now in
an era of unprecedented humanitarian disasters, and so far the global response has been inadequate. We need to do more”
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01 AP was one of the first organisations to respond to last year’s devastating Nepal earthquake 02 The foundation lent support to aid agencies including Habitat for Humanity in the wake of the disaster 03 AP has been a keen backer of global health initiatives, such as the campaign to eradicate polio
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no race, no gender. That’s why the radius of our contribution will cover the whole world, and not just one region”. AlSaud describes the prince as a role model. “I hope that his pledge will encourage and inspire others.” The $32bn gift will, she says, be given during his lifetime, with the amounts given by his businesses increasing gradually, but working to a schedule. “We want his businesses to keep growing for obvious reasons,” she says, smiling. Already, there are 100 million beneficiaries worldwide. Three foundations now sit under AP: one in Saudi Arabia to support local projects, another in Lebanon dedicated to philanthropy and humanitarian projects there, and a third, AP Global, the vehicle for international cooperation. The team meets with Alwaleed each quarter to present new projects under consideration. The size of the team under AlSaud is small – just 10 Saudi women – so its role is to ‘work smart’, and to make the greatest impact through partnerships. Existing tie-ups include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which received $30m towards the global campaign to eradicate polio; GAVI, to aid in the delivery of vaccines to children in the world’s poorest countries; and the US-based Carter
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Alwaleed’s philanthropy has reached beneficiaries in 120 countries around the world
$30 MILLION
The value of AP’s donation to the global fight to eradicate polio
Center, which received a grant towards its work to eliminate river blindness. The foundation backs a raft of projects to support young people and women. Among them, is the network of locally run nonprofit groups supported by Education for Employment (EFE), a USbased organisation that hopes to equip young Arabs with the skills to enter the workplace. EFE offers workshops, courses and training in an effort to combat a regional youth unemployment rate of around 30 per cent. 03
There are also 30 initiatives around the empowerment of women, education, employment and intellectual freedom; topics on which Alwaleed has been a vocal advocate for many years. AP has a number of strategic partnerships with trusted agencies working on the Syrian refugee crisis, including the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. The pair joined hands in January to launch the ‘Tweet for Heat’ campaign, which aimed to trigger widespread support for the plight of Syrian refugees facing harsh winter weather conditions. Also in the Middle East, there is funding for agricultural projects generating income for Palestinian communities, and for family housing units in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, earmarked specifically for those who are otherwise ineligible. Globally, AP has shown a perhaps surprising ability to move rapidly in times of real crisis, and in some unexpected areas. When last year’s devastating earthquake struck in Nepal, it lent immediate support to agencies including International Medical Corps and Habitat for Humanity.
“We acted faster than you can imagine,” says AlSaud. “We were the second responder providing aid for victims.” Moving decisively has become the modus operandi for AP since AlSaud took the reins in early April, with announcements of new initiatives and commitments coming at speed. There is a new sense that the foundation is finding its voice and becoming bolder in its decision making, as well as being more open; telling the world about its donations, and its ability to make an impact. In May, £20m (about $28.7m) was committed to the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA) to help launch 10 rapid response centres around the world, in partnership with Save the Children. HLA, the world’s first academy for humanitarian aid, hopes to train people in 50 countries as frontline aid workers, able to respond to crises in their own communities. AP’s funding, and its global network of partners, will be leveraged to scale the initiative. Centres have already opened in the Philippines and Kenya, with three more set to be launched this year – in Bangladesh, the Middle East and a collaboration centre in the UK. The foundation also has plans for Latin America, South and West Africa. “We are living now in an era of unprecedented humanitarian disasters, and so far the global response to these disasters has been inadequate,” says AlSaud. “We need to do more to ensure that humanitarian needs are better served at the point of impact, especially in the critical and lifesaving 72-hour aftermath of any crisis. “HLA will be central to our efforts to meet this challenge. This is what the future of disaster relief looks like, and we are proud to be involved.” This is not short-term aid. AP is committed to being a long-term support to its many partners, and places sustainability at the heart of its agenda.
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
“We are without
boundaries. There is one world and we have one goal: we believe in human. We don’t differentiate”
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“It’s not just about the immediate aid, and then we’re out,” says AlSaud, specifically referring to the earthquake in Nepal, but indicative of the holistic approach being taken by the organisation. “When we enter a project it should always be sustainable. The minimum period of commitment for us is five years. In Syria, for example, it’s not just about paying for the refugee camp,” she continues. “We give craft workshops for the ladies, and offer education for those of all ages, including higher education. These people are not just finding themselves in the camps for a short period. We have to act longer term. We don’t want to just tap in and provide one element of help. We are looking at having an impact beyond shelter to embrace education and skills.” For what the team calls AP Global, it is all about the wider vision. “We aim to be more organised, focused and strategic. If it’s sustainable, we have trusted partners and we can see a goal that can take us towards something even bigger, then it’s worth the investment,” AlSaud 01 The organisation is committed to being a long-term supporter for its many partners 02 AP is a prominent supporter of efforts to improve access to healthcare in developing economies
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says. “We are without boundaries. There is one world and we have one goal: we believe in human. We don’t differentiate.” That wider vision has tolerance and understanding at its heart, and intercultural and interfaith dialogue is being encouraged in many ways. There are now six Prince Alwaleed Academic Centres at key seats of learning around the world, from Cambridge to Harvard, Beirut to Cairo; between them beneficiaries of more than $70m. They support conversations and the exchange of ideas, innovation and creativity that aim to foster closer ties between the Muslim world and the West. Fellowships,
exchanges, events and community initiatives are used to scale the message internationally, but there are also specific, micro-level outcomes. In Edinburgh the initiative set out to move aside cultural barriers with a series of workshops about Islam for police officers, and offered advice about best how to work with the Muslim community. “It helped them to better understand. The outcome was helping to change the mindset,” explains AlSaud. “In bridging these gaps, providing aid and developing communities, it all comes down to one goal for us: simply living in a better world.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
STARTUP
SCALEUP
MENTOR
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IT TAK ES A MENTOR For promising entrepreneurs, a good mentor can mean the difference between startup success and failure, says Tony Bury, founder of Mowgli Foundation
WRITER JOANNE BLADD
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azin Khalil was 25 and a newly qualified doctor when his career took an unexpected swerve. Perturbed by the paucity of information around medical care in Sudan, he saw a simple fix to plug the gap. The result was SudaMed, an online medical directory listing hospitals, clinics and other facilities, along with their location and hours of operation. Khalil also offered users a $30 discount card for cut-price treatments at listed clinics, if they paid in cash – helping doctors to sidestep the slow payouts of insurance firms. The idea was robust; but would it scale? In 2013, two years after SudaMed’s launch, Khalil was one of a handful of entrepreneurs to net a spot on a mentoring scheme in Jordan. Over the next 12 months he created or retained 568 jobs, took first prize in the 2014 MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, and was tipped as the ‘African company to watch’ by Forbes magazine. Today, SudaMed bills itself as the Middle East and Africa’s leading online patient records system, and pours upwards of 50 per cent of its profits into funding initiatives in the healthcare and education sectors.
