Can Our Leaders Learn How To Empower Ghana's Base-Of-The-Pyramid Demographic From Global Non-Profits Such As Kiva?

As a result of having to tackle a case of mistaken identity to do with an unpaid loan to a company known as Concord Landscaping Limited, which was apparently adanced the sum of GHc130,000 by the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) in 2013 but has failed to repay it, the VCTF has been on my radar lately.

I was horrified when I learnt about  the shambolic manner in which the various funds - such as the VCTF - set up by the government to empower SME owners and young micro-entrepreneurs throughout Ghana had ended up being mismanaged in the most egregious of fashions.

Thinking about the poor loan repayment records of many of those government SME and youth funds, it struck me that global non-profit organisations that grant loans to poor people around the world and have stellar repayment records, such as Kiva, could actually teach the managers in charge of the various government funds in Ghana a great deal  about the transparent disbursement, monitoring and recovery of loans.

Perhaps if they were amenable to it, the government could enter into private public partnership (PPP) agreements with such global non-profit organisations to take over the disbursement and  monitoring of the taxpayers' monies given out as loans to young entrepreneurs from the various funds set up by government for that purpose.

Were that to happen, there is no question  that  repayment rates for all those government SME and youth funds would improve dramatically.

And Ghanaians would not have to regularly read horrific newspaper stories about individuals and businesses accessing such taxpayer funds either not repaying their loans or not being able to be traced at all - when today we have the what3words addressing system to enable society locate every building or structure in the world. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o.

These are some of the impressive numbers for Kiva:
2.5M Borrowers
83 Countries
1.6M Lenders
$1.03B Loans funded through Kiva
97.1% Repayment rate.

At the very least, surely, it would be worthwhile for the current government to meet with organisations such as Kiva, to share ideas about how government funds for young people and SMEs can be managed well and transparently?

Since they have nothing to lose but a  great deal   to gain for young people in Ghana, one hopes that the powers that be will take a look at a  Kiva-funded   SAMA SAMA toilet  project in the north with its local partner,  iDE Ghana,  to "implement the SAMA SAMA toilet project, which  aims to distribute 61,560 toilets to 3 of the most marginalized regions of northern Ghana by 2020." to quote Kiva's website.

Finally, with respect, this blog is pretty sure that those now running our country might learn a thing or two about giving out loans to empower the base-of-the-pyramid demographic in Ghana - and  recovering such sums successfully so that yet more deserving Ghanaians can be empowered economically - from efficiently run global non-profits such as Kiva. Food for thought.