While exact definitions of inclusive business (IB) models vary, there is broad agreement that they integrate the poor as consumers, distributors, suppliers or employees. Many programmes engage with individual businesses to facilitate risky investments; others seek more systemic solutions, e.g. by promoting an enabling environment for inclusive business, or relying on market systems approaches to scale up and replicate successful models. This page explores debates, current practice and advice.
Additional resources on inclusive business and capacity development support are available via the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN).
For a 3-minute introductory video on Inclusive Business for Development by BMZ (2014), click here.
DCED publication 
External publication
Three-page summary of current debates on what inclusive businesses are, whether they can effectively reach the poor, and how best to support them and measure their results.
Two-page summary of the DCED’s extensive review of experience and evidence in this area.
This ten-page note provides a summary of what it means to be an inclusive business. It highlights four key features that distinguish inclusive business from other business.
- Women’s Economic Empowerment Through Inclusive Business in ASEAN. IBAN, GIZ, 2023
- Lessons learned from the IBAN experience: Part 1: Scoping. Part 2: Integrating at the policy level. GIZ, 2022
- Reaching deep in low-income markets. Enterprises achieving impact, sustainability, and scale at the base of the pyramid, Deloitte, 2017
- Uncharted Waters: Blending Value and Values for Social Impact through the SDGs, Business Call to Action, 2016
- Growth for Good or Good for Growth? How Sustainable and Inclusive Activities are Changing Business and Why Companies Aren’t Changing Enough, Citi Foundation et al., 2014
- Why and how are donors supporting social enterprises?, ODI, 2014
- Innovative Business Approaches for the Reduction of Extreme Poverty and Marginality, Baumueller, 2013
- The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Prahalad, 5th edition, 2009
General resources on inclusive business support options and ongoing initiatives
- Frontiers of Inclusive Innovation: Formulating technology and innovation policies that leave no one behind, UNESCAP, 2021
- Guidelines for the Promotion of Inclusive Business in ASEAN, ASEAN Secretariat, 2021 (focuses on public policy instruments)
- G20 Inclusive Business Activity Update, IBAN, 2018
- Inclusive Business Toolbox. Promoting Inclusive Business Models in Development Cooperation Programs, GIZ, 2015
- Inclusive Business Framework, G20, 2015
- NGO and company partnerships for inclusive business, Endeva, 2019
- More than money: Mapping the landscape of advisory support to inclusive business, USAID, 2017
- Public-Private Partnerships in global value chains. Can they actually benefit the poor?, Duke University for USAID, 2015
- Multiplying impact: Supporting the replication of inclusive business models, BMZ, 2014
- Growing together – strengthening micro-enterprises in value chains, CARE International, 2016
- Smallholder engagement with the private sector, EPS PEAKS Topic Guide, 2014
- Business models for decent work, ILO, 2019
- Shaping Inclusive Markets. How Funders and Intermediaries can Help Markets Move toward Greater Economic Inclusion, FSG, 2017
- Business and International Development: Is Systemic Change Part of the Business Approach?, IDS, 2014
- Beyond the Pioneer: Getting Inclusive Industries to Scale, Monitor Inclusive Markets, 2014
- Social Impact Investment 2019. The Impact Imperative for Sustainable Development, OECD, 2019
- Corporate Impact Venturing at the Base of the Pyramid, Endeva, 2019
- Impact investing: Measurement valued by investee businesses, DCED, 2017
- Impact Investing: who are we serving? A case of mismatch between supply and demand, Oxfam, 2017
- In it for the long haul – case study of the Rwandan tea sector, Gatsby/Wood Foundation, 2020
- New Leaf – Transforming livelihoods through the tea industry in Tanzania, NOSC, 2020
- What does it take to go big? Management practices to bring inclusive businesses to scale, Business Call to Action, 2019
- Reaching the Last Mile. Innovative Business Models for Inclusive Development, The World Bank, 2018
Photo credits: Saira Habib/ MDF Pakistan