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Over-nighting Foreign Aid to Ethiopia by cell phone?
e-Manna / micro-Manna -->> Photons to Food in a Flash
Directly empowering the "Bottom of the Pyramid" to feed themselves immediately
Many of you may have noticed, sadly, this headline below which did not have to be written, but was due to the heinous obstructionism of farm lobbyists in the U.S.:
"Dead Children Linked to Aid Policy in Africa Favoring Americans"
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&refer=home&sid=aU7BLQWMss2k
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20081208/pl_bloomberg/au7blqwmss2k_1
In my post below dated December 13, 2008, I first described "The Foreign-Aid Micro Credit" (FAMC), which could have reduced the 6-month aid-shipment process -- lamentably described in the article above -- down to only a few minutes or hours.
How ? -- just have the appropriate U.S.-based government agency or NGO (non-governmental organization) such as USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) wire a few million dollars to the Central Bank of Ethiopia, which then apportions it among the country's mobile carriers that support SMS-based money transfers. Then transfer the millions of dollars $ 20 at a time directly to cell phones in villages and towns in the famine area, or adjacent areas.
Can starving people eat money or e-money? No, but as written in Ecclesiastes:
"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things" -- Ecclesiastes 10:19.
In short, even in an area of famine, food can be bought, or it would soon be buyable when regions neighboring the famine area learned that the starving people now had cash or e-cash.
What if you don't trust the Central Bank of Ethiopia nor any intermediaries between the U.S.-based agency and the famished on the ground? Then transfer the cash directly from Washington, DC to any cell phone user/owner registered or living in famine area. This is technologically possible today -- see:
"Vodafone, Safaricom and Western Union Announce Partnership to Deliver International Mobile Money Transfers; Pilot Launched between U.K. and Kenya"
Englewood, Colo., London & Nairobi, Kenya, Dec 08, 2008 (Business Wire)
http://ir.westernunion.com/press/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseid=352835
Let me guess? -- You're worried about graft, fraud and "leakages"? Well, now the same things occur 6 months after the food-aid is shipped -- and after the children are already dead. The greatly delayed food is often stolen by Third-World soldiers, government officials, pirates & brigands just a few miles from the mouths of the despairing.
So I ask you, what is easier to steal? -- a ton of rice worth $500 on a truck? Or $500 sent wirelessly from Washington, DC or from a bank in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, $ 20 at a time to 25 different cell-phone owners in the Slough of Despair?
I would bet it is mathematically infinitely harder to steal 25 separate packets of photons going to 25 different numeric destinations compared to stealing one physical truck. Now multiply this scenario by 10,000 or 100,000 e-money transfers to the afflicted region. Would a few cell phone owners in the area with full bellies undeservingly receive an e-money transfer? Of course -- but just consider it the price of building goodwill in Africa for the often-maligned United States of America. "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days" -- Ecclesiastes 11:1.
Let me guess? -- you suppose there are no cell phones in southern Ethiopia, especially in an area of famine? But there are, and even more so in the surrounding urbanized areas where food could be bought if money or e-money were in the hands of local church groups, charities or NGOs. Africa is home to almost 300 million cell phones, and the penetration rate is over 30%. In sum, access or coverage is not the problem.
American farm lobbyists are the problem.
Write to your congresswoman or congressman today and demand that America's barbaric farm-aid policy be changed immediately. But while you wait for those hearts of glaciers to melt, tell them also about the cell phone-based Foreign-Aid Micro Credit (FAMC), which could be implemented immediately.
The Foreign-Aid Micro Credit -- another form of e-Manna to feed Mankind -- courtesy of the cell phone.
Globally & telephonically yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Showing posts with label foreign aid micro credit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foreign aid micro credit. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Foreign-Aid Micro Credit (FAMC)
*****
Delivering Foreign Aid directly to "The Bottom of the Pyramid" via Cell Phone
A Micro Foreign Aid system to avoid graft, fraud & bribery -- I've been Madoffed !!
While promoting the Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) concept described in detail in the many posts below, I continue to hear foolish rich people in the Developed / First World voice complaints that poor Individuals in the Developing / Third World will game the CMC system to steal 15 or 25 cents a day. The horror !
OK, let's micronize or apply our intellectual electron microscope to another parallel situation -- Foreign Aid -- which is FREE money given by the Developed / First World to the Developing / Third World.