“I attribute 100 per cent of my achievements during this year to my mentoring relationship,” says Khalil. “What I got from it was priceless.” Around the world, there is growing evidence that for many entrepreneurs, it is good mentoring that makes the difference between failure and success. Yet in the MENA region, it is still too often seen as a fringe benefit – nice, but less vital than tackling the scant finance, red tape and sky-high overheads that smother many startups. “This is an error,” says Tony Bury, a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. “Human capital is everything, not financial capital. If you don’t invest in the former, you will lose your money. Entrepreneurs stand on the shoulders of their mentors.” Tony is founder and chairman of Mowgli Foundation, a UK-based nonprofit that runs mentoring programmes for entrepreneurs across the Arab world. Launched in 2008, it hinges on the idea that SMEs are key to revving up GDP growth, helping curb the region’s creeping jobs crisis and reversing a dismal youth unemployment rate of nearly 30 per cent. It counts Khalil and SudaMed among its success stories.
“Entrepreneurs create wealth outside oil, economic regeneration and jobs,” says Tony. “They give back – huge amounts of philanthropy worldwide stems from entrepreneurs – and they believe in social democracy. That makes them worth the investment.” Startups have long been touted as the answer to the Arab world’s economic
“Human capital is everything. Entrepreneurs stand on the shoulders of their mentors” woes, but too few manage to succeed and scale. Banks don’t give loans. Until recently, venture capital investment was patchy. Flaws in insolvency laws give SMEs little room to breath, and – in some states – put entrepreneurs at risk of jail if they default on debt. Small firms must also battle large, family-owned business for market space. “They are given a very poor foundation,” says Tony, who argues that it is up to 10 times more difficult for Arab startups to become profitable than those in the US or Europe. “Entrepreneurs are not
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
born, they are made, so the nurturing process is very important. Without it, you’re never going to have the capability to take on the challenges of business. We are in effect setting them up for failure.” Mowgli’s answer is long-term, one-onone mentoring. Its method begins with a three-day workshop to pair up 12 mentors and entrepreneurs, before spinning this out into a year-long relationship. Enrollees range from fresh startups, to entrepreneurs grappling with growth, to social ventures. All get the benefit of experience – from veterans who know well the perks and pitfalls of business – and a vastly better shot at shaping a profitable company. Little wonder Mowgli typically receives double the number of applicants it has space for. “If we don’t support entrepreneurs in terms of their core spirit, you can chuck money, training and more at them, but they’re still not going to make it work,” says Kat Bury, CEO of Mowgli. “If you aren’t supported, it’s very difficult to step out of your comfort zone, take risks and make it out the other side.” There is a wider opportunity cost from failed startups, she notes. “Entrepreneurs are innovators. It’s not just about job creation; it’s also about disruption, and driving economic change.” In eight years, Mowgli has matched more than 780 entrepreneurs with trained mentors in 14 countries, stretching from Algeria, to Yemen to Saudi Arabia. By Mowgli’s own data, its graduates have created or retained more than 3,470 jobs and generated some $18m
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in staff salaries alone. In a region where joblessness is frequently cited as the biggest threat to stability and economic growth, these are significant wins. “Return on investment is critical to me,” says Tony, who puts the cost of mentoring each entrepreneur at between £2,000 and £2,500 ($2,690-$3,362). “I only invest where I can see that strategically there will be a wider impact.” There are reasons for optimism. The startup scene in the Arab world has changed beyond recognition since Mowgli’s launch in 2008. A sharp uptick in entrepreneurial activity has been matched by a rise in incubation hubs, which offer advice, access to finance and office space to promising ventures. A handful have even completed multimillion-dollar fundraising rounds. In February, UAE-based Souq.com secured $275m from investors in the largest-ever fundraising in the region’s e-commerce space. Still, more effort is needed to foster innovation in the education system and help young Arabs see entrepreneurship as a viable career, says Kat. “If we can 01 Entrepreneurship may be a partial answer to a regional youth unemployment rate of around 30 per cent 02 Mowgli founder Tony Bury believes more investment in mentoring would improve startup success rates
“Entrepreneurs are
innovators. It’s not just about job creation; it’s also about disruption and driving economic change” shape curriculums and raise awareness of the potential of entrepreneurship, we can develop a pipeline of talent that can withstand the entrepreneurial journey and be successful,” she says. With a proven method, Mowgli’s aim now is to leverage its 1,770-strong network of mentors and entrepreneurs to help them create self-funded, sustainable mentoring schemes in their own countries. The foundation is in early talks with its graduates in Algeria, Morocco and Jordan and in recent months, has tied up with new partners in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to support local entrepreneurs. Africa and wider Asia are next on the list. “The key is: what can we do today, to make an impact tomorrow?” asks Tony. “If we want to drive job creation over the next 10 years, if we want to accelerate economic regeneration, our focus has to be human capital development. “Mentoring is a critical part of that puzzle,” he concludes. “We need more investment to be made in it.”
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EDUCATING INDIA Azim Premji is India’s most generous man, having donated more than $8bn of his personal wealth to his eponymous foundation. In an exclusive interview, he describes his mission to transform public education, and help a new generation of Indian philanthropists to make a positive difference WRITER ANDREW WHITE
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zim Premji is the chairman of Wipro Ltd, the seventh largest IT company in the world and one of the largest publicly-traded companies in India. He is also a passionate philanthropist who has spent decades working to alleviate poverty and inequality. Since 2001, he has done this through the Azim Premji Foundation, which works at primary school level to test new approaches in education with the potential for systemic change, and the Azim Premji University, which offers programmes to develop education and development professionals, and also invest in educational research.
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Q. How did your philanthropic journey begin? A. I became responsible for Wipro in the late 1960s, and for more than three decades I dedicated myself almost completely to building the business. During this time I travelled extensively within India, and this gave me a first-hand view of the two extremes that had emerged in our country: rapid development and opportunities making people unimaginably prosperous, even as sections of society continued to be steeped in poverty and want.
