The Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, have announced the shortlist for the 2015 FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards, a major global programme that highlights ground-breaking, long-term private sector solutions to today’s development challenges.
The 2015 FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards mark a decade of collaboration between FT and IFC on global awards initiatives that have had a substantial impact on the way financial and non-financial institutions approach sustainable investment. These initiatives began in 2006 with the FT/IFC Sustainable Banking Awards, which evolved into the Sustainable Finance Awards in 2011 and the Transformational Business Awards in 2014.
For 2015, special attention was given to initiatives that address structural challenges in rapidly growing urban areas. A total of 191 entries were received from 167 organisations involving projects in 140 countries.
The shortlisted nominees are as follows:
Achievement in Urban Transformation
Financiera Sustentable de Mexico
Heksagon Kati Atik Yönetimi Sanayi ve Ticatet, Turkey
Nedbank Group, South Africa
Pell Frischmann, UK
Sanergy, Kenya
Tianjin Hi-tech Environment Development, China
XacBank, Mongolia
Special Award: Excellence in City Transformation
Agra Nagar Nigam / Agra Municipal Council, India
Barcelona City Council, Spain
Monrovia City Corporation, Liberia
People’s Committee of Da Nang City, Vietnam
Municipality of Dakar, Senegal
eThekwini Municipality / Durban Metropolitan Council, South Africa
Pereira Passos Municipal Institute / City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Achievement in Information and Communications Technology
Farmerline, Ghana
Operation ASHA, India
WhereIsMyTransport, South Africa
Achievement in Transformational Finance
Banking Environment Initiative, UK
bKash, Bangladesh
Citi, US
Credit Suisse, Switzerland
International Finance Facility for Immunisation, UK
Lion’s Head Global Partners, UK
Zopa – Peer-to-peer Lending, UK
Achievement in Inclusive Business
Cummins Cogeneration, US
Echale a tu Casa, Mexico
MicroEnsure, UK
Novartis International, Switzerland
Off.Grid: Electric, Tanzania
Tribanco, Brazil
UnionPay, China
John Thornhill, deputy editor of the Financial Times and co-chair of the Transformational Business Awards judging panel, said: “The shortlist for this year’s awards underscores the innovation that is being generated by private business and finance, often in collaboration with public entities, to achieve impactful solutions to the challenges faced by developing economies. We are also delighted with the response to the Special Award designed to highlight achievements by city governments working to address social and environmental needs in their jurisdictions.”
“Some 6 billion people will be living in cities by 2045, many of them in developing economies, and it will take the cooperation of the private and public sectors to meet the future demand for infrastructure and jobs,” said Nena Stoiljkovic, vice president, World Bank Group Global Practices and Cross-Cutting Solution Areas, vice president of IFC Global Partnerships and co-chair of the judging panel. “The shortlisted nominees in all the award categories have models that other organizations can look at and adapt.”
The winners in each category will be announced at a dinner at the InterContinental Park Lane in London on 11 June 2015.
The awards judging panel consists of:
- John Thornhill(co-chair)
- Nena Stoiljkovic (co-chair)
- David Harris, director, FTSE ESG
- Hadeel Ibrahim, founding executive director, Mo Ibrahim Foundation
- Mary-Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO, Women’s World Banking
- Chris Locke, founder, Caribou Digital
- Steve Rayner, James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization, and director, Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, Oxford University
- Henrik Skovby, executive chairman, Dalberg Group
PwC is technical advisor to the programme.
The awards dinner will conclude the inaugural FT/IFC Transformational Business Conference, a one-day summit that will gather thought leaders and senior decision-makers from the private and public sectors to discuss the policies and most effective solutions to the key social and environmental challenges facing rapidly growing urban areas in developing economies. Confirmed speakers for the conference include:
- Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation international professor of economics at MIT and co-author, Poor Economics
- Rachel Kyte, group vice president and special envoy, climate change, World Bank
- Michael Pawlyn, director, Exploration Architecture
- Uma Adusumilli, chief of planning division, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
- Michael Berkowitz, president, 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation
- Michael J. Dixon, general manager, Global Smarter Cities Business, IBM
- Gustaf Landahl, head of department, City of Stockholm
- Martin Powell, head of urban development, Siemens AG
- Philipp Rode, executive director, LSE Cities and senior research fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science
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For further information, please contact:
Kristina Eriksson, FT: Kristina.Eriksson@ft.com
Nadezda Nikiforova, IFC: nnikiforova@ifc.org
About the Financial Times:
The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 720,000. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving almost half of total traffic. FT education products now serve two thirds of the world’s top 50 business schools.
About IFC:
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit www.ifc.org