A New Chapter, a New Blog

I’m a social entrepreneur working in Zambia, hoping to come up with a sustainable solution to the enormous inefficiencies experienced by rural communities.

My current idea is asset financing.  The average family in the average village receives goods and services that can be much cheaper, and thus the one or two dollars a day they make could be stretched much further if those goods and services could be provided in a more efficient way.  In other words, I believe that by choosing to focus on efficiency, poverty alleviation will follow. The complexity and nuances of this belief is something I’ll get into later.

In 2010 I started a social enterprise called Rent-to-Own.  It remained an experiment for a while, I raised capital from an amazing group of friends and family, then in August 2011 we transitioned into a corporation thanks to the backing of the Lundin Foundation in a quasi-equity investment. 

We provide distribution, training, financing and servicing on productive technologies to small businesses and farmers in rural Zambia.  We currently have 15 amazing full-time staff, 30 agents and 300 clients using our equipment to increase their income and improve their goods and services to their customers.

This is a blog that I’ll use to share the epiphanies and the “ah-ha” moments that I experience.  It may be irregular and it may only be this one posting, but at least it's started.