By Yaroslav Lissovolik

In one of our 2023 articles we wrote about the importance of the social dimension for BRICS, including themes such as addressing social imbalances and income inequality in the bloc’s economies. Indeed, the social dimension for BRICS+ is paramount for a range of reasons, including perhaps most importantly the dominant share of the bloc in the world’s population – a share that has now exceeded 50%. In this respect, there is one social development track that may prove to be particularly important in the future evolution of BRICS+, namely social entrepreneurship. Some of the most successful cases of social entrepreneurship come from BRICS members such as India and there is ample scope to scale such business models to the rest of the Global South. Within this paradigm, the BRICS could reshape the global corporate map by advancing new business models and placing social entrepreneurship at the center of the world’s corporate agenda.

Social entrepreneurship prioritizes the attainment of social goals and social impact (ranging from greater social inclusion and lower economic inequality to healthcare and education) as part of the “fundamental objective” of the company rather than profit-maximization. Social enterprises to a significant degree address market failures and provide public goods and services where mainstream, profit-driven companies do not deliver sufficient supply to market demand. Depending on the degree to which the enterprise is driven by profit maximization three types of social enterprises are distinguished: leveraged non-profit (less profit-orientation), hybrid non-profit and the “social business” model (more geared towards profit-orientation).

Some of the most successful cases of social entrepreneurship come from India – one of the text-book examples is the Aravind Eye Care System that provides health services to millions of patients across the country. What started as an 11-bed clinic was turned into “one of the largest and most productive eye-care facilities in the world”. Two-thirds of patients are treated free of charge, with fees introduced for the wealthier patients that through high volumes subsidize the free health care component and deliver a profit for the company. Since its creation the company performed 2.8 million surgeries and treated more than 22 million patients. The result is a sustainable business model that delivers high quality and low costs in a segment that is critical for communal livelihood. Other successful cases of social entrepreneurship across EM include the Egyptian company Sekem that develops biodynamic farming methods – nearly half of its sales are accounted for by exports; another case is Barefoot College in India that provides education for the poor strata of the society.

The above cases of corporate success are corroborated by my experience of discussing such social projects in BRICS economies. During my travels to India for the BRICS Educational Expedition (BEE) I was greatly impressed by the entrepreneurial energy and talent demonstrated by the young participants of the forum. These young students presented their business models, solutions to business cases and brought to me an avalanche of business innovations adopted in India in the social entrepreneurship sphere. There is undoubtedly a tremendous potential in countries such as India, Iran, Egypt, Brazil and other BRICS economies to expand social entrepreneurship across the developing world.

In view of the experience of BRICS economies and in particular India’s successes in the sphere of promoting social enterprises, supporting social entrepreneurship could become one of the themes for India’s chairmanship in BRICS in 2026. This in turn would bear similarities to the priorities set forth in its G20 presidency that among other initiatives singled out the support for start-ups and the creation of a Start-up 20 by India in 2023.

As part of this effort, the BRICS could undertake a broad policy shift supporting social entrepreneurship through the following channels and initiatives:

- Establish a dedicated/separate committee/track for social entrepreneurship within the framework of the BRICS Business Council; explore the potential for employing business model innovation (BMI) by large mainstream companies to deliver greater social impact

- Introduce a platform for social entrepreneurship and exchange in best practices as well as networks for alliance-building among the social enterprises within the framework of the BRICS Civil Council

- NDB to provide financing and technical assistance support to social enterprise projects – a trend that is becoming increasingly important in the project financing undertaken by other MDBs

- Create a platform among the Sovereign Wealth Funds of BRICS+ economies that would make investment allocations in line with the impact investing principles and guidelines, including through the financing of social enterprises and projects in BRICS+ economies

- BRICS educational events, including the BRICS summer schools could accord greater attention to developing BRICS business models in the sphere of social entrepreneurship, including some of the projects ideated by the students themselves

- Mainstream social enterprises into BRICS corporate/business culture: facilitate partnerships between leading large corporations of BRICS economies and their peers from among the social enterprises – this allows for more targeted support accorded to social entrepreneurs/social enterprises and allows greater scope for large corporations from BRICS countries to lead in social responsibility

- In addition to BRICS social business models in the real sector, there is scope to develop portfolios of BRICS social projects and social enterprises for impact investors (from BRICS and globally) in the financial sphere. Developing model portfolios in BRICS social enterprises as well as financial instruments based on the performance of social enterprises may be a further extension of the financial side of BRICS efforts to deliver a social impact. In particular, there could be scope for securitizing portfolios of loans to social enterprises, thus creating a tradable financial instrument for BRICS financial market participants

What the above proposals suggest is that there is an important reinforcement factor in the development of social business models by BRICS in the real sector on the one hand and the financial instruments of impact investing that are based on the performance of such social companies on the other. The more advanced the development of business models in social enterprises, the more scope for the creation of underlying financial instruments/portfolios and the greater the advances made by BRICS companies in the areas of corporate social responsibility and impact investing.

Another important implication of the above discussion is that there are multiple ways for real sector companies and financial firms to deliver a strong social impact. Apart from the social enterprises or impact investors, the large mainstream companies could explore the potential of employing existing BMI strategies as well as innovate new business models themselves that could deliver the dual benefit of greater social impact and corporate financial performance. Some of the existing BMI strategies in delivering a greater social impact may include the likes of “Target the poor”, “Price differentiation” (employed by Aravind), “Robin Hood”, “Pay what you want”, “Prosumer”. In this context, the BRICS+ business model that we advanced in 2024, could be upgraded to incorporate elements that reinforce social impact across emerging markets.

In the end, the social enterprise dimension may be one of the most promising venues for boosting BRICS business, financial and social development. It enriches the BRICS with a widening set of business models in the real sector and with greater opportunities for impact investment in the financial sphere. India’s presidency in BRICS in 2026 is a perfect platform to advance the social enterprise agenda on the basis of the strides made by India’s social entrepreneurs. In the longer term, the social enterprise dimension may become an important part of the BRICS cultural and business code, making corporate social responsibility an increasingly prominent part of the global business agenda.

Yaroslav Lissovolik is Founder of BRICS+ Analytics.