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Why Encouraging Education in Haiti is a Must

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Haiti boasts a proud history.  In 1804, Haiti officially declared its independence from France and became the first nation to be founded following a successful slave revolt.  Haiti was Latin America’s and the Caribbean’s first independent nation.

Unfortunately, as of today, Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere.  Haiti has a staggering unemployment rate of 40 percent.  In a nation of close to 10 million people, an unemployment rate that high is almost unfathomable.  Haitians struggled for employment and to create a stable economy even prior to 2010.  However, the massive and deadly earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince in 2010 left residents with a crumbling infrastructure and a healthcare disaster.

How would one address these maladies?  While it is most certainly important to rebuild Haiti both physically and economically, these tasks can only be completed if a massive educational overhaul is undertaken.

Educating a young population is the cornerstone to reviving an economy.  Without a proper school system in place, young Haitians face the already depleted job market unskilled and unprepared, creating a cycle of unemployment and poverty.  More must be done to stimulate education in Haiti.

According to USAID, 35 percent of young Haitians are illiterate.  As a direct result, most Haitian children spend less than four years total in school.  Those that do remain in school are most likely not meeting the necessary reading levels of their grades, as 49 percent of children at the third grade level are unable to read.

Even more sobering still is the fact that 50 percent of school-aged children do not have any access to education in Haiti.  Haiti has the lowest enrollment rate in primary education throughout the Western Hemisphere.  The vast majority of that enrollment is in private schools that require close to 40 percent of a family’s annual income, making basic education a financial hardship.  This is due to an absolute dearth of funding by the Haitian government in public education.

An additional estimate by USAID states that close to 50 percent of educational facilities were destroyed or damaged by the 2010 earthquake as well, many not yet repaired or re-opened.

As stated by Benjamin Franklin, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”  If people hope to combat the myriad of problems facing the proud nation of Haiti, they must invest in education.  In doing so, Haiti can create a generation of problem-solvers and skilled workers that can begin to rebuild the ailing nation.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: Hope for Haiti, USAID, CNN
Photo: Wikipedia

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Road to Ending Global Poverty


According to scholars, poverty is just not what it used to be.

With approximately 1.4 billion people living at the poverty line or below, policymakers are reevaluating what the definition of poverty truly comes down to.

“The incidence of poverty in the world is higher than past estimates have suggested. The main reason is that [previous data] had implicitly underestimated the cost of living in most developing countries,” according to The World Bank.

The data fails to reflect the recent global food crisis and increasing costs of energy. These two factors alone are predicted to bring another 100 million people into poverty.

Previously, the label of “poverty” was defined in the terms of income, in reference to the “minimum flow of cash needed to pay for recurring expenses.” Recently, individuals are arguing that these definitions of poverty “fail to measure what it really takes to get by.”

Ending poverty, however, is now seen as not enough to move families beyond “the outskirts of hope.”

The average single mother who has an income of $15,500 is considered to be in the spectrum of poverty. Studies show, that even if that persons income increases to $15,600 and she is moved out of poverty, the financial stability is still minimal.

According to an article by The Huffington Post, “escaping the perpetual financial insecurity of low-wage work requires more than incrementally higher wages, it requires savings and investments for the future. Income helps families get by, but savings and investments help them get ahead.”

The key to overcoming poverty begins with access to a bank account and the proper knowledge of how to use it to sustain funds. The savings are necessary in times of emergency, while the investments build stability for an endured period of time.

Although the overall poverty rate has declined in the last 10 years, keeping individuals out of poverty and preventing others from delving into it is another task entirely.

In addition to savings and investments, reducing inequality and reducing income differences are also key to reducing poverty. The road to ending global poverty is an enduring one, but each great journey begins with a single step.

– Samaria Garrett

Sources: Huffington Post, Global Issues
Photo: MONEAD

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Revolutionize Healthcare, Revolutionize the World

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In order to improve and manage community health, health advocates help organize a plethora of services ranging from health events to educational experiences. Advocates come in many different forms and settings. For instance, health advocates are generally doctors and nurses though other health advocates may come from a different professional background, such as social work. However, health advocates can also come from a background unrelated to medicine, so long as the individual is burgeoning with a passion that centers on raising awareness of health-related issues.

