It's done...

Well folks, Debbie and I would like to thank you for your contributions and support. We still have a little over three months before the wedding, but the favor is actually in action right now. Let's briefly recap, shall we?

First, Debbie and I posted about the rationale behind choosing microlending over bubble-blowers, Hersey's Kisses, and the like. Also, we put a poll on this blog soliciting your contribution to the process. We were stunned by the number of views the blog had and by how many of you cast votes in the poll. Overwhelmingly, you chose that we lend to Africa's agriculture sector. In tandem with the next post we put up a poll asking which country appealed to you the most. Togo, by the narrowest of margins [one vote], edged out Senegal and (surprisingly) Mauritius. Here's where it comes off the tracks a little bit. Debbie and I sat down this evening to choose an entrepreneur using the criteria you all voted for in the polls, but unfortunately no more Togolese were seeking loans to aid in agriculture development. In fact, as of 1:00 AM Sunday morning, no entrepreneurs in Africa were seeking agriculture loans. Thus, in accordance with our contingency plan, we chose an entrepreneur that most resembles the criteria you all specified. That individual is...


Kodzo Adzaho of Wome, Togo

Mr. Adzaho's Kiva profile:

Kodzo Adzaho, age 30, is married and the father of one child. He owns a grocery store in Womé, a village located northwest of Lomé, the capital of Togo. His business is doing very well. With this loan, he wishes to resupply his store in order to meet customer demand. He counts on this opportunity to improve the standard of living of his family.

Sure, this individual isn't a farmer nor a herder. But, without Mr. Adzaho's business, many of the Togolese living in Wome would not have access to the products he stocks. Further, the loan he's requesting is to be used to supplement his retail business, fully in-line with the libertarian underpinnings of this project. Mr. Adzaho's success is now in his hands, and we wish him the best of luck. Kind of makes you feel like a venture capitalist, doesn't it?

Being said, I hope you'll continue to follow this blog as we follow Kodzo's progress. We'll keep you in the loop with his fundraising, use, and repayment status, as well as any posts the Kiva field partner forwards on about this enterprise. Also, I'd like for you guys and gals to look into microlending, too. At Kiva, you can start for as little as $25, and you stand an excellent chance of making all that money back. There is also Grameen, Unitus, and many others. Please consider it.

The people have spoken!

I must admit, I had different goals in mind for this post. I figured I would look through the available entrepreneurs, copy links to the top five, and make a poll to the right like we had before. I queued up about 15 potentials in the tabs. As I was wrapping up the first person's section, I refreshed to make sure I had their stats as up-to-date as possible. In the half hour since I had originally opened that tab, this particular person had $225 raised for their cause. That led me to think that posting about the entrepreneur prior to the actually lending the money is might not be the best idea, as many loans are fully raised within a couple days. However, since this is an interactive experience, I didn't want this to be completely unilateral. Therefore, I'll break it down into the countries that are most popular using the criteria you all provided in the polls last time. Again, there is a poll on the right to suggest which country you would like us to lend in.

So, without further adieu...

THE STATS

-As promised, $100 has been put into our Kiva account.
-78% of those casting votes suggested that we lend in the AGRICULTURE sector.
-89% of those casting votes suggested we lend in sub-Saharan AFRICA.

So, sub-Saharan agriculture it is. At a cursory glance, here are the countries that seem to be seeking the most agriculture loans.

1. Togo
2. Senegal
3. Mauritius
4. Uganda
5. Nigeria
6. Zimbabwe -DQ'ed

ABOUT THESE COUNTRIES

You didn't think this post would be free of the dry, educational section did you? Come on, you have to admit most people haven't even heard of some of these countries. The most popular two are only recent in peoples' minds do spam e-mails and "The Last King of Scotland." I'll keep this short, but it is good to know this information.

TOGO

Togo's an improving country. Well, it was. Its urban centers (well, I guess Lome is the only large city) are blighted with the same problems as any large city in regards to crime. AIDS is also fairly prevalent here, as with most of the region. Togo never really took off economically, despite them having a passable democracy until 2005. Their exports are pretty poor, and much of their laborers work in subsistence agriculture. I guess this is where we can come in and make a difference. Even efficiency here can lead to better trade outlook for the country, leaving them less reliant on imported staple foods. Again, I'm no economist; I only read the magazine. Seems to make sense, though.

