Empowerment through Micro Lending

-- Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian economist, formerly of Goldman Sachs and educated at Harvard and Oxford, in an interview with Newsweek magazine ahead of the New York launch of her new book, "Dead Aid." Moyo writes that foreign aid (a trillion dollars over the past 60 years) is a waste: it's bad for Africa, she says -- and for Africans – keeping the continent in a supplicant's role when its governments need to become self-sufficient. Moyo believes this dependency relationship is perpetuated by Western governments and glorified by the celebrities who have made Africa their cause du jour. "Taking a picture with a starving African child -- that doesn't help me raise an African child to believe she can be an engineer or a doctor," she said. Moyo recommends shutting off all foreign aid to African within 10 years.
Global Development Briefing

Moyo is being heralded as the "Anti-Bono" and her Q&A with the NY Times can be seen here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/magazine/22wwln-q4-t.html

In my opinion Moyo makes an excellent case for the use of micro-finance and giving people the tools they need to survive. The goal of microfinance is to enable people to become business owners and create jobs - both are practices that support sustainable growth.

"Comprehensive impact studies have demonstrated that:
- Microfinance helps very poor households meet basic needs and protect against risks;
- The use of financial services by low-income households is associated with improvements in - household economic welfare and enterprise stability or growth;
- By supporting women's economic participation, microfinance helps to empower women, thus promoting gender-equity and improving household well-being;
- For almost all significant impacts, the magnitude of impact is positively related to the length of time that clients have been in the programme." (UNCDF Microfinance)

Want to learn more or become a lender? Check out the following sites:

• http://www.kiva.org/
• http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
• http://www.microfinancegateway.org/
• http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/

With the global financial crisis hitting across all regions, countries and sectors, it is important not to let the world step back and banks withdraw from the practice of micro-lending.