The business of vaccines during a pandemic: How the Serum Institute of India’s $1.2 Billion Covid-19 wager paid off

Mr. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) – the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer –  was recently hosted by the student-led LBS India Club. Mr Poonawalla discussed with Krati Jain MBA2022 and vice president of the India Club, his ambition to accelerate vaccine equity across the globe, and his thoughts on how the…

Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: Land and housing policy

Through pre-emptive urban planning the government can signal public investment and encourage coordinated private investment in land. How can land and housing policy improve real-estate markets in African cities? Slums are characterised by both low public and private capital investment and are pervasive in urban Africa. Various policy responses are proposed to create urban neighbourhoods…

A career inspired by a journey from Cape Town to Cairo with Till Trojer

“Anthropology forces you to reset and rewire your own thinking process. You have to train yourself to be open to the world around” An anthropologist and filmmaker, Dr Till Trojer recently joined the Wheeler Institute as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow.  We touched on his ambition for his research at the Wheeler Institute, and discussed his…

Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: Challenges in real-estate markets

Customary land-tenure systems, which can work well in the rural hinterland, cannot accommodate the high prices and complex land markets of large, modern cities. There are at least two key institutional features that present challenges to the land markets of African cities: a lack of property rights and minimal urban planning. Property rights are fundamental…

Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: The role of housing and real estate in rapidly growing cities

Urbanisation in Africa represents a huge opportunity for the continent. The increased concentration of people in urban spaces is good for workers and businesses alike, since economic density will bring gains in productivity and quality of life. There are 500 million people living in African cities with another 700 million expected by 2050. This population…

COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in South Africa… how has the country performed in response to the crisis? How will it recover?

One year on, how has the South African Government performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Professor Nick Binedell – Professor and Former Dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria – to share his views on the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and to…

Turkey’s economy… the last two decades

One year on, how has Turkey performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan – Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics and Finance University of Maryland – back to share her views on the Turkish government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis over the past year, and her hopes for…

Russia: a brief history and the prolonged impact of COVID-19

One year on, how has the Russian Government performed during the COVID-19 crisis? The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development invited Sergei Guriev – Professor of Economics at Sciences Po – to share his views on the state of the economy, politics and business in Russia before discussing the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis…

Generating Better Marketing for a Better World Research Ideas

Better Marketing for a Better World (BMBW) Proseminar – Session 1 Faculty Leaders: Rajesh Chandy, London Business School and Christine Moorman, Duke University  Date: 28 September, 9-11:30AM ET / 2 – 4:30PM BST  Target Audience: Faculty and Ph.D. students interested in developing research in the BMBW area Register via Zoom Session Summary The objective of this…

Is there a science to scale? Launch of the DigitalxScale website and report

Nearly 15 years ago, M-PESA launched as one of the world’s first mobile money payment systems – catalysing business growth and banking those otherwise excluded from formal financial institutions. Today more than 700 fintech companies operate across the African continent. Collectively, these fintech companies have created digital payment infrastructures that help businesses and individuals overcome…