Individuals who work as health advocates will typically aid clients in improving their health care experience by ensuring that clients not only learn about but also have an opportunity to access available programs and resources. According to SoCal Health Advocates, individuals in this field often endeavor to improve the lives of clients by breaking down barriers that prevent people from access to quality healthcare in order to prevent serious illness or prevent relapses.

However, health advocacy is not limited to only physical health. Due to its nature of stigmatization, great effort has been expended into improving mental health advocacy as well. According to the World Health Organization, it is crucial for advocacy efforts to continue educating the public about mental illness in order to truly revolutionize not only the manner in which mental health is perceived but also improve access to mental health treatments.

As part of its mental health advocacy efforts, the WHO has created MiNDbank, an online resource that has pooled together information regarding global policies and services regarding mental health. One of the goals of MiNDbank is to facilitate open debate and discussion about mental health topics in order to promote human rights for mental health patients as well as improving the mental healthcare system as a whole.

It is imperative for advocates to work towards eliminating the stigma and ignorance regarding mental illness, particularly since individuals with mental disabilities are subject to maltreatment and discrimination on a daily basis. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, legal institutions have been unable to protect the basic human rights of these individuals.

Although the United States struggles with the burden of a stigmatized and under-funded mental healthcare system, many countries, lack adequate mental health facilities due to even greater stigma and a general lack of awareness. Therefore, mental health advocates strive to inform society about mental illness in order to reverse the disagreeable image of mental health patients, and ultimately, construct a more efficient, more understanding and more accessible global mental healthcare system.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: SoCal Health Advocates, World Health Organization
Photo: IIR Healthcare

China’s Increasing Investment in Africa

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Over the last two decades, China has gradually invested in Africa, gaining ownership of more and more resources and growing industries. Recently, China has sharply increased these investments, taking on a much larger role in Africa’s future. China’s increasing investment in Africa may signal that the U.S. needs to similarly increase their investment in the region.

Africa’s biggest creditor is the China Import-Export Bank. Officials are in the process of creating the China-Africa Development Fund, which will pump over $2 billion into the developing continent over the next three years. China has replaced the United Sates as Africa’s largest trading partner, as its trade levels with Africa have shot up from $10 billion to $200 billion, over just thirteen years.

There are mixed feelings over China’s growing presence in Africa. To its credit, China has provided much-needed support, providing funding for expensive infrastructure projects and other developmental plans. Such projects have included building schools and roads, creating opportunities for many people in Africa. Similarly, China’s huge economic growth rates have helped boost Africa’s pace of growth as well. China also aids Africa’s growing consumerism by providing cheap products that improve quality of life for many people across the continent.

Conversely, many critics criticize China for overreaching in regards to Africa and taking advantage of their disorganization and lack of regulations. Others emphasize China’s exploitation of Africa’s natural resources. This has left Africa with very little profit compared with what China has made off of these resources, causing many to draw an eerie comparison to the days of European imperialism and exploitation of the continent. China’s mass manufacturing and distribution network, which makes cheap consumer products available, also has a huge advantage over Africa’s smaller upcoming production facilities. China’s ability to distribute cheap products on a wide scale discourages competition and drives many local start-ups out of business.

More alarming still is China’s focus on acquiring Africa’s natural resources. Raw materials comprise approximately 85 percent of Africa’s exports to China, largely consisting of oil and various minerals. The African Development Bank has voiced complaints over this mass export of natural resources, calling for the resources to be processed and developed within Africa in order to create jobs and profit.

Many African governments have started demanding China offer up a greater number of jobs to the African population. As Africa’s population continues to grow, the need for more jobs simultaneously increases. However, China’s established investment patterns tend to bring in their own Chinese workforce, leading to an influx of an estimated one million Chinese migrants to Africa throughout the last twenty years.

China’s soft power investment in Africa will surely lead to greatly increased Chinese influence throughout the developing continent. The question remains whether this will propel Africa to new levels or simply act as a crutch for Africa’s struggle for healthy development and economic growth.

