Local business programs branch out

The best way to boost the economies of developing nations may be to bypass businesses and directly empower the youth, some local business education experts say.

Thanks to a $50 million grant from Legatum, an international organization that invests in developing nations, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced Monday plans for the creation of a new academic center dedicated to entrepreneurship in developing nations.

The Legatum Center will educate the most promising and business-minded young adults from third-world countries to enhance the skills and knowledge necessary for them to return home and begin successful businesses, said center spokesman Oliver Phillips.

“The Legatum Center will help students develop and commercialize new technologies, while exploring the application of practical, enterprise-based solutions to address deep-rooted problems in developing nations,” a Sept. 17 MIT press release states.

Legatum President Mark Stoleson said his company has been involved in international capital markets for more than two decades, with the goal of stimulating weaker economies. A talented entrepreneur can become a business leader and a real boost to the economy in an emergent market, Stoleson said.

“One person really can change the world,” he said in an interview.

Legatum chose MIT for its “legacy of the practical application of knowledge,” said Managing Director Alan McCormick.

“[Success requires] good ethical business practices, and a ‘sound policy environment’ for growth,” he said.

While some institutions, including the Boston University School of Public Health Center for International Health and Development, provide business services and assistance to developing nations, Legatum Center Core Team member Michael Maltese said MIT will be the first to offer guidance to individual entrepreneurs.

“Instead of creating nonprofit organizations, like many other universities, we’re trying to be different, focusing on for-profit, technology-driven innovations,” Maltese said. “We are trying to be a unique center at an entrepreneurial institution.”

Maltese said the story of Iqbal Quadir, the center’s executive director, helped inspire the program.

After receiving an education in the United States, Quadir returned to his native Bangladesh and founded GrameenPhone, a successful telecommunications business that brought the technology — and an economic boost — to Bangladesh, Maltese said.

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship is expected to open in fall 2008, with an expected enrollment of between five and 10 students and is expected to increase in size each year.