I saw that many of those who remained in poverty lacked some of the basic amenities that any human being should have. It felt unfair and wrong: a society must take care of everyone, and those who are well off have a responsibility to do their bit to ensure that everyone’s basic human needs are met, and that opportunities are created for everyone to develop and grow. So I had a very simple idea when I started: what could I do to contribute to a better India? To me, it meant that we must focus on the most disadvantaged and underprivileged.
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
with all its complexities. There is meaning and purpose there, not financial reward or glamour, and I am very proud we have been instrumental in getting talented and committed people to work in the sector. We hope one day to see an outstanding public education system in the country. When I say ‘we’, I don’t just mean our foundation, but all our partners and the government working together. We have to remember that social issues are complex and take a long time to change, and so we don’t expect to achieve what we set out for in five or 10 years – we know it is going to take decades. Q. Y ou have paid tribute to your mother as a significant influence on you. How did she inspire you?
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Q. W hy did public education become your priority?
Q. How has the foundation engaged with capacity building?
A. T he only way that you can hope to make a difference is to focus on a specific social issue. For me, education stood out as the key process and building block of a good society. Its importance goes far beyond the economic opportunity it offers: it has a vital role in empowering individuals and societies alike – socially, economically and politically. If we really wanted to build a just, humane and equitable society – as envisaged in India’s constitution – then education would be the transformative force, and because children from the most disadvantaged families go to government-run schools, we knew that we had to work with the public system.
A. Today we work in eight states, which have about 350,000 schools, although of course we should remember that India has 1.5 million schools. Our foundation works very closely with all levels of the public education system – at the operational level in districts, blocks and clusters; at the level of institutions that support the operations; and at the policy level. We also work on all dimensions of the system, from capacity building among teachers and headteachers, to curriculum development, and assessment reform.
01 India has made strides in education, with 95 per cent of children now in primary school 02 The Azim Premji Foundation works with 350,000 schools in eight states across the country
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Q. W hat do you hope will be the impact of your giving? A. A s well as visiting schools in the field, I also regularly interact with students at the Azim Premji University. These are remarkable people who could have had very lucrative careers [in the private sector] but have committed themselves to working in education,
A. My mother, Gulbanoo Premji, was one of the first qualified women doctors in the city of Bombay. In those days men went to work and women usually stayed at home, and therefore, although she had a medical degree, she did not actually work as a doctor. However, she wanted to contribute to society, so she decided to help an organisation that worked with physically challenged children. In the 1950s, the Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital opened at Haji Ali in south Bombay. She worked there tirelessly for almost 50 years. Every morning vans went out to bring in children who needed treatment and care. Most of these children came from families in poverty, and they had to be fed as well. My mother was unfazed by all of the challenges they faced, whether it was lack of funds or the management of staff. She was so busy, but she always found time for us. She was an inspirational figure, as was my father, and their selflessness and integrity shaped my thinking.
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Q. W hat do you tell your own children about philanthropy? A. A s a family, we spend a lot of time discussing what we are doing and attempting to do, but I don’t really ‘tell’ my sons about philanthropy. I don’t think that telling anyone, whether they are your own children or others, does much. People need to see, think and understand for themselves, as realisation is an intrinsic process, one that can be aided by open discussion, but cannot be forced. My sons are deeply engaged in different aspects of our philanthropic work, and they are making their own discoveries. Q. In February 2013 you signed the Giving Pledge. Why did you choose to make this commitment? A. I have always considered myself a trustee of the wealth and was very clear that I would give a substantial part of my wealth away. Participating in the Giving Pledge was a kind of formalised communication, something that would help start a discourse on personal philanthropy and provide a fillip to philanthropy in India. In my opinion India’s business leaders have always been quite socially aware. If you study some of the old business families – such as the Tatas, Birlas, Bajajs, and Murugappas – you will find they have been active in philanthropy for many decades, and in some cases, for over a century. Philanthropy can never substitute the government’s work, let us be clear on that. Ultimately, overall social development requires strong public services, which have to be provided by government. But philanthropy can play a crucial role in helping the public system, filling gaps it is not able to address and taking on high-risk projects that it cannot fund.
“We don’t expect to achieve what we set out for in five or 10 years. We know it is going to take decades” Q. How important is it that there are philanthropic role models for the younger generation to emulate? A. T raditionally, philanthropists in India have been very discreet about their giving. As a country, we have believed the idea of giving should be for others and society, not for self-promotion, and that makes perfect sense. In the last few decades, however, we have seen significant wealth creation in the country and many of the newly wealthy are very serious about understanding and addressing social issues. I feel it is important to have a
discreet and thoughtful engagement with them, to start a discourse. This is what we are trying to do through the India Philanthropy Initiative, an informal effort I am driving with a few other like-minded individuals. I refrain from passing on advice and generally ‘telling’ people what to do. However, I hope my reflections might help some who are contemplating engaging in serious philanthropy. Whenever people seek my advice, I always encourage them to start early: social change takes time, and the sooner you start the best chance you have to make a positive difference.
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT Hunger blights the lives of millions of people globally, yet food waste is rampant. We meet the volunteer army determined to even the balance PHOTOGRAPHER ROBIN HOOD ARMY WRITER ADRIENNE CERNIGOI
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n 2014, six people took to the streets of Delhi with a mission to feed the homeless. Armed with leftover food from local restaurants, they distributed meals to some of the capital’s poorest residents, sleeping rough in its streets.
From that small group, a nationwide volunteer movement known as the Robin Hood Army (RHA) emerged. Today it is powered by a network of 3,500 ‘Robins’, whose green-shirted presence is a common sight on the streets of India and
Pakistan – and more recently, Malaysia and Indonesia, too. Their aim is to tackle the twin scourges of waste and hunger. Worldwide, almost 800 million people do not have enough to eat. The travesty is that some 82 per cent of those suffering live in countries with food surpluses, not food shortages. RHA is modelled on a nonprofit that its founders Neel Ghose and Anand Sinha discovered in Lisbon, Portugal, called Refood. Its approach was to redistribute leftover food from restaurants that would otherwise go to waste. “The model seemed ideal for a place like India where the need, unfortunately, is much more,” says Ghose. India is home to a quarter of all undernourished people globally, according to the UN’s World Food Programme, and more than half of all children are
01 Food waste in India is a vast problem. Last year, more than $860m worth of food was thrown away, according to Ghose. “The amount of food which India wastes is roughly equivalent to how much people in the UK consume,” he says.
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02 RHA partners with local restaurants to collect surplus food. The majority are independent restaurants, but some chains such as Nandos have come on board. “Some have gone so far as to say they would rather contribute only freshly-cooked food,” says Ghose.