– Allison Meade

Sources: Forbes, Reuters, International Business Times
Photo: USC Dornsife

China to Invest $1.1 Billion in Nigeria

China to Invest $1.1 Billion in Nigeria
Earlier this month Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, joined by a group of state governors and key ministers, visited China with the goal of strengthening ties with this powerful Asian nation. China is one of Nigeria’s largest trading partners, with trade between the two countries expected to reach $10 billion by the end of the year, up from $2 billion in 2005.

But Nigerians were seeking more than a revamped trade agreement from the Chinese. During his visit, President Jonathan emphasized his commitment to leveraging Nigeria’s private sector to drive development, trade, and investment links between the two countries, the investment is key. “We want China to invest more in Nigeria,” stated Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s finance minister.

On July 11, during President Jonathan’s visit, China agreed to give Nigeria a $1.1 billion low-interest loan to improve the country’s infrastructure. The money will help build roads and airport terminals in four major cities as well as a light-rail line for Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, with an estimated 37.3 billion barrels of oil reserves. China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer, just behind the United States, and the largest global energy consumer overall, so it comes as no surprise that China would look to the West African country as a way to diversify its sources of much-needed crude oil.

In return for its investment, China can expect more Nigerian oil. As part of its energy security policy, China wishes to wean itself off crude oil from the Middle East. Nigeria is viewed as an additional source to secure the free flow of the hard commodity.

This relationship also holds great potential for Nigeria. With improved infrastructure and rising demand for its crude oil, China’s investment could prove to be the fix Nigeria’s economy has been waiting for.

– Scarlet Shelton
Sources: Bloomberg, International Business Times, BBC
Photo: Earthwise News

Indian Business Model Can Minimize Food Insecurity in Africa

Indian Business Model Can Minimize Food Insecurity in Africa

The US Agency for International Development is attempting to replicate the success of an Indian business in Africa. The effort is part of a three-year program called Africa Lead, which is associated with the US government’s Feed the Future initiative. Africa Lead aims to train Africans in innovative ways to tackle food security issues in their communities. USAID is sending Africans to Fazilka, a border city of Punjab in Northern India, to train with Zamindara Farm Solutions (ZFS). The company attempts to serve as an all-needs agricultural supply company, and its business model is unique and groundbreaking.

ZFS leases farm equipment with trained operators. This allows the owners of smaller farms, which are extremely prevalent in both India and Africa, to avoid taking out loans to make unnecessary investments inexpensive equipment. As a banker from Uganda who took part in the training program, Nicholas Abenda, observed, “Owning machines in not mandatory” for smaller farmers in Africa. The company also sells new farm equipment and provides maintenance and parts. It also offers education on the most efficient farming methods and on farm economics. It currently has operations in roughly 500 villages in India.

The ZFS business model has multiple advantages. It allows small farmers to avoid going into debt to purchase expensive equipment. Many farmers who make these types of investments are ultimately unable to repay their loans and become overwhelmed by debt. The ability to have access to the equipment without going into debt improves farmers’ financial stability. This allows agricultural production to become cheaper, which can increase farmers’ profit margins and decrease the price of food. Additionally, this business model encourages more farmers to use yield-boosting technologies that they otherwise may not have access to. USAID sees this business model as an innovative way to minimize food insecurity in underfed African communities.

– Katie Fullerton

Sources: The Hindu, The Times of India, Africa Lead
Photo: The Hindu

Asian Venture Philanthropy Network

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Venture philanthropy is a blend of capital and business advice to help entrepreneurial organizations achieve their ambitions for growth and development. They achieve this through three distinct characteristics. The first is an investment-minded approach where an organization supplies multi-year support to ambitious social ventures with tailored financing and sustainability and scalability. Second, they engage in an active partnership by building capacity and infrastructure and bringing non-financial resources to the ventures. And third, it is performance-based through milestones, transparency, social impact, and means of exit strategy.

The Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) is an organization that promotes venture philanthropy across the Asia-Pacific region. The Asian Venture Philanthropy Network is interested in promoting philanthropy through broader philanthropic and social investment communities, with strategies tailored to the needs of the Network’s members. They are based in Singapore and are supported by grant funding, sponsors, and partner organizations. Their backers include organizations and individuals from the finance, business, and social sectors.

