The Wall Street Journal recently asked eight prominent philanthropists and NGO executives how they would spend $10 billion to achieve the biggest and longest-lasting impact on the world’s problems. All eight came up with great ideas, but the clear winner in my opinion came from leading Swedish businessman and philanthropist Percy Barnevik, who said he would use the money to unleash the entrepreneurship of the world’s poorest citizens.

My experience in Africa over the past 27 years has convinced me that this is the only way for people to break out of poverty. People are poor because they have no sustainable income. It’s as simple as that.

via allAfrica.com: Africa: Create Jobs in Continent, and All Else Will Follow.

Not only is [Social Entrepreneurship] potentially more rewarding financially, it is absolutely more rewarding personally. As Muhammad Yunus pointed out in “A World Without Poverty,” we aren’t one dimensional beings, simply motivated by profit. Or as you would say, “Making money isn’t a compelling vision.”

We are designed to do something significant…and social entrepreneurship is, for me, the definition of significance!

Brian Rants