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stunted from poor nutrition before they reach their second birthday. RHA collects excess food from restaurants or local weddings, and distributes it to orphanages, homeless families and public hospitals, where there are clusters of people in need. To date, it has fed more than half a million people in some 25 cities. “This might seem impressive, but there are still millions of hungry people for whom getting two square meals a day is a struggle,” says Ghose, “so we will not stop.”
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01 Local groups have also started to help out during emergencies. During the floods last year in Chennai, India, RHA’s local chapter worked for 15 days at a stretch offering meals and relief to the most affected. In 2015, in India’s Maharashtra state, Robins distributed fresh water to the drought-affected cities of Pune and Latur.
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02 A year after starting in India, two volunteers decided to take the model across the border to Pakistan. “We look at the RHA as a volunteer startup,” says Ghose. In 2016, the organisation partnered with online platforms Zomato and Uber to help Indian and Pakistani students serve 100,000 people on Independence Day. 03 RHA has swelled to 3,500 volunteers, or Robins. In April, it launched operations in Indonesia and Malaysia and hopes to spread into 10 countries in the coming year. “Most of our Robins have always been looking to do this; there was just a need for a common platform,” says Ghose. 04 RHA’s Robins are drawn from the local community. Some 80 per cent are young, working professionals and the organisation is on a push to recruit more students.
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05 “Sometimes it’s not about the food, but also the time we spend with these people,” observes Ghose. “For the 7-year-old girls in an orphanage that cares for HIV positive kids, they look forward to the Sunday visit from their Bhaiyas [uncles] and their Didis [aunties] all week.”
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BIG PICTURE
BIG PICTURE PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN PHOTOGRAPHER – A MAJEED
Rising floodwaters and storm surges could threaten more than 1 billion people by 2060, with cities in South Asia likely to be the worst affected. A report from UK-based charity Christian Aid found the Indian cities of Kolkata and Mumbai, and the Bangladeshi city of Dhaka – with populations of at least 11 million people each – will all be exposed to coastal flooding by the 2070s. The poorest residents will be hardest hit, with less robust housing and few savings to help them recover. The findings should be a wake up call to the perfect storm ahead
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SOCI A L C A PI TA L
Need, passion and money are fuelling an emerging social enterprise trend on the African continent. We meet the entrepreneurs doing good business WRITER ADRIENNE CERNIGOI
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t was a case that made the news in Ghana. Faced with a critically ill patient in hospital, doctors tried for hours to track down the right heart medication to save her life. Eventually, some five hours later, they found a store with supplies. But it was too late. “By providing real-time information on availability and location of drugs, we are literally saving lives,” says Sangu Delle, an investor in social enterprise mPharma, set up in response to the tragedy. Founded by Ghanaian entrepreneur Gregory Rockson in 2013, mPharma collates data from pharmacies so when doctors prescribe a medicine, patients automatically receive an SMS to show where it is available. Delle – also Ghanaian – invested around $500,000 in the business through his fund, Golden Palm Investments. By uniting a fragmented market, mPharma has also been able to negotiate directly with big drug makers, such as Novartis and Pfizer, to cut out the middlemen and reduce drug prices by up to half. Three years on, mPharma’s e-prescription network operates in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Zambia, and has raised millions of dollars in Silicon Valley. “We’ve had to turn money down from some of the top VCs,” says Delle. mPharma is part of a new breed of businesses taking on some of Africa’s biggest social ills. Social enterprise – businesses that seek financial returns and positive social change – is a growing global trend. Investors spent $15bn on impact investments in 2015, up from $10.6bn in 2014, according to a study backed by JP Morgan. And Africa is on the agenda: of the $77bn put to work globally in 2015, 15 per cent found its way to sub-Saharan Africa – second only to North America’s 38 per cent. Need, educated young people and growing pools of money are fuelling the
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01
“My generation is no longer
comfortable just doing trade as the older generation did”
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MILLION Number of young people expected to enter Africa’s labour market each year to 2024
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trend. Poor access to services – from health, to energy and education – across Africa’s 54 countries is a big problem, but also a big opportunity for businesses, observes Delle. He believes Africa’s youth are ready for the challenge. “My generation is no longer comfortable just doing trade as the older generation did,” he says. The funding landscape has grown, too. Some $9.3bn has been doled out so far in East Africa in more than 1,000 deals, according to a report by Nairobi-based Open Capital Advisors (OCA). Much of that financing comes from development actors – such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – or private foundations, which account for 85 per cent of disbursements in the region. Successes such as mPharma have piqued commercial investors’ interest, too. Andreas Zeller, OCA’s managing partner, says he has seen new funders
$77 BILLION
Value of assets currently under management in impact investments globally in 2015
$9.3 BILLION Value of all impact capital disbursed in East Africa
PHILANTHROPY AGE
enter the African market in the last couple of years. “There are more investors for social enterprises at every bracket of the capital market now than ever before,” he says. While energy, agriculture and financial services have done well, less funding finds its way to sectors such as health and education. Social enterprise still has a way to go to make an impact. Investors feel there are too few businesses ready to absorb serious amounts of money, according to Zeller. OCA advises African entrepreneurs on how to reach this stage, offering anything from support on strategy to grow the business, to making systems more efficient. While it doesn’t fund startups itself, OCA says it has helped connect entrepreneurs to some $60m in financing. Another constraint is human capital. “You see very high attrition rates, especially among middle management in places like Kenya,” observes Zeller. There is still a significant skills gap, too. Experience in project management and senior positions – such as chief financial officers – is lacking. Entrepreneurs complain of structural obstacles, such as poor infrastructure – unreliable power and bad roads – and a lack of supportive government policies. But top of the list is financing. Funding for microenterprises, such as lone farmers, is relatively easy thanks to crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending
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01 Social enterprises such as Ghana’s mPharma have started to raise millions from Silicon Valley VCs 02 Investing in education is crucial for the health of many sectors, says Golden Palm Investment’s Delle
A HAND UP University is an expensive business. There are tuition fees, living costs and books. For poor students, it can be too much. Bank loans are the answer for some, but getting funding to study abroad is difficult. This is where Prodigy Finance steps in. The company offers loans to postgraduate students accepted into top business schools around the world. The amount depends on your predicted future earning power; Prodigy weighs factors such as university course, industry, nationality and GMAT score. Funded by impact investors, the social enterprise offers backers the chance to invest in the next generation of leaders, says CEO Cameron Stevens. “Thirty years ago the only people [from Africa and Asia] who could study at a top foreign university were those from elite families,” he explains. “Now you see an emergence of the middle class, often the first in the family to go to graduate school. But they don’t have the funding to pay.” Taking their cue from the successes and pitfalls of microfinance, Prodigy lends
