Microfranchising: How Social Entrepreneurs are Building a New Road to Development

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Nicolas Sireau

Microfranchising

How Social Entrepreneurs are Building a New Road to Development

Nicolas Sireau

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English

Greenleaf Publishing
01 February 2011

Development studies; Social issues & processes; Development economics; Franchises

It is increasingly clear that fifty years of international development have done little to reduce poverty in Africa. Indeed, more and more academics and practitioners are highlighting the detrimental effect of traditional development – as carried out by international agencies and NGOs – which often leads to dependency, inefficiency, waste and poor governance.

Yet there is a new movement that is surging ahead in its attempt to reduce poverty and generate wealth in Africa: microfranchising. Set up by pioneering organizations such as VisionSpring and HealthStore, microfranchising is based on one of the most successful market-based models in Western economies: franchising. From McDonald's to Coca-Cola, franchising has proven itself to be an effective and replicable way of scaling up a business rapidly in the Western context.

It is only recently that members of the growing body of social entrepreneurs have turned to the franchise model as one of the responses to Africa's endemic economic stagnation. And the results have been inspiring: instead of the dependency generated by traditional charity development projects, these new social capitalists have generated enterprise and self-sustainability in the most challenging environments of rural Africa.

This long-needed book looks at the growth in microfranchising as a tool to generate wealth among poor communities in Africa. The book traces the evolution of the concept of microfranchising, from its foundation in Western models to its implementation in African countries today. It provides practical steps from the world's leading experts on how to set up a microfranchise, from recruiting franchisees, to building a brand and a supply chain. It gives case studies of successful microfranchises, told by the enterprises themselves. It continues with a theoretical analysis of the place of microfranchising within global social entrepreneurship. It ends with a look at the future for microfranchising, with recommendations for development. Edited by the former CEO of SolarAid, which created the Sunny Money microfranchise, the book provides a ground-breaking set of case studies and analysis of microfranchising for development. It brings together academics and practitioners to provide context, analysis and practical advice. Indeed, it provides the theory, the practical advice and the case studies to guide any entrepreneur, NGO, business or government interested in setting up their own microfranchise scheme.

Edited by: Nicolas Sireau
Imprint: Greenleaf Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 340g
ISBN: 9781906093433
ISBN 10: 1906093431
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 01 February 2011
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dr Nicolas Sireau was founding Executive Director of SolarAid, an award-winning nonprofit organisation that promotes the use of solar power in developing countries. SolarAid launched and runs Sunny Money, a microfranchise programme that identifies, recruits, trains and manages a growing network of solar entrepreneurs in East and southern Africa. Nicolas started his career as a financial journalist before moving to mainline church charity CWM, then as Director of Communications for international development agency Progressio. Nicolas is a fellow of the Ashoka Network of Social Entrepreneurs. He has a PhD in social psychology from City University, London. He is the author of Make Poverty History: Political Communication in Action (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) and a contributor to The Mediation of Power: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2007). He now devotes the majority of his time to running the AKU Society, a medical charity set up to find a cure for AKU (short for Alkaptonuria), a rare disease affecting his children. He is also a non-executive director of bioinformatics company GenSeq and continues as an advisor to SolarAid.