Neither poverty nor prosperity are permanent conditions for societies; poor countries have risen from hardship to wealth within decades. But, by and large, we lack an understanding of how that transformation takes place.

In a recent, critically acclaimed book, “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty” (HarperBusiness, January 2019), authors Clayton Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon provide the missing framework.

Prosperity, the authors argue, is generated by market-creating innovations – products and services that create consumers where none previously existed – and these which have the potential to not only uplift entire nations from poverty but allow innovative businesses to reap enormous returns on investment and dominate markets for years and even generations to come.

In the latest episode of the Minds Worth Meeting podcast, co-author Efosa Ojomo, Senior Research Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, reveals what constitutes market-creating innovations and how businesses can use them to prosper in unexpected places. Drawing on the examples contained in “The Prosperity Paradox” ranging from the Ford Model T to Tolaram instant noodles, Ojomo offers a blueprint for companies seeking a new way to invest and thrive in frontier markets.
Often, according to Ojomo’s framework, the key is not to go where the money already is, but to where it isn’t. Only then can you develop the kind of innovative product or service that transforms the way of life for millions of people – and launches your company to the status of a household name.

For more information about “The Prosperity Paradox” and Efosa Ojomo’s work as discussed in this episode, visit the links below:

• How Innovative Companies Help Frontier Markets Grow (Harvard Business Review, February 2019) - https://hbr.org/ideacast/2019/02/how-innovative-companies-help-frontier-markets-grow
• Want to Foster Prosperity? Focus on Market-creating Innovations (Knowledge at Wharton, February 2019) - https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/prosperity-paradox-clayton-christensen/
• “The Prosperity Paradox” Review: A Better Way to Fight Poverty (The Wall Street Journal, January 2019)- https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-prosperity-paradox-review-a-better-way-to-fight-poverty-11548890942#comments_sector
• How 1 Company – and Its Insanely Popular and Cheap Noodles – Transformed Nigeria (Inc., January 2019) - https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/clayton-christensen-prosperity-paradox.html
• Visit Efosa’s website: https://efosaojomo.com/
• Follow Ojomo on Twitter: @EfosaOjomo

Efosa Ojomo is available for speaking engagements and advisory/consulting services through exclusive representation by Stern Speakers, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.

For more from Minds Worth Meeting, follow us on social media @sternstrategy, @sternspeakers and visit https://sternstrategy.com/minds-worth-meeting/.