First-place winner of the 2015 Next Billion competition. Haroldo Montealegre, CEO of MPESO, a mobile money social enterprise based in Managua, Nicaragua, founded his company as a means of extending financial services to the unbanked and underbanked citizens of the country. He is wondering if he should expand MPESO’s array of financial services for Nicaraguans or to scale his bus fare card (which replaces Managua’s cash-only system for most buses) to other countries. The bus fare product has enabled MPESO to cover its high fixed and variable costs in Nicaragua and scaling the bus fare model to other countries will allow the company to grow its profits. He has to decide if the benefits of scaling operations to new countries are worth delaying or compromising his mission at home.
MPESO: Democratizing Finance in Nicaragua
by: Rodrigo Cuestas, Julian Chernyk
Publication Date: April 3, 2015
Length: 20 pages
Product ID#: 1-429-424
Core Disciplines: Base of the Pyramid, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Social Impact, Sustainability
Partner Collection:
Available Documents
Click on any button below to view the available document.
Don't see the document you need?
Don't See the Document You Need?
Make sure you are registered and/or logged in to our site to view product documents. Once registered & approved, faculty, staff, & course aggregators will have access to full inspection copies and teaching notes for any of our materials.
Make sure you are registered and/or logged in to our site to view product documents. Once registered & approved, faculty, staff, & course aggregators will have access to full inspection copies and teaching notes for any of our materials.
$3.95
Need to make copies?
If you need to make copies, you MUST purchase the corresponding number of permissions, and you must own a single copy of the product.
Electronic Downloads are available immediately after purchase. "Quantity" reflects the number of copies you intend to use. Unauthorized distribution of these files is prohibited pursuant to term of use of this website.
Teaching Note
This product has a teaching note available. Available only to Registered Educators. Please login to view it.
Description
Teaching Objectives
After reading and discussing the material, students should:
- Discuss the difficulties and impediments of doing business in developing country climates.
- Explore the challenges of upsetting the status quo.
- Understand how mobile money works.
- Analyze how to balance the need for financial sustainability with the social mission of MPESO, and identify if MPESO deserves to be called a social enterprise.
- Recognize the mission drift that financial returns and sustainability can cause.