Besides, Emmanuel Adebayor is from Togo. That's all the convincing I need.

SENEGAL

We're pushing the limits of "sub-Saharan" here, but Senegal came up many times during the search. For a post-colonial African country, Senegal's democracy is probably in the top five. Likewise, the economy is comparatively strong since it de-pegged their currency from franc. Unfortunately, only the better-developed parts of Senegal enjoy this success. Basically, just Dakar and the surrounding areas. Minor crime is an issue, but they don't have machete squads like Togo does. Again, much of the outlying areas are supported by subsistence agriculture.

MAURITIUS

I was completely surprised to see a Mauritian seeking a loan. I thought it was Mauritania originally, but no. First, Mauritius is absolutely beautiful and therefore has a thriving tourism sector. I tried to convince Debbie to let us honeymoon there, but the flights were about $3k apiece. Second (and logically following), it is hyper-westernized. Tourism and finance are (were?) its top sectors, mostly international companies with business interests in S/SW Asia. I don't know what's up with that now; maybe this is why they need outside lending. The CIA World Factbook says that agriculture only makes up about 10% of the GDP. I wouldn't be opposed to lending here, but I think that it may be against the spirit of this venture. If you guys wish to stimulate the Mauritian economy, buy the two of us those plane tickets and we'll take care of the rest. :)

UGANDA

Like I said, most of those who know anything about Uganda is that Forest Whitaker won an Oscar for playing Idi Amin. If you've seen the movie, you have a decent appreciation for just how bad Ugandans have it. This country is POOR. Desperately poor. Probably doesn't help that they've been under despotic rule for so long. Their current president has been in power since '86, and seems to be doing a good job keeping the dirty laundry out of the open. Being said, they're still poor. They probably have the IMF on speed-dial, having received bailouts and debt reliefs before it was popular. Decent natural resources, but these are controlled by the government or by foreign companies paying the government. If you haven't surmised, the Ugandan government doesn't do the best job at maintaining the welfare state. Subsistence farming is popular, and this is probably were money loaned in this nation will end up.

NIGERIA

We've all gotten the e-mails. Sadly, this is modest part of the Nigerian economy. Apparently they've been cracking down, but my inbox seems no better off. Truth be told, I feel bad for Nigeria. They were bootstrapping out of stereotypical African super-poverty with oil and resource exports, but in this current climate one can guess how they're fairing. The government is largely ineffectual, as evidenced by their inability to combat even the most banal of cyber-crimes. The military is the true voting body, not the citizen. I'm done, but read more at the Economist if this interests you at all. The first article (Rebranding) is pretty telling. Nigeria has rampant poverty, and hopefully a loan lent here will find its way to those in need and not the predatory confidence trickster.

ZIMBABWE

When this name appeared, I couldn't help but laugh. Money going into Zimbabwe isn't safe, nor practical. Very few Kiva field agencies led here, and those that do have terrible ratings. Human rights abuses and rule by dictatorship notwithstanding, their economy was destroyed all the way back in 2007. You may remember hearing about this, the five million dollar loaf of bread? Well, it's gotten much worse. Just for laughs I ran a currency conversion on the US dollar to the Zimbabwean dollar. Currently, $1 gets you Z$366. This is after a *cough* redenomination of their currency notes by multiplying their by ONE TRILLION in February! Simply put, their one dollar note is basically their old 1 trillion dollar note (not that such a thing existed). Can you imagine walking into McDonald's and having to pay Z$366,000,000,000,000.00 for a small fry? Hyperinflation is only one of their problems, the others being persecution of political dissidents, rampant governmental corruption, and squandering of what little GDP the country generates. To be sure, Zimbabwe needs help, but a $100 microloan isn't going to cut it. This is an interesting counterfactual to those who get pissy when the USA removes despots.

So, there you go. Before you leave, please vote on in the box to the right. We're eagerly awaiting your responses!

DISCLAIMER:
The country selected may not have entrepreneurs searching for loans once the poll closes. In this event, we select an available country that most resembles the the one suggested.