What happens with Foreign Aid so often? -- it disappears into the black holes of graft, fraud, embezzlement and bribery as the money passes through multiple bureaucratic choke-points in foreign governments and NGOs. Moreover, foreign aid is often stolen in amounts of 100s of thousand or millions of dollars at a time -- poof ! -- gone in a few minutes.
So how could these HUGE financial "leakages" be avoided ? And how could donor countries be more sure their funds actually ended up at "The Bottom of the Pyramid"? Again, as with the Carbon Micro Credit, the answer is the cell phone. That is, cell phones in the hands of millions of poor Individuals in 1,000s of villages and cities in the target country.
Let's say Japan, one of the world's top Foreign Aid donors in terms of absolute aid size, but small in terms of its GDP, plans to give U.S.$ 1 billion in untied foreign aid to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries. With a population of 40 million, that means each Tanzanian -- man, woman & child -- should receive about US$ 40.00.
As part of the grant, the Japanese cell phone makers Sharp, Kyocera, Panasonic, DoCoMo and Sanyo agree to provide simple cell phones to the program for only US$ 20 each -- their manufacturing cost -- plus in exchange for tax-breaks from the Japanese government. 10 million phones are needed for the 40 million people (assume 4 people/family). That leaves US$ 800 million for the 40 million Tanzanians or about US$ 20 per person or US$ 80/family.
Mobile carriers operating in Tanzania such as Mobitel MIC, Vodacom Tanzania, Celtel and Zantel agree to split up/share the 10 million new phones/accounts and assign telephone numbers to the 10 million phones -- and why not ? -- in one stroke they each gain a few million new customers courtesy of Japanese foreign aid. And new customers with money too.
Next, Japan wires the US$ 800 million to the central bank of Tanzania, which then shares the funds pro-rata with the mobile carriers that assigned the telephone numbers to the phones. The carriers credit each new account with US$ 80 (perhaps less a small set-up fee...?).
The phones are distributed throughout Tanzania by NGOs, charities, church groups and the postal system. Each phone comes "pre-loaded" with US$ 80 (US$ 800 million / 10 million phones = US$ 80), so the most money that could "disappear" at one time is only this small amount. This contrasts with many cases where millions or billions of dollars of foreign aid have suddenly vanished with no trace. E.g., Iraq.
Once the phones are distributed, each individual/family can withdraw the money or transfer it to another party using a cell-phone-based SMS funds-transfer system such as Safaricom's M-PESA network in Kenya.
In sum, this foreign-aid example above rapidly creates 10 million new ATMs in Tanzania and provides 10 million microfinance grants (not loans) to every family in the country. It also provides Tanzania with a new/additional monetary base or money supply of US$ 800 million (or the equivalent amount in Tanzanian Shillings) that should experience an economic multiplier effect as it is invested or spent.
Moreover, the distribution process of the foreign aid funds is very straight-forward and easy to audit. It is highly unlikely in this example that millions of dollars could disappear via graft in a few minutes. Yes, theft rates of cell phones in Tanzania would probably increase, but if each cell phone's account is password-protected, thieves could not also steal the credit/money in the phone's account at the mobile carrier.
For families in Tanzania living on US$ 1 - 2 / day, to suddenly have an additional US$ 80 to invest/spend, plus to suddenly own a cell phone that could also serve the functions of tele-education / microeducation, telemedicine / micromedicine and telecommerce / microcommerce, must certainly spawn a rapid and miraculous transformation of Tanzania's economy and society.
Once again, the cell phone is the Solution.
Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
Key words: Foreign Aid Nano Credit / Foreign Aid Nanocredit / Foreign Aid Microcredit / Supersizing Foreign Aid / Homogenizing Foreign Aid / Foreign Aid Democratized / Micro Foreign Aid / Micronizing Foreign Aid / Foreign Aid Direct / TeleMicroFinance / Tele-microfinance / Foreign Aid Inside / Tele-foreign Aid / Foreign Tele-Aid
*****
Delivering Foreign Aid directly to "The Bottom of the Pyramid" via Cell Phone
A Micro Foreign Aid system to avoid graft, fraud & bribery -- I've been Madoffed !!
