In his famous TED talk “Plutocrats, Pitchforks are coming”, the venture capitalist Nick Hanauer says “Capitalism awards problem solvers. That’s why the system works”. 

Developing third-world countries must follow a similar approach. The challenges those countries face are not different from challenges more developed economies once faced in the past. Much of the services we now enjoy in advanced economies originate from problem solvers who saw an opportunity for change and made it happen. When Alexander Graham Bell founded the Bell Telephone Company in 1877, I don’t imagine him having the faintest idea of the impact the company would have on American society and the rest of the world. Based on Walter Issacson’s book ‘Innovators’, the company (then AT&T) went on to start Bell Labs division, which has developed technologies that revolutionized American society, its economy, and started a world-wide digital revolution. 

Foreign aid cannot develop countries. Often it has just the opposite effect. Aid can cripple local productions and keep poor countries dependent on developed economies rather than striving for self-reliance. On the other hand, sustainable, creative entrepreneurship can help resolve many of the issues facing third world countries.

Creative entrepreneurs learn to adapt

It would be inaccurate to say starting a business in a poor country is without challenges, due to lack of infrastructure. That is why a business idea has to be creative enough to adapt to these environments. The founder of Irokotv in Nigeria, Jason Njoku, who was born and raised in England, said after starting the company he quickly realized that he had to adjust his approach in order to be successful. Now the company dubbed “Netflix of Africa” could soon go public on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). According to its founder, original investors in iRokutv, five years later, saw a whopping 3000% return on their investments.

When I left Haiti in the early 2000s, to make an international call, one had to go to what we then called a Teleko (a government-owned communication center) nearby and waited in line for hours. But now people call their loved ones living overseas, from their farms in different corners of the country. Technology is developing and changing our cultures at rates we can barely keep up with. The world has gotten much smaller and more connected than ever before. Development of the challenged economies is just a mindset-change away.