Bottom-Up Economics
Aug 01, 2003 
Tags: Economics , Iqbal Quadir, Press
In a conversation with Harvard Business Review, Iqbal Quadir explains how investment in emerging entrepreneurs is an effective means of achieving prosperity in the developing world.
by Iqbal Quadir, Gardiner Morse
If GrameenPhone is so successful, why hasn't it been widely replicated?
Good ideas aren't replicated instantly; GrameenPhone took nearly five years to go from concept to launch. In most developing countries, it takes months to incorporate a new company and years to get a cellular license, not to mention the difficulties in assembling management and attracting capital. And in many countries, government bureaucracies resist entrepreneurial activities that may redistribute power. Vested interests protect private and public monopolies and quasi monopolies. There are systemic obstacles and huge barriers to entry. Remember, also, that companies are not replicated outright anywhere. Specific features are. The question isn't, Why hasn't GrameenPhone been duplicated? It's, Are there features of the GrameenPhone model that can be replicated in other environments? Its most important feature isn't the phone system itself but the microloans that mobilize an army of individual entrepreneurs to profitably meet an unsatisfied need. Read more at Harvard Business Review >>