between 60 and 80 per cent of total costs, never 100 per cent, to avoid overburdening the student with debt. The rest is made up from savings or scholarships so that others have “skin in the game”, says Stevens. Prodigy has helped more than 4,000 students from 111 countries since 2008. Threequarters are from developing nations, including 40 per cent from Asia and 10 per cent from Africa. For Kwaku Agyare-Manu (left), who will get his MBA from the University of Cape Town this summer, the loan was a lifeline. “I was shocked I couldn’t receive a sufficient study loan from any of the banks in South Africa,” he says. “Prodigy Finance was my last attempt at sourcing funding. Otherwise, I would have had to drop out of the course.” The model works for investors, too, who earn on average 5.5 per cent yields. In the beginning, Stevens reached out to university alumni. But since 2014 a partnership with Credit Suisse has helped widen the investor base to UHNWIs and family offices, garnering investment of $85m. Prodigy’s total investment pot to date is $200m. Some investors, such as Nigeria’s TY Danjuma Family Office, put some of the returns back into scholarships, doubling down on impact. Stevens hopes to increase funding to $400m in 2016, ramping up significantly to reach 10,000 students this year. If so, the scale-up is impressive – but it has taken time to prove the business, he cautions. “We had to prove our model the hard way compared to doing something less impactful and more traditional, where you can raise funding faster,” he notes. “You need someone to take a leap of faith, and keep taking those leaps, with you.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
40%
Proportion of East Africa’s impact capital invested in Kenya; followed by
13%
Uganda
12%
Tanzania
platforms such as Kiva. And at the other end of the scale, mega-funds have deep pockets to lavish $50m on bigger, quality deals. “But the middle is barren land,” Delle says. “It is full of great opportunities, but little capital.” Delle is also critical of funds that look at sectors too narrowly. Africa accounts for 24 per cent of the global disease burden, yet has only a 3 per cent share of the world’s healthcare workers, he notes. “If you come to me and say you only want to invest in health and nothing else, you are missing the point,” he says. “We cannot solve healthcare without solving education.” In the medium-term, aid will continue to dwarf social business in Africa because there simply aren’t enough entrepreneurs or the infrastructure yet to support a large social enterprise ecosystem. But that doesn’t mean it can’t make its mark. Investors said they intended to commit 16 per cent more to impact investments globally in 2016, according to JP Morgan’s report. And social businesses can pilot new approaches that can eventually be scaled up by governments, argues Chris Ategeka, founder of Rides for Lives, a mobile hospital business that provides healthcare for rural areas in Uganda. “Healthcare is a social good that should be provided by governments,” he says. “[But] social entrepreneurs can innovate, create and improve systems.”
FLUSH WITH SUCCESS In Kenya, David Auerbach jovially rejects the notion that sanitation is not a glamorous topic. For his team, toilets are transformative. For five years, his social enterprise Sanergy has built and installed low-cost toilets in urban slums, collecting and converting the waste into fertiliser. The company has more than 640 Fresh Life toilets in nine informal settlements, as well as in schools and residential blocks in the capital, Nairobi. Sanergy works on a franchise model, with each operator setting the price per use, typically KES3-5 ($0.03-$0.05). While Sanergy sells each toilet at a loss – between $250-$500, versus a production cost of $500
– it makes up the difference through fertiliser sales. It also charges operators an annual fee of $60-$90. “If we had done this as a nonprofit, for the sanitation sector, it would be a partial solution. You might build toilets, but not ensure the waste is safely removed from the community,” says cofounder Auerbach. Having a for-profit component allows the company to invest in waste disposal infrastructure, he adds. Benefits abound. Operators earn around $1,000 a year; residential landlords see higher building occupancy rates; enrolment has risen 20 per cent in the 60 schools where Sanergy
has toilets; and farmers’ fields yield 30 per cent more thanks to the fertiliser. Most importantly, however, many slum residents have gained access to a nearby toilet for the first time – crucial for women and children after dark. It has taken $8m of patient capital – from funders such as the Gates Foundation – to get this far. Commercial investors only started to show interest in February. The biggest challenge is investors’ expectations of a quick return, says Auerbach. Still, he is hopeful: “It’s an important sign, for the health of our business but also for the larger sanitation sector where there has been so little investment so far.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
WHEELS OF CHANGE Africa’s rugged rural roads are no barrier to a bike helping students and smallholders ride into a brighter future
PHOTOGRAPHER BROOKE SLEZAK AND GARETH BENTLEY W R I T E R S T U A R T M AT T H E W S
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
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n Zambia’s district of Chongwe, Georgina Stimbeko makes her living as a dairy farmer. Alongside some 80 other smallholders, she supplies milk to the local Palabana Dairy Cooperative (PDC); each day making the 12km trip from her farm along dirt roads. Previously, with no reliable means of transport, the journey was long and the volumes of milk that could be carried were limited. Today, that has changed. Using the sturdy Buffalo bike, which can heft 100kgplus loads, Stimbeko has seen her travel time slashed, and her income rise. “Since I got the Buffalo, I never failed to deliver milk, not even [one] day,” she says. These retro-looking bicycles are produced by a subsidiary of World Bicycle Relief (WBR), a cycling-focused NGO. Under the tagline ‘built for big loads on tough roads’, the bikes aim to give low-income groups in Africa the means to travel to markets, schools, healthcare facilities and more. Their durable design is deliberate. Regular city bikes have a brutally short lifespan on Africa’s dirt tracks, says Dave Niewsander, president of WBR. “When we first came to Zambia, we found that the locally-available bicycles really weren’t serving the end user,” he says. “We called them bicycle-shaped objects. We work with a manufacturer in Asia to design components specifically built for African roads.” The bikes are assembled in six factories across Africa by a team of just over 100 local employees using imported flatpacked parts. The bikes – which have a $160 price tag – are sold to end users through instalment payments, or in bulk to other NGOs and charity organisations. Any profits go back to WBR to fund its work. The NGO paired up with PDC to bring bikes to smallholder farmers in Zambia, beginning in 2009. “It was really based upon demand from the field,” says Nieswander. “We started delivering bicycles into a USAID-funded healthcare programme, which focused on HIV and AIDS. As we did, we saw a lot of demand
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from farmers, other individuals and NGOs, all wanting to buy our bicycles.” The impact of two wheels has been significant. Over four years, 281 bikes have been bought by PDC farmers, who in turn report that the number of milk deliveries they make are up by as much as 25 per cent. Milk volumes are up 23 per cent. “Even though the price of the Buffalo is twice that of a bicycle you’d be able to get at a shop, demand is very strong,” says Nieswander. “We’ve had a situation where a large NGO purchased other bicycles because of budget constraints, and the volunteers basically rejected them. They said: ‘These are not Buffalos, we don’t want them.’”