While promoting the Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) concept described in detail in the many posts below, I continue to hear foolish rich people in the Developed / First World voice complaints that poor Individuals in the Developing / Third World will game the CMC system to steal 15 or 25 cents a day. The horror !
OK, let's micronize or apply our intellectual electron microscope to another parallel situation -- Foreign Aid -- which is FREE money given by the Developed / First World to the Developing / Third World.
What happens with Foreign Aid so often? -- it disappears into the black holes of graft, fraud, embezzlement and bribery as the money passes through multiple bureaucratic choke-points in foreign governments and NGOs. Moreover, foreign aid is often stolen in amounts of 100s of thousand or millions of dollars at a time -- poof ! -- gone in a few minutes.
So how could these HUGE financial "leakages" be avoided ? And how could donor countries be more sure their funds actually ended up at "The Bottom of the Pyramid"? Again, as with the Carbon Micro Credit, the answer is the cell phone. That is, cell phones in the hands of millions of poor Individuals in 1,000s of villages and cities in the target country.
Let's say Japan, one of the world's top Foreign Aid donors in terms of absolute aid size, but small in terms of its GDP, plans to give U.S.$ 1 billion in untied foreign aid to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries. With a population of 40 million, that means each Tanzanian -- man, woman & child -- should receive about US$ 40.00.
As part of the grant, the Japanese cell phone makers Sharp, Kyocera, Panasonic, DoCoMo and Sanyo agree to provide simple cell phones to the program for only US$ 20 each -- their manufacturing cost -- plus in exchange for tax-breaks from the Japanese government. 10 million phones are needed for the 40 million people (assume 4 people/family). That leaves US$ 800 million for the 40 million Tanzanians or about US$ 20 per person or US$ 80/family.
Mobile carriers operating in Tanzania such as Mobitel MIC, Vodacom Tanzania, Celtel and Zantel agree to split up/share the 10 million new phones/accounts and assign telephone numbers to the 10 million phones -- and why not ? -- in one stroke they each gain a few million new customers courtesy of Japanese foreign aid. And new customers with money too.
Next, Japan wires the US$ 800 million to the central bank of Tanzania, which then shares the funds pro-rata with the mobile carriers that assigned the telephone numbers to the phones. The carriers credit each new account with US$ 80 (perhaps less a small set-up fee...?).
The phones are distributed throughout Tanzania by NGOs, charities, church groups and the postal system. Each phone comes "pre-loaded" with US$ 80 (US$ 800 million / 10 million phones = US$ 80), so the most money that could "disappear" at one time is only this small amount. This contrasts with many cases where millions or billions of dollars of foreign aid have suddenly vanished with no trace. E.g., Iraq.
Once the phones are distributed, each individual/family can withdraw the money or transfer it to another party using a cell-phone-based SMS funds-transfer system such as Safaricom's M-PESA network in Kenya.
In sum, this foreign-aid example above rapidly creates 10 million new ATMs in Tanzania and provides 10 million microfinance grants (not loans) to every family in the country. It also provides Tanzania with a new/additional monetary base or money supply of US$ 800 million (or the equivalent amount in Tanzanian Shillings) that should experience an economic multiplier effect as it is invested or spent.
Moreover, the distribution process of the foreign aid funds is very straight-forward and easy to audit. It is highly unlikely in this example that millions of dollars could disappear via graft in a few minutes. Yes, theft rates of cell phones in Tanzania would probably increase, but if each cell phone's account is password-protected, thieves could not also steal the credit/money in the phone's account at the mobile carrier.
For families in Tanzania living on US$ 1 - 2 / day, to suddenly have an additional US$ 80 to invest/spend, plus to suddenly own a cell phone that could also serve the functions of tele-education / microeducation, telemedicine / micromedicine and telecommerce / microcommerce, must certainly spawn a rapid and miraculous transformation of Tanzania's economy and society.
Once again, the cell phone is the Solution.
Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
Key words: Foreign Aid Nano Credit / Foreign Aid Nanocredit / Foreign Aid Microcredit / Supersizing Foreign Aid / Homogenizing Foreign Aid / Foreign Aid Democratized / Micro Foreign Aid / Micronizing Foreign Aid / Foreign Aid Direct / TeleMicroFinance / Tele-microfinance / Foreign Aid Inside / Tele-foreign Aid / Foreign Tele-Aid
*****
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