#38 – ENVISIONING NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY – SETTING THE STAGE (PART 3) - A NEW RECIPE FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT?

IDEAS TO MAKE THE WORLD MORE BEAUTIFUL

Reporting live, it is your favorite forward-thinking researcher!?I am so excited to share part 3 of our 4 part mini-series with you! Quick recap - So, at the beginning I raised the topic of free-market capitalism within the context of the immigrant perspective. We then talked about the challenges faced by the small business sector and its decline over the last few decades; we specifically focused on the banking sector; we also talked about how we really need to re-imagine the current landscape and use our creativity to uncover new opportunity previously untapped; this could include putting government support behind ideas and innovations that are already organically happening. I want to continue building on this topic; based on the assumption that this economic system is the best for our context, and the challenge we face with small business, I would like to bring in another topic that serves as both a challenge and an opportunity!

Let’s shift our focus to international development. This is a topic that most people know very little about. One thing you should know about me is that I am trained and have quite a few years of experience working in international development on top of being an immigrant to this country. Without going into too many details, I want to paint the landscape of what international development looks like (challenges included) in context to today’s topic and idea.

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• Most of international development facilitated by our government is done through USAID. USAID is primarily staffed by professionals who are not from the countries where they are tasked to serve; this means they lack the important context to understand the nuances of working in those countries like Nigeria and India, for example. Most USAID professionals working in Nigeria are not Nigerian-American, so on and so forth for most countries where USAID operates.
• They primarily work through local country-based non-profits who have a much better understanding of the local context and act as intermediaries.
• Sticking with the example of small businesses; part of the mandate for USAID is to develop economies through supporting small businesses. These businesses are owned and operated by entrepreneurs who are primarily based in the local country.
• Let’s go deeper and take a look at a few examples. Here, here and here are examples of loan support programs in Africa and Asia. All of these involve support to small businesses that rely on working through the local USAID office as well as support made directly to the non-profits based in the country.
• The money being allocated does not directly go towards supporting the small businesses; it tends to vary but a sizeable portion goes towards the operations of the non-profits that act as intermediaries to the ultimate beneficiary which are the small businesses we are looking to support.

What if we had a way to:

1.??? Get more money earmarked directly into the hands of international economic development? In this case, the small businesses we are looking to support?

2.??? Cut out the extraneous costs (better operational efficiency) associated with the intermediaries called out above?

3.??? Reduce risk of failure and boost our (US government and US citizens) Return on Development Investment?

4.??? Support more US based entrepreneurs who are immigrants from the countries we are looking to support?

5.??? Support DECLINING US based small business enterprises like credit unions?!

This is a good stopping point for part 3. I hope to bring it all together strongly with part 4, where I present the solution, and interweave all the pieces of this very complex picture I am trying to paint with words. Thank you so much for being part of this blog. Till part 4, I wish you Love and Light!

P.S. Any growth in life only happens outside of your comfort zone! If you are looking for inspiration on how to step out of your comfort zone, feel free to check out the show that I am the host of on YouTube here! I interview guests who have made the difficult choice to follow their desires and face their fears; and live life with more courageous intention.

Natalia Pollard Ucha Emmanuel Shukriya Nazridod Nicholas Bellinger Rashi Gupta, AIA Maj Anuradha Monga Twinkle Agarwal Cindy Ochoa