01 Through World Bicycle Relief’s (WBR) Bicycles for Educational Empowerment scheme, students receive bicycles by signing and fulfilling two-year ‘study-to-own’ contracts designed to encourage them to stay in school. 02 Before Ethel received her Buffalo bicycle, she and her cousin would take two hours to walk the 9km to school. Their long walk for education would come after having spent a few hours doing housework and the result was often a tired student who was unable to concentrate in class. Now, they arrive on time and ready to learn. 03 Tamara, a student in Zambia, cooks her breakfast in the early morning before she heads to school on her Buffalo. Tamara walked 4km along challenging roads to school before receiving the bike, which has cut her travel time to school by 75 per cent.
PHILANTHROPY AGE
04 A 2012 academic report noted a 28 per cent increase in attendance and a 59 per cent increase in academic performance of students such as Tamara and Ethel, who had been equipped with Buffalo bikes. 05 Royce is a volunteer healthcare worker and paralegal in Zambia, providing healthcare to her community. The mobility afforded by owning the Buffalo has extended her range, allowing her to care for more patients. 04
06 With the time saved by riding, Royce is also able to spend much more time with each patient. Healthcare workers receive Buffalos through signing and fulfilling a two-year workto-own contract. 07 Georgina Stimbeko is a dairy farmer and widow who lives outside the town of Palabana, Zambia, some 12km from the Palabana Dairy Cooperative where she delivers the milk from her farm. Once Stimbeko had a Buffalo, she and other farmers like her were able to deliver milk twice a day, which has increased their income.
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08 Farmers outside of Palabana deliver the milk over rough terrain. The Buffalo has been specially designed to withstand the difficult conditions in rural areas like Palabana, as well as to carry the weight of a full milk pail.
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I L L U S T R AT O R M O H A M M E D K H A L A FA L L A
PHILANTHROPY AGE
YOUNG, ENGAGED AND GIVING From smartphone apps, to green packaging, to insurance for the Arab world’s poorest, meet the young entrepreneurs bringing a triple-bottom-line approach to doing business in the Gulf W R I T E R S T U A R T M AT T H E W S
UPWARDLY MOBILE NAME: Moussa Bedas AGE: 30 WHERE: UAE
“People want the
safety of an app, while still knowing they can cash-in and cash-out”
Smartphones have been hailed as the democratising device of financial inclusion but when it comes to daily transactions there is a catch. Data services are still too pricey for many in the developing world, even assuming there is a network operating reliably enough to deliver them. Despite the mass of smartphones and digital payment options then, cash is still king when it comes to the local shop. “Cash just works,” says Moussa Bedas, the UAE-based entrepreneur behind Bridg, a payment app that can work offline. “Unlike phones, it doesn’t matter if cash is wet, connected or if the holder is literate; it just works. That’s what we’re trying to do with smartphone payments.”
Cash is a liability, particularly for big-ticket payments, adds Bedas. “People want the safety of [an app] while still knowing they can cash-in and cash-out in any corner store, that they can always have it on them and they can use it even if they are not connected.” Bridg aims to plug this gap. Using some clever proprietary technology called OneConnect, it allows smartphones to process transactions without an internet connection, using Bluetooth – wireless technology that connects devices over short distances – to move credit from one device to the other. While markets such as the UAE offer highly commercial opportunities for the application, such as tackling cash on delivery, the app has big potential for those at the bottom of the pyramid. In a market like India, where few people are banked and card penetration is miniscule, there is a huge opportunity
to sign up users who were previously unable to rely on their smartphones as a payment method because of data cost barriers. The business will have a standalone application branded Bridg wallet. It will also offer software integration allowing a virtual wallet component to be added to any existing applications. A third and final approach will be a ‘white label’ or closed loop system that Bedas says will work well when it comes to building a system for a large firm or even an NGO. “In refugee camps, for example, it would be a good way to get money to people who have smartphones,” he says. “The value is in being able to adopt the app overnight – not specifically when it comes to pushing our own brand, but more in enabling existing brands that already have some clout in the market to really scale.”
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PHILANTHROPY AGE
THE LAST STRAW NAME: Lamis Harib AGE: 30 WHERE: UAE Every day, consumers around the GCC unwrap tonnes of plastic to get to their lunch, fork their way through dinner, or slurp up a soda. The resulting waste is rarely recycled, finding its way into landfills or, worse yet, dumped on the spot. Plastics used to package food pile up as garbage and pollute oceans, with many taking hundreds of years to degrade for just minutes of use. “I wanted to fix that. I am a huge believer that we can cut this influx of plastic pollution every day by using plantbased materials,” says Lamis Harib, the founder of BioD, which designs and supplies biodisposable products and packaging.
“For the few minutes
you’ll drink a coffee, you don't need packaging that will last 700 years”
“Biodegradables aren’t the solution to all packaging. But for the few minutes you’ll drink a coffee, eat something, or wrap something, you really don’t need packaging that will last 700 years.” With a background in structural packaging design and experience of branding, the Emirati entrepreneur set up BioD in 2013 to tackle the issue of plastic waste through design. “I look at
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environmental problems as a design issue,” she says. Her solution is plant-based compostable polymers that do the job of plastics without the long-term impact on the environment. Harib began as a distributor for Italian brand Ecozema, before investing savings, time and energy to get her business going. With advice and support from Ecozema, she built her knowledge of bioplastics – “a different world” – and business, before setting out to crack the tough GCC market. “No one was talking about compostables,” she says. “I go to schools and give lectures to really push the community aspect. You can’t just put products on shelves and expect people to know what they are.” Smartly designed packaging – including a
cartoon character version of Harib herself – with labels in Arabic and English, target consumers with everything from ziplock bags and cutlery, to disposable plates made from pressed palm leaves. A range of reusable products also includes bamboo coffee cups, jute shopping totes and stainless steel drink bottles. “It’s important to be in people’s homes,” says Harib. BioD’s primary target is the food and beverage
industry. There, Harib hopes to have the biggest impact on reducing the use of nonbiodegradable plastics through a lean business model built around a 24/7 depot for business clients. Her most visible success to date has been a contract with a hotel chain in the Maldives to supply drinking straws, one of the ocean’s most persistent pollutants thanks to tourists. “The hotels solved an immediate issue,” says Harib. “Biostraws degrade a lot faster. They are not a pollutant even if they are in the water, where they break down as starch.”
