Mobilizing Science-Based Enterprises for Energy, Water, and Medicines in Nigeria (2007) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 11-25
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From page 11... ...
In other developing countries, lack of safe water and lack of home or small business electric lighting are problems that have generated entrepreneurial solutions through readily accessible technologies. But in Nigeria private companies have generally not been viewed as an instrument of government policy to extend basic services to the underserved.
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From page 12... ...
In fact, Nigeria is famous worldwide for its entrepreneurial class, which includes modern manufacturing and extractive industries. And yet despite these and other assets, Nigeria remains in the World Bank's low-income category, and 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line; life expectancy is 46 years.1 About two-thirds of Nigerians have no access to the electricity grid or safe water.
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From page 13... ...
, could be produced by the Nigerian private sector. These three technologies explored in the study -- solar photovoltaics, water purification, and effective malaria therapy -- and the associated business models were selected by the two science academies to serve as case studies in order to demonstrate how the government-sponsored participation of private sector enterprises might be used to provide basic services.
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From page 14... ...
reports that few rural households are electrified.4 And the Roll Back Malaria program of the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that the 100 million figure for malaria incidence in Nigeria, where 80 percent of the population is exposed to malaria and 60 million experience more than one attack a year, might be low.5 This study is dedicated to the "100 million," which is its target population.
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From page 15... ...
FILLINg THE gAPS: THREE TECHNOLOgIES TO MEET THREE MAjOR NEEDS Although Nigeria is an industrial leader in West Africa, with an educated and entrepreneurial population, foreign currency reserves in the bank, and currently a functioning democracy, 100 million of its people do not have electric power, 100 million lack safe water, and 100 million suffer from malaria without effective treatment. In part, the solutions to these problems are related to infrastructure, and for water and electric power the solutions could be found in expanding the electricity grid and build 7 Transparency International, http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_ indices/cpi/2005/.
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From page 16... ...
Household Water and Electrical Technologies Decentralized energy and water supply facilities represent unique opportunities for remote rural developing communities to provide the basic necessities of life to those in need at lower cost. Small, stand-alone systems are more appropriate and sustainable in remote areas.
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From page 17... ...
The question then is: could the government and donors find a way to stimulate the private sector to also provide small-scale household electric power and safe water as an alternative to extending the national electricity grid or building municipal or national water facilities? Malaria Treatments Malaria control and treatment present a somewhat different problem.
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From page 18... ...
At this time none do, but several local pharmaceutical companies claim to soon be able to meet WHO's manufacturing standards, which would allow them to receive the subsidy and sell ACTs they would manufacture in Nigeria, as well as export them for sale at the subsidized price. The Nigerian government has announced a program to provide ACTs free to children under five, which would be a great boost to health and child survival.
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From page 19... ...
Some of the business models employed, though not following a common pattern, have features that distinguish them from those of normal free-market companies. Some of these models, such as combining banking services with product sales, may simply not be permitted in the United States and other industrialized country economies.
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From page 20... ...
Financial services such as reliable savings institutions and secured personal loans are not available to them. To tap into the wealth at the bottom of the economic pyramid, according to Professor Prahalad, it is necessary to create the capacity to consume.
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10. Consumer interfaces, such as advertising, consumer education, and operating instructions, must take into account the heterogeneity of the consumer base in terms of culture, language, and educational and skill levels.
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Poor people are generally defined as those with low incomes and few fungible assets. Thus, they are unlikely to have savings available to purchase consumer items such as water filters, solar electric systems, or televisions.
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From page 23... ...
For the types of businesses discussed in this report -- that is, ones that provide basic needs -- the consumer purchases are either continual, such as safe water acquired from community water services; intermittent, such as malaria therapy; or capital items with long service lives, such as home solar electric systems. In the continual or intermittent cases, the types of microsavings plans pioneered in Bangladesh and India would provide a cushion to ensure continued access to safe water or antimalarial drugs.
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From page 24... ...
The same is true, of course, of the companies, such as electric utilities, municipal water facilities, and pharmaceutical companies, that provide equivalent services to the middle class. The products designed for the poor are not inferior to the common version, but they may be technically different and require dedicated engineering.
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From page 25... ...
INTRODUCTION associated with such products are "low cost," "locally manufactured," "durable," "easily maintained." They are safely operable by illiterates and not easily counterfeited with inferior products. They are often referred to as "appropriate technology." These are not trivial requirements, and the engineering design for these products can be extremely challenging.
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