You can make money while doing good

September 1, 2011 | 1 min read

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioXK5PIOqwU

“Today, India’s energy access for the poor is a one billion dollar market, annually. By 2020 this potentially is a 7 billion dollar market, which will continue to grow over time. The growth potential for India’s energy market is huge, which means there are substantial investment opportunities. Contrary to what many people think, impact investing in not just a philanthropic thing. We believe there to be huge economic opportunities that can be pursued, with commercial rates of return. And at the same time you will do enormous good”. Beshouri gives an insight into India’s green energy market, its growth potential and investment opportunities, and explains what factors investors should take into account when wanting to invest in the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Christopher Beshouri, together with Omidyar Network Managing Director Jayant Sinha, made a study of the characteristics of and opportunities in Bottom of the Pyramid Markets. They see a clear role for investors to boast these markets, with an initiating role for philanthropists and impact investors. In a later stage – once the investments have matured – commercial and institutional investors can step in to invest in a way and on a scale that is appropriate according to their investment models.

During a lunch meeting in Amsterdam in May 2011,they presented their thought-provoking ideas about the development of Bottom of the Pyramid markets in India, focusing on two emerging sectors- medical technology and green energy. In this interview, Christopher Beshouri talks about the green energy sector in India. In another interview, published on FSinsight.org, Sinha focuses on the medical technology sector.

Reference

Beshouri was interviewed after the lunch meeting, which was held at Duisenberg School of Finance, and organized by the Holland Financial Centre and Duisenberg School of Finance.

Audio transcript (mp3)
Low-res video (mp4)