PHILANTHROPY AGE
per month says Grosso; no bank account or credit card needed. Tie-ups with the region’s mobile operators may offer the chance to scale rapidly, introducing insurance companies to a new market numbering in the millions.
“Life insurance can really be a safety net for these lowincome people and their families”
RISK AND REWARD NAME: Michele Grosso AGE: 29 WHERE: UAE For millions of people in the Arab world, insurance is an unheard-of luxury. Either they cannot afford it, or they have no realistic channel to reach it. Those without health cover or insurance are vulnerable to accidents, misfortune and what the industry labels ‘acts of God’.
Entrepreneur Michele Grosso, an Italian based in the UAE, wants to change this. His startup Democrance is a for-profit business aiming to make insurance affordable and accessible to low-income populations in the Middle East and North Africa. Like many models trying to drive financial inclusion for the economically isolated, it relies on the smartphone. “We’re not an insurance company,” he explains. “Our
product is a technology to cut down the distribution and administration costs of traditional insurance policies. That’s how we make insurance affordable.” Grosso believes delivering insurance through the only channel many people have open to them – their mobile phone – is the fastest way to build inclusion. Premiums will be collected through phone airtime charges and could be in the region of $2
“The beauty of our model is that once we have one mobile operator on board, we can potentially reach millions of people,” he says. The startup is about to roll out its first partnership with an insurance provider in the region. Similar models have been successful in Latin America, some parts of Africa and in Asia, but they have yet to find a firm hold in the Middle East. A big part of the challenge will be driving awareness among consumers. “Most of our target audience don't even know what insurance is,” admits Grosso. Once insurers are in place to underwrite policies Democrance – which will be provider agnostic – will take care of everything else, including distribution, policy research, customer service and case management. Policies will look to address basic needs, offering life cover and simple health insurance. “Life insurance can really be a safety net for these low-income people and their families,” says Grosso.
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COMMENT
DOING THE MOST GOOD Effective philanthropy means being ruled by your head and not your heart, argues Peter Singer
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Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. His books include The Life You Can Save, The Most Good You Can Do and, most recently, Famine, Affluence and Morality
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hilanthropists are, on the whole, goodhearted people; but if they respond only to their heart, they are not likely to be good philanthropists. They are not likely to do the most good they can, and when people with the ability to do a great deal of good fail to do nearly as much as they can, they are not good at philanthropy. There are many possible examples of ineffective altruism. Giving to the arts is, I think, one very large category of philanthropy that achieves relatively little good. But even within the broad category of improving the lives of people living in poverty, much giving is less effective than it could be. Many American philanthropists focus on helping the poor in their own community. The United States has more gaps in its welfare net than most affluent countries, but even so, there are very few people in the US who are poor by global standards. People who are poor in the US still have safe drinking water, free education for their children, free health care, and access to food stamps. The food stamps alone are worth more than $4 a day, double the income of the 700 million people who live below the World Bank’s extreme poverty line, which represents the purchasing power equivalent of about $2 today. The fact that people in poor countries earn so much less than people in affluent countries makes a huge difference in our ability to help them. In the US, a family of four will be below the poverty line if the total family annual earnings are below
$24,300. Suppose you give $1,000 to a family living on $20,000. That isn’t going to make a dramatic difference to their lives. Now think of a family of four living below the World Bank’s extreme poverty line. We know what impact an additional $1,000 can do for them, because a charity called GiveDirectly finds very poor families in East Africa and gives them this sum of money. Independent researchers have tracked what these families do with their – non-repeatable – windfall. The single most common use of the money is to replace a leaky thatched roof with a tin roof. Now when it rains heavily the family – and their precious stores of grain – stay dry. They also save the cost of periodically replacing the thatch. And they may have enough left over to buy some chickens, or start a small business. Of course, not all families are so prudent. Some of them will just eat better for a year. Even when that happens, the money is likely to do much
“Charities stay in business because donors do not demand solid evidence of the effectiveness of their programmes”
01 Donating to poor families in poor countries is one of the most impactful things you can do, writes Singer 02 Some 700 million people worldwide live below the extreme poverty line, equivalent to $2 a day 03 There is a growing body of research available on the most cost-effective ways to do good in the world
COMMENT
more good than if it were donated to a family that is poor only by the standards of an affluent country. Even if you do decide to support a project in a developing country, however, it is important to check the evidence that what you are doing is a cost-effective way of making a difference. Suppose, for instance, you have learned that in East Africa, children – especially girls – often leave school before they have completed their education. If they stayed at school longer, they would have better opportunities in life, so you want to find a way of encouraging them to stay longer. Charities have tried the following strategies: cash transfers for girls, conditional on school attendance, and unconditional cash transfers for girls. Merit scholarships for girls. Free primary school uniforms, and deworming primary school children (that is, treating intestinal parasites). Some charities provide information to parents about the increased wages of those who stay at school. Without proper testing, it would be impossible to know which of these strategies does the most good. The Jameel Poverty Action Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studied them and found that every $100 spent on providing information to parents about the increased wages of those who stay 02
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at school results in 20.7 additional years spent at school. Deworming also appears to be highly cost-effective, leading to 13.9 additional years spent at school per $100 spent, although the results of one major study in this field have been challenged. The other four interventions turn out to give much poorer value per dollar spent. None of them gains even one additional year at school per $100 spent. The cash transfers are particularly poor value. Whether they are conditional or unconditional doesn’t make much difference; they each gain less than onetenth of an additional year per $100. So the most effective method results in more than 200 times the benefits of the two least effective methods. To put it another way: for every $100 spent on one of the least-effective methods, $99.50 is wasted. If you bought a dishwasher, and then learned that you had paid 200 times as much as your neighbour paid for a machine that does just as good a job as yours, you’d feel really stupid. That isn’t likely to happen, because the company that made the high-priced dishwasher would soon be out of business. But charities that cost 200 times as much to keep a child in school for a year stay in business because their donors
do not demand solid evidence of the effectiveness of their programmes. An emerging new movement known as effective altruism is trying to change this by encouraging people to give with their head as well as their heart. Among the general public, most people who give to charity do no research at all on the charity to which they give. Often their donation is the result of an emotional response to an image, perhaps of a child in need of help. It’s good that people have such impulses, but in a complex world with great differences in wealth, it’s not enough. Many philanthropists already realise that, but there are still many who do not. Only a decade ago, it was very difficult to get good information on the impact that a charity gets out of each dollar it receives. Today, there are websites such as www.thelifeyoucansave.org, www.givewell.org, and www.openphilanthropy.org where you can find more information on which charities and causes have been examined and found to be highly effective. This kind of evaluation is not easy or cheap to carry out. But it is far less expensive than giving money, year after year, without ever knowing whether you are doing the most good you can.