The AVPN is taking venture philanthropy and multiplying the impact of financial capital through advisory services and high engagement. The AVPN is a hub for news and events focused on venture philanthropy to develop shared learning and agreed-upon best practices. They are trying to develop active country groups throughout India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and mainland China.

They are working to undertake and develop field-building activities in Asia. The AVPN is modeled off of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA). The EVPA was originally conceived as a modest and informal association to stimulate productive discussion, capture good practice, and encourage new philanthropic funds. The AVPN’s vision for Asia is a philanthropy landscape that responds to the resource needs of high-potential social purpose organizations. They encourage and facilitate the development of venture philanthropy and social enterprise across the Asia-Pacific region.

– Caitlin Zusy
Source: AVPN

6 Qualities of Social Entrepreneurs

6 Qualities of Social Entrepreneurs

The term “social entrepreneur” is used widely in both the business context and that of social volunteering, and for this reason it can be difficult to pin down a distinct definition of “social entrepreneurship.” Some entities like The Skoll Foundation aim to invest in social entrepreneurs, which they define as “society’s change agents: creators of innovations that disrupt the status quo and transform our world for the better.”

So what makes a social entrepreneur? Can it be taught? The Said Business School – an entrepreneurial business school launched in 2003 – clearly believes so. Even so, there are a few qualities that social entrepreneurs share, according to International Journal of Public Sector Management contributor John L. Thompson.

  1. Social entrepreneurs find gaps where needs are not being met. Where business entrepreneurs see an untapped market, social entrepreneurs see an unmet social need. Many social entrepreneurs have a personal stake or experience with this need; Oprah Winfrey, for example, has often cited her childhood years in rural poverty as a key motivation for her many charitable projects.
  2. Social entrepreneurs address this need with creativity and imagination. The way things have always been done is not enough anymore for social entrepreneurs: why else would there be the need in the first place? Social entrepreneur Jane Chen was pursuing an M.B.A. at Stanford when she teamed up with a graduate student class at Stanford to develop an infant warmer that helps stabilize a newborn’s body temperature; the infant warmer only needs 30 minutes of charge to maintain warmth for over 4 hours.
  3. Social entrepreneurs build networks by recruiting other people to the cause. These networks are often irresistibly contagious and use a combination of brilliant marketing and engaging every consumer. People who buy TOMS don’t just buy a pair of shoes, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie says, “They’re kind of joining a movement. And they want to participate in that…. That’s the best type of marketing you can have.”
  4. Social entrepreneurs are able to successfully secure the resources they need. The Borgen Project founder Clint Borgen worked on a fishing vessel to secure start-up capital; TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie sold his online drivers’ education software company. Social entrepreneurs have enough savvy to locate what they need to begin their ventures, whether this comes in the form of “cashing in” what assets they do have, receiving generous seed money, or working extra jobs and long hours.
  5. Social entrepreneurs overcome obstacles that their specific need presents. Leticia Casanueva, founder and executive director of Crea — a nonprofit social enterprise offering business development services to women seeking to start their own business ventures in Mexico — writes that Crea itself had a number of challenges in starting, the chief of which being “the inflexibility of laws that inhibit innovation and investment in social enterprises.” The way Crea was able to overcome this was, in short, to “have a board full of lawyers” to work out every legal nuance. Every enterprise has a context, and the successful social entrepreneur learns to navigate it.
  6. Social entrepreneurs introduce systems to make the venture sustainable and accountable. While many social enterprises shy away from the reputation of being “for-profit,” most agree that the best answer to global poverty is the development of the target market’s economy. Jordan Kassalow, for example, partnered an eyeglasses-donation drive with the development of a network of in-country distributors operating similarly to the Mary-Kay consultant model. VisionSpring utilizes a “high volume, low margin” approach that also offers higher margin products (custom frames, etc.) for higher-spending customers in-country all while providing vision-related services.

On the whole, social entrepreneurs operate very similarly to business entrepreneurs; they must be connected to a specific need, savvy with securing capital, be able to address challenges, and design a system that is able to sustain itself. What Thompson says is the difference, however, “is a strong commitment to help others in some way.”

