It’s not surprising that the private sector faces challenges in serving bottom-of-the-pyramid customers: the largest and poorest population groups. By definition, bottom-of-the-pyramid populations don’t have much income, making margins slim. More...

In 2015, when world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, we committed to the most inclusive, diverse and comprehensive and ambitious development agenda ever. By doing so, we acknowledged that development challenges are global challenges. More...

How did a recently-promoted German janitor use uranium to change the course of history and prove the President of British Association for the Advancement of Science right? In his 1898 presidential address, Sir William Crookes told the Association that: “England and all civilised nations stand in deadly peril of not having enough to eat … the land that will grow wheat is absolutely dependent on difficult and capricious natural phenomena … It is through the laboratory that starvation may ultimately be turned into plenty… The fixation of atmospheric nitrogen is one of the great discoveries, awaiting the genius of chemists.” The genius was Fritz Haber, who has renounced his Judaism in the hope of getting a university job. More...

Not easy to achieve when you consider that the life of a regulatory agency is fraught with potential entry points for undue influence. These “pinch points” are specific to the regulator’s environment and are amplified when two or more events occur at the same time. An example might be a political election coinciding with a rise in crude oil prices and a change in the head of the agency. Successfully navigating these powerful forces can be accomplished with good governance and clear regulatory policies addressing such issues as agency finances, staff behaviour, the appointment and removal of leadership, the way in which agency intersects with political cycles, and the interaction with the various actors in the regulatory sphere. More...