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
IN THE LINE OF FIRE WRITER ADRIENNE CERNIGOI
From the Ebola outbreak, to the fringes of the Syrian refugee crisis, International Medical Corps (IMC) brings medical aid to the world’s most vulnerable people. In an exclusive interview, CEO Nancy Aossey talks risk, funding and what the global aid industry could learn from the Middle East
aid workers and journalists. Where there used to be more protection for them, they are increasingly being targeted. The world feels a more dangerous place now than when I started 30 years ago – it’s on fire. In a typical year, we would experience about two major emergencies. In the last two years that number has tripled. In 2015, we reached
Health workers put their lives on the line every day. The work really is heroic. From the doctor in Afghanistan and the midwife in South Sudan, to the people who showed up at our Ebola clinic in Liberia to help, I’m always amazed at the risks people are willing to take for others. There are so many unknowns – unstable political situations, local risks – and yet, one by one, they still come forward.
“The world feels
a more dangerous place now than when I started 30 years ago: it’s on fire” Conflicts today are more complex, unpredictable and dangerous, particularly for humanitarian workers. This trend began in the 1990s, when we saw militias in the Balkans specifically attack
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more than 8 million people in 37 countries. We knew from our inception that simply giving handouts is not enough. Our model is to help people to become their own first-responders by investing in training, building local skillsets, and helping communities become resilient. About 95 per cent of our staff
come from local populations. We see over and over again that the best solution is always a local one. Preparedness calls for investment, and donor resources aren’t always structured in that way. Many funding structures were designed to be short-term, and can’t support the protracted
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
01 The crisis in Syria has stretched global aid agencies to their limits 02 IMC was a first responder to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa 02 Aid workers are increasingly targets in conflict zones, says Aossey
or population movements better in real-time. This data is especially important in remote areas – if you look at the source of diseases such as avian flu or Ebola, these outbreaks started in remote areas. We are working on using technology, but we need to be proactive – rather than reactive – and agile in responding to crises that cross borders. Data can help.
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conflicts we see today. That is one of the major challenges. In Syria, we’re seeing the loss of a generation. Refugee camps weren’t meant for children to grow up in, without access to education. The impact of this will reverberate for decades.
“There’s a lot we
can learn from the Middle East. Arab donors and NGOs need to be included more in the global aid architecture” The Ebola outbreak [which claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people] was a risky endeavour for us. We had no prior experience treating Ebola patients, but we also knew if we didn’t respond, the epidemic would explode and travel around the world. The outbreak underscored the need to build capacity. One of the reasons Ebola
wasn’t stopped earlier was because these West African countries, shattered by past civil wars, don’t have enough frontline health workers. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea – they have the lowest ratio of doctors per capita in the world. That’s why investing in training a local workforce is so critical. Arab governments have given billions of dollars to the Syria response, and there is a lot of generosity in the region. But the opportunity goes beyond funding. The reality is that the MENA region has a long history of dealing with refugees and displaced people, and we’re seeing in Europe the difficulties governments have in managing large influxes of refugees. There’s a lot we can learn from the Middle East. Arab donors and NGOs both need to be included more in the global aid architecture. The landscape of crises is changing. We are contending not just with rapid onset
natural disasters but also protracted emergencies that cross borders, in a world where aid work is increasingly politicised. Both require a flexible response mechanism that can work across cultures. It requires NGOs, the UN, governments, the private sector and civil society to work together. We must continue to harness the power of big data. We need to be able to track the outbreaks of disease
I worry about the rising climate of fear. Historically fear sometimes drives people to do the right thing, and sometimes to do the wrong thing. We see it in the refugee crisis in Europe – the fear that has driven governments to close borders. The best way we can tackle this alarm is with information. I believe that people are fundamentally compassionate and that with education, fear starts to go away.
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HOW PEOPLE GIVE, WHY PEOPLE GIVE, AND HOW THEY MIGHT GIVE MORE
The Arab Giving Survey is the first comprehensive overview of the giving behaviour of Arabs in the GCC. Revealing how, why and where donors give the most, the report is essential reading for the regional philanthropic sector
For more information, or to order a copy of the report, please email: info@arabgivingsurvey.com
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YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE The stories on these pages are just a start. Many of the organisations we feature are changing lives on a daily basis, but they need support to survive. Get in touch to learn more about the issues – or to get busy solving them – and take the next step on your own philanthropic journey
EMERGENCY ROOM
ONE SHOT
Founded by a British surgeon with two decades of experience saving lives in the hottest of war zones, the David Nott Foundation aims to deliver surgical training to those who need it most. Your donations would help equip aid agencies’ volunteer surgeons – as well as doctors from across the Middle East – with the skills they need to literally operate on the frontlines.
Created in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-backed Gavi Alliance boosts the chances for children in poor countries by giving them access to lifesaving vaccines. By supporting this public-private partnership of UN, governments, foundations and NGOs, you can help the alliance on its way to immunising 300 million children by 2020; saving up to 6 million lives.
davidnottfoundation.com
gavi.org
GUIDING HAND
FLUSH WITH SUCCESS
LOCAL SOLUTIONS
Mowgli provides mentoring and support for young entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa as one pathway to tackle the region’s vast and growing unemployment challenge. Help Mowgli support young people in starting or scaling up their small- and medium-sized businesses and, in turn, be the authors of their own success.
Kenya-based social enterprise Sanergy builds and installs low-cost toilets in residential blocks and schools in urban slums in the capital Nairobi, providing a livelihood for toilet operators along the way. With school enrolment up 20 per cent in areas where Sanergy has its toilets, your investment could be part of the sanitation revolution.
International Medical Corps has provided relief to those caught up in war, natural disaster and disease for more than 30 years. Your donation would help provide urgently-needed health services in the first few crucial hours after an emergency, and help train local healthcare workers to respond should disaster strike again.
mowgli.org.uk
saner.gy
internationalmedicalcorps.org
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BIG PICTURE
BIG PICTURE ISTANBUL, TURKEY PHOTOGRAPHER – OZAN KOSE
It was billed as a chance to end the greatest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime. Yet many wondered whether the so-called ‘grand bargain’ was such a good deal. Hosted by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 24th 2016, the first World Humanitarian Summit saw 16 aid organisations and around 20 countries sign a pact that would see donors give more in return for greater transparency and efficiency in the way those funds are spent. But with almost no G7 leaders in attendance, many saw the UN-backed conference as a wasted opportunity. The search for a better way to do aid continues
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