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Witness the economic and social innovations of Grameen Shakti, sister company of the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank.
Shakti masters the art of rural business, letting five million people benefit from light, electricity and additional income.
Shakti is the vanguard model for tackling the enormous market of a billion villagers living far from the electric grid in developing countries.
Read about Shakti s inner mechanics, services, strategies and values-and understand its success.
Enjoy the lively, exotic stories told by pioneers in Bangladesh.

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"Green Energy for a Billion Poor" reveals for the first time the story of Grameen Shakti, uncovering its remarkable growth, its pioneering philosophy and its unparalleled entrepreneurial approach to business. Readers will trace Shakti s evolution in rural Bangladesh - one of the toughest business environments in the world - while learning how they can adopt and adapt the Grameen Shakti way to their own organizations. By understanding and embracing Shakti s innovative business model, readers will learn how they can replicate Shakti s success in a scalable way, showing them how to profit by thinking long-term, providing full service, and bringing green energy and jobs, hope and prosperity to millions of villagers. "Green Energy for a Billion Poor" illustrates the possibilities in the untapped market of billions of rural customers in developing countries who are deprived of electricity. The analysis and description of a unique business model, combined with the authentic stories of those who made it happen, make this a compelling, insightful and entertaining book.

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From the contents:
Preface, Acknowledgements, Foreword
PART 1-the Days of the Pioneers
1 Bootstrapping in the Hinterland
2 Developing the DNA of a Social Business
3 Becoming the Little Company That Could
PART 2-the Art of Rural Business
4 Planting the Seeds of Success in the Field
5 Keeping the Engine Running
6 Working on the Cutting Edge of Business
PART 3-Much Lies Ahead
6 Change Reaches the Village
7 A Quantum Leap in Social Business
Appendix

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Nancy Wimmer is an entrepreneur, researcher, and advisor to the World Council of Renewable Energy. She specializes in microfinance and rural electrification in developing countries. She has been involved with Grameen Bank since 1990 and with Grameen Shakti since its inception in 1996. Her career has many facets. Her political campaigns have targeted the German Government, the European Commission, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Her practical work has led her to the rural parts of Bangladesh, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Honduras, Nepal and Peru. She has lectured and published extensively and has advised investors and entrepreneurs. Nancy, an American citizen, studied law and political science, holds a Masters of Philosophy, and lives with her family near Munich.

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