A proposal to eliminate poverty at grassroots levelA proposal to eliminate Poverty at Grass-roots level. In his inauguration speech, the then-new German President Roman Herzog said “The German people must understand that they must help to solve the problems of Africa in Africa, otherwise they will have to solve them in Germany.” This statement showed a profound understanding of the problems of poor countries. These countries are incapable of ‘bootstrapping’ themselves out of the mire of poverty without having a helping hand from wealthy and developed nations. Unfortunately, the foreign aid process in the past has succeeded only in transferring incredible wealth to the top politicians and their close associates in those poor countries, giving them the means to support continued repression of the ordinary people. An effective program of economic development in the Third World will have a direct positive effect on the wealth of the First World. The failure to uplift the Third World will have direct and extremely negative effects on the wealth, standard of living and security of the European Union. There can be no doubt that crime and corruption go hand in hand with poverty. If a man has no means of supporting his family, he will take whatever opportunities are available to him. In most cases, such people would prefer not to resort to crime in the first instance, if an alternative, possibly even considerably less lucrative, means of earning a living were available to him. However, once in the life of crime, only extreme causes will induce him to revert to honesty as a way of life. Corruption, particularly at Government level, eases the way into the life of crime, since a small bribe to ‘lubricate the wheels’ is easily excused, is the first small step along the path, soon to be followed by ever-larger steps, and makes the conversion to full criminal that much easier. For many, the only alternative to crime is migration to the Firrst World, where the definition of 'poverty' represents a life of comparative affluence in their home countries. One of the keys to remedying the poverty trap is to generate small business opportunities to enable these deprived people to become business-owners or to gain paying jobs, and then to assist them in operating these businesses on First-World bases but with relevance to the circumstances. Micro-financing is an essential element, but this must be accompanied by mentoring and consultancy to assist them to produce a viable business plan and to manage the business correctly. Poor people seldom have the imagination, experience or knowledge to undertake anything more than businesses that they see around them. This is not enough to make a mark in the modern world. They need a helping hand, from someone who has seen another business world. These proposed elements will provide the hook to help them lift themselves out of their poverty. It is proposed that a group be founded to do the following: • Investigate the needs and potential capabilities of the environment, and then to generate business proposals to meet the needs; • Find local entrepreneurs to undertake the businesses identified, and assist them to become businesspersons and managers; • Provide funding, even of a very limited nature, based on the business plan and the commitment of the entrepreneur, accepting the perceived ‘high financial risk’ of the cash-strapped business owners; • Provide continuous mentoring of the entrepreneurs and monitoring of the business operations by seasoned consultants with experience in the Third World as well as the First World. In this way, the real needs of the citizens of the poor countries can be helped to become successful business owners, employing others at fair (relevant) wages and, hopefully, passing on the favour to others once they have ‘made it’ themselves. The building, for example, of a massive aluminium smelter, lured by low utility costs and high incentives, while creating many low-level jobs for locals, seldom creates substantial numbers of entrepreneurial opportunities for the ‘small man’. Most of the benefits go to the foreign owners, the local dominant or ruling group and their associates, people who do not really need them. These large projects are not bad in themselves, but they generally have an effect of emphasising the wealth disparity in a country. The proposed group, if funded at a relatively low level, could attract retired management consultants, business leaders and development specialists, who often have a desire to help others achieve success without the need for high personal income themselves, and who are able and willing to pass on their accumulated experience and wisdom to those who share their aspirations and moral standards. These could be supplemented by experts, seconded by their companies on short-term experience-gaining assignment, and by advanced students in relevant disciplines on work experience projects, who will enjoy the added benefits of working with some of the best managers in the world while gaining real world experience of life at the front. This system will byepass the usual Government bottlenecks and money siphons involved in typical aid programs, by making the opportunities available to the citizens directly. All relevant regulations and laws will be observed, but the individual business opportunities will typically be too small to attract opposition from the local establishment. The effect that is aimed for is the creation of a class of businesspeople who have a real stake in the economy and an ability to raise their targets above the needs of day-to-day existence, thereby becoming effective agents for a people-based economic development of the Third World. The Multiplier Effect works exceptionally well in poverty-stricken areas, generating jobs in the ratio of up to twenty times the direct jobs created. In the same way, each person enabled to lift him- or herself out of poverty by his or her own efforts creates a type of Multiplier Effect in the achievement of the Western principles of democracy and capitalism. They become proponents for, and examples of, the benefits of these principles. This proposal is not merely a theoretical approach. The writer has established a business based on a model that requires less than $5 000 start-up capital with an earnings capability of over $150 000 in the third year. This business is on the way to creating some 42 new entrepreneurs and 150 direct jobs, as well as about 400 indirect (Multiplier Effect) jobs in the Caribbean, and is being extended to operate throughout the world, concentrating on areas that need the opportunities.