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New year

I hardly have treated this blog well as I have not been very consistent. I will attempt to do so now. This year's struggle for me is to get purchase my first accommodation. This is a difficult feat all over the world, but this is made doubly so in Africa with lack of credit, or should I say affordable long term credit. Don't get me wrong, I thank God everyday for being African and being blessed in some of the most difficult economies in the world. However, I think we as Africans need to have a true debate over what economic dispensation we want.

I went to my bank the other day after feeling a little confident about my financial position (both my wife and I finally have a little left over every month after bills), and asked my banker for a loan to begin my quest to purchase a flat in Harare. The banker looked at me and indicated this was not possible to secure a property in Zim with a loan in Zambia (being an expatriate in Zambia) and I would have to bear ridiculously high interest rates if I was to take up an unsecured short term loan.

This has resulted in me having to do it the old fashion way - save! this is not a problem if the banks gave interest for this otherwise I am just losing money.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me get to the point. financial inclusion in Africa is a pipe dream if we try and achieve it using the same rules as the west. Their models do well, but they assume too much for Africa. I do not regard myself as disadvantaged, but if I am going through this what about those in a worse of position than I?

For development to truly take effect it has to start from the stage of financial inclusion. The basic principle is this:

1. if I have a dollar, I should have somewhere safe to put it.
2. If I put that dollar in a bank, it should earn me more than keeping it under my pillow.
3. If I have a record of keeping money in the bank I should have access to loans.

The current structure does not incentivise me to save in the formal system. Until we get these systems working for us, development as we like it cannot occur.

more to follow

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