Sub-Saharan Africa makes up the majority of the world’s poverty statistics. By focusing on economic development in this region, G8 countries can decrease overall economic deficiency in the world. Some of the ways that we feel G8 countries can decrease the world’s overall poverty rate is through the cancellation of multilateral national debt and micro-lending.

In 2005, the G8 made a promise to relieve 15 regions in Sub-Saharan Africa from their multilateral debt since most of their bilateral debt had already been paid off. According to American Friends Service Committee, Sub-Saharan Africa, as a whole, pays about 14 billion dollars every year to relieve their multilateral national debt. However, they have about 200 billion dollars worth of debt that they owe to places such as the World Bank and the IMF. Unfortunately, the G8 only followed through with a percent of the debt relief that they said they would give. Places like Ghana are already using the extra money to provide free elementary education. Places like Nigeria and Mali have also been using the money to develop their country in other ways. If the G8 could finish its 2005 promise of debt relief, the overall economy of Sub-Saharan Africa would improve.

Micro-lending is another way to improve the overall economy of Sub-Saharan Africa. Micro-lending is a way of providing individual entrepreneurs small amounts of money through loans. These loans are given from non-profit organizations such as Kiva. Unfortunately, the people receiving loans are not always putting the money in places that could give them profit. They are suffering even more because they do not know what to do with the money they are given.

What does this mean for the G8 countries? We feel that the G8 countries, on top of loaning money to these nonprofit organizations for distribution between individual entrepreneurs, need to educate the entrepreneurs that the organizations support. The loans will only be productive if African citizens know how to use them in a way that will prosper themselves and their country as a whole. G8 countries could host free seminars for African entrepreneurs looking to get aid from micro-lending institutions. This could drastically improve their economy.

Looking over the options we gave to the G8 countries, maybe they seem a little unproductive. We admit that they are ambitious ideas but we think they are attainable. Our teacher had once questioned us, “What will the G8 countries get out of helping Africa?” We feel there is a simple answer: Improving the economy of Africa could help our own economies through trade. We feel that in helping the other countries, we will eventually get something in return. But it takes baby steps to get there. With baby steps walking in the right direction, we will be closer to our final destination: decreased universal poverty.