Efosa Ojomo

What is innovation’s role in lifting nations out of poverty and placing them firmly on a path toward prosperity – even in the face of a global crisis? How can entrepreneurs, investors, development experts, policy makers, and government officials focus on the type of innovations that can create lasting growth and prosperity for companies and nations? Efosa Ojomo explains the critical role of innovation in not only helping nations escape poverty, but also in creating prosperity – especially during uncertain times. Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on development projects, commissioned by some of the smartest and most passionate development professionals with years of experience. But somehow, progress is not as rapid and sustainable as many would like. Using theories and models developed by the late Professor Clayton Christensen and his team, Ojomo explains this prosperity paradox. Instead of trying to address visible signs of poverty by pushing resources onto poor countries, says Ojomo, businesses and entrepreneurs must pull resources in through new innovations that create markets of consumers where none previously existed. Drawing from the acclaimed book he co-authored, “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty” (Harper Business, January 2019), Ojomo shows how crises stimulate the kind of groundbreaking innovation and experimentation that generates new markets and creates prosperity for all stakeholders.

While the word “innovation” has become popular and is now seen as good for society, the word has also taken on many different meanings. In Efosa Ojomo’s talks, he rescues the word from its overuse and provides a simple framework that helps managers, policy makers, and organizations understand both the meaning and the different types of innovation. According to his research with the late Professor Christensen, there are three types of innovation, and although all are important for an economy to flourish, each has a vastly different impact on society. The three types of innovations are: market-creating (disruptive), sustaining, and efficiency. In his informative talks, Ojomo breaks down the major differences among these types of innovation, provides examples, and shows how firms can target market-creating innovations for growth. Research by the late Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen and Efosa Ojomo – crystallized in their groundbreaking book “The Prosperity Paradox ” – reveals that the key to success is targeting non-consumption through market-creating innovations. By doing so, firms can develop highly profitable business models in emerging markets. Drawing on countless case studies, Ojomo shares frameworks for both spotting non-consumption and for building a business model that is laser-focused on going after the non-consumers.