Inclusive Markets in Brazil: challenges and opportunities for the business ecosystem (PNUD)

Energisa Paraíba's mission is to transform energy into comfort and development, creating sustainable new possibilities and offering power and social solutions to its customers (ENERGISA, 2015). Located in João Pessoa, the capital of the State of Paraíba, Brazil, the company directed efforts to include vulnerable populations by opting for economic intervention initiatives that promoted income generation and employment. The project, called Bem da Gente, was created in 2012, in the community of Muçumagro, in João Pessoa. The proposal is to boost the development of local social and economic communities based on self-sustaining and inclusive businesses that enhance the vocations of the community's residents. Its main objectives are to empower the population with courses and training, expand and improve existing businesses, stimulate creativity and new ventures; and encourage culture and cooperation. Tied to this intention, some problems with Energisa's strategic objectives could be mitigated by the outcome of the project. Difficulties include high delinquency, high costs of cutting and rewiring electricity, presence of losses and thefts as clandestine electrical installations in socially deprived communities. Many stakeholders are part of this network. Dom Cabral Foundation with initial research on socioeconomic diagnosis, creditor banks that have had their microcredit lines, SEBRAE with its training to entrepreneurs, the association of residents of Muçumagro, and the participation of 3E Engenharia, responsible for advising the project operationally. After the implementation of the business, there was the monitoring of entrepreneurs' expenses, with periodic visits, to channel the resources ì and avoid inappropriate uses. The promotion of the social insertion of groups of greater vulnerability and the possibility of creating an environment capable of reversing local conditions of poverty, as well as its sound management, has made Energisa Paraíba the best energy distributor in the Northeast 2014, in addition to its good evaluations by the ANEEL Index (National Energy Agency Consumer Satisfaction (IASC), among other awards. As result we can see a decrease in energy loss from 21% in 2012 to 2% in 2014 and delinquency from 6.35% in 2012 to 4.65% in 2013, reflecting the increase in the company's revenues. The Bem da Gente project aligned the strategy to the company's core business improving the company's reputation, meeting the efficiency targets of Aneel's energy efficiency, and job creation in the community, among other positive results. The solution lies in the company's ability to develop the energy efficiency department and combine business and social outcomes. Finally, Energisa promotes citizenship among vulnerable populations without thinking about the direct profit that an inclusive program could generate.