– Naomi Doraisamy

Sources: The Skoll Foundation, International Journal of Public Sector Management, CNN, Buffalo.edu Forbes VisionSpring The HUB.net
Photo: Tree Hugger

Grow Africa: Accelerating Investments for Sustainable Growth

Grow Africa: Accelerating Investments for Sustainable Growth
Grow Africa is a partnership platform that seeks to accelerate investments and transformative change in African agriculture based on national agricultural priorities and in support of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme, also known as CAADP. CAADP is a program of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which was established by the African Union in 2003. The end goal of the program is to create sustainable growth in each country.

Grow Africa has several concrete goals they are striving to achieve. The first is to increase private sector investments in African agriculture through investment blueprints,  strengthening cross-sector collaboration, and building a pipeline of investments. The second is to enable stakeholder partnerships by developing partnerships to attract investment in initiatives that complement national agriculture sector strategies. And the third is to expand knowledge and awareness of the best practices and existing initiatives. They are working to strengthen investor interest in agriculture by building increased trust and shared commitment.

Six core elements guide Grow Africa’s initiatives. The first is leadership and alignment by public leaders and policy shapers as well as a platform for active co-creation by the private and public sector and civil society members. Second is strategy and priorities defined by what is best for each country and what coincides with the country’s national strategy. The third is investment and entrepreneurship pipeline through bankable investment opportunities, and engagement of groups and organizations to participate in opportunities. Fourth is finance and risk management including risk reduction mechanisms to catalyze investment. Fifth are improvements to hard and soft infrastructure, policy and regulations and human institutional capacity. And finally, there is an additional focus on designing, managing and monitoring the hard and soft infrastructure projects in place.

An example of one of Grow Africa’s initiatives is the Rwanda food basket initiative. Rwanda is working to become a destination for agri-business investment. Rwanda is creating opportunities in the form of a food basket approach that is based on priority commodity value-chains located in highly specific geographic areas. This initiative is directly correlated with Rwanda’s agricultural development strategy, which is aimed at tackling poverty and improving food security. This project enables the environment and infrastructure developed by the government. It is designed to directly access key growth markets for Rwandan produce.

The second example of a Grow Africa initiative is Ethiopia’s agricultural growth project. Ethiopia is working towards transforming its agriculture into a sustainable market-led sector, which would lead to improved food security, environmental conservation, gender inclusion and equity, and contribute to improved middle-income status by 2020. The program is coordinated and implemented by the Agricultural Transformation Agency. They are charged with creating an enabling environment, improving industry structure, and engaging the private sector, as well as increasing productivity of smallholder farms, improving frontline extension quality and scaling irrigation and better land management.

Grow Africa works as a part of the African Union. The program currently has initiatives in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

– Caitlin Zusy
Source: Grow Africa
Photo: UN

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Business and Africa: A Continent on the Move

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May 1, 2013 was the kick-off of the two-day Africa Global Business Forum in Dubai.  Africa, a continent on the move, has been showing promising signs of economic growth and development.  The Africa Global Business Forum is just one more step in the right direction for a continent on the move.

The Africa Global Business Forum, as announced by the UAE Prime Minister, is set to become an annual event.  The forum brings together leaders from Africa and the UAE to promote business investment, development, and collaboration between the nations of Africa and Dubai.  More than 3,500 delegates are in attendance.  The Prime Minister of Uganda gave the keynote address and stressed the importance of the forum as a signal of the interest in African business and investment opportunities.  He also discussed the importance of the private and public sectors working together as has been done in Dubai.

Dubai serves as a center of 150 different shipping lines and could be a very key logistics hub for Africa to export goods.  The young population and growing middle class in Africa are indicators of the potential for increased growth within Africa. Consumer spending is set to hit US $1.4 trillion by 2020. The forum will seek to strengthen alliances between Africa and outside investors with the goal of reducing poverty in Africa and increasing economic growth and self-sufficiency.

Other topics of note at the forum are looking at boosting Africa’s trade through the role of free trade areas and private equity.  Already major telecom companies are looking to invest in Africa and the prospects for future growth and development are exciting.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: CPI Financial