Anniversary Issue DEG turns 50 Courage! Development starts with you. DEG - Supporting people and their ideas for the last 50 years Valter, 9 year old, Brazil Courage, Humility, Hubris Dear reader, Sudan‘s Mohammed go hand in hand with a sense of humil- Ibrahim is an extraordinarily courageous ity about life‘s complexity, its dangers man. Way back when a mobile phone and unpredictability. Without humility was far from commonplace in a rich it is a small step to hubris. To make that country like Germany, he had a vision distinction is one of DEG‘s most impor- of a mobile phone network for Africa, tant responsibilities. We do not shy away which would even connect remote vil- from risk, nor do we succumb to it. In- lages south of the Sahara with the rest stead we take on responsibility by doing of the world. our very best to manage risk. Anticipat- A daring plan – and a hugely risky ing danger, recognizing weaknesses, and one. It could have driven Ibrahim into dealing with crises – these are the core ruin. But his love for Africa and his en- skills of DEG and its employees (pages trepreneurship outweighed his fear of 38, 46, 58, 62). failure. Former German president and Back then Deutsche Investitions- DEG co-founder Walter Scheel still re- Bruno Wenn, Chairman of the Management und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) calls exactly what happened when DEG Board of DEG and Norbert Kloppenburg, faced the question of whether to sup- started up 50 years ago. “Of course we Member of the Executive Board of KfW port Ibrahim. A great deal spoke against lacked experience,” he says looking back. it. But in the end DEG took the risk “But we had no shortage of courage” – and has reaped the reward for its cour- (page 28). age (page 18). Much has changed since then. At “Courage to develop.” That is the the outset DEG exclusively supported motto of DEG’s 50th anniversary. It German companies planning to start is also the only way forward. To really projects in developing nations. These shake things up, courage is paramount. days it finances essential development “Courage is a fundamental ingredient for projects by any companies. It is no development,” says the French philoso- longer a federally owned organization – pher Cynthia Fleury (page 14). since the year 2001 it has been a part of In this magazine you‘ll get to know the KfW banking group. a fair number of courageous people. A That has given it room to expand - teacher who spent his youth in refugee as seen for example by its steadily rising Bernd Hartung camps before founding Cambodia‘s big- transaction volume. But DEG‘s prin- gest bank (page 32). A farmer who cre- cipal guideline remains the same as it Photo ated an oasis of healthy nutrition and was 50 years ago when it was founded: education in the Egyptian desert (page Courage to promote development. 40). And a Brazilian entrepreneur com- mitted to solving environmental issues We wish you a pleasant reading. in the mining sector (page 48). All of these people have changed their country Bruno Wenn The cover shows 9-year-old Valter. We André Vieira André Chairman of the Management Board of DEG met him at the Olhos d´Água primary for the better. DEG has supported them school in Brazil. You’ll read where he wants in their ventures. to take his life on page 64. To speak of courage also automati- A mining company helps fund his school. cally highlights the possibility of failure. Dr. Norbert Kloppenburg It’s innovative in other ways, too. Page 48. Cover Photo Projects can go wrong. Courage should Member of the Executive Board of KfW xxxEditorial 3 Connected in the middle of nowhere: How a mobile phone pioneer revolutionized Africa. (Page 18) Soft landing: How an organization established the largest bank in civil war-ravaged Cambodia. (Page 32) Table of Contents Beginnings Lead Story Businesses Staff Outlook 6 Milestones 18 Pact of Pioneers 32 The Miracle of Phnom Penh 48 The Green Crater 38 Visionary on Shaky Ground 60 Goals for Trailblazers The most important events A mobile phone company How do you start a bank from the In Brazil´s hinterlands, DEG DEG manager Manuela Marques Countries that often are over- in 50 years of DEG history, owner, a flower farmer, a shared ground up? Surprisingly, a small finances the production on managing risk. looked, though they have a lot at a glance. vision. The story of two people non-governmental organization in of silicon. And faces a nearly to offer to investors. with a goal that could hardly be Cambodia’s capital shows us the impossible ecological dilemma. 46 A Fighting Soul in a Suit 8 Development in Action more ambitious: To reduce way. A lesson from Southeast Asia. sia Motion On the ground in Bocaiúva. DEG´s Klaus Hülsewig takes on 64 If I Had Just One Wish... Three successful initiatives. poverty of an entire continent. A challenges that sometimes make his “…I would make the world much A report from Africa. 40 Two Crazy Dreamers, 54 Mister Polyester colleagues shake their heads. bigger.” Children share their hopes. 14 Why We Need Courage One Fantasy / Philong Indian entrepreneur Aloke Answers from an evolutionary 28 “We did not lack courage” More than tea and spices: Lohia has built a business empire 58 “When I look to the future...” 66 If the Shoe Fits, Make It biologist, a philosopher and an Former German president A German organic foods business- SOVAN out of crop waste. Today he The vision of DEG chairwoman “We must free ourselves from economist. Walter Scheel on the zero hour man and an Egyptian farmer is one of the richest men in Asia. Gudrun Kopp. our dependency on gifts,” of development cooperation, have realized a green oasis in the A profile of a consummate says Ethiopian shoe factory 16 “We don’t need you any more!” German medium sized companies middle of the desert. businessman. 62 Making Development Happen founder Bethlehem Alemu in Marc Shoul; Shoul; Marc South Korea, Hungary and and the founding of DEG. An auspicious encounter. Kunal Makkar works in DEG‘s an interview. Portugal received help in the past. New Delhi office. A day in his life. A look back. Photos 4 Content Content 5 Top Crop The cotton pickers in Burkina Faso are among the 20 million people south of the Sahara who make their living from this plant. They are small farmers who use their hands for the harvest. Most people live here below the poverty line. Now many work for “Cotton made in Africa.” The Otto group founded this alliance together with companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NGOs and DEG with the goal of improving the market for cotton. In courses the farmers learn to use less pesticides and water. 8 Beginnings Beginnings 9 Shining Desert At night Ohorongo looks like a spaceship from another world. The huge factory in the Namibian desert produces cement round the clock. The country suffered from a shortage of cement – a material that´s the basis for development. Before the factory ex- isted cement had to be imported. Schwenk, a mid-sized German company, built the plant. DEG helped finance his courageous plan. Ohorongo supplies the re- gion with 700,000 tons of cement every year, creating many jobs. ich.tv Photo 10 Beginnings Beginnings 11 Clean Water A little boy carefully fills his canisters with drinking water from the community water supply. Each one of them provides a family in the Philippine capital Manila with drinking water. The spigots have existed only since the municipal water supply was privatized. Manila Water modernized the system, so less water is wasted, hygiene has improved and less people fall ill. DEG supported the project with a long-term loan. 12 Beginnings Beginnings 13 “Courage Why We holds society together” At the moment, we can observe a general of giving up, is far higher than what we discouragement in society. It is particu- would pay for courage. If we ask which larly widespread in the working world. forces we need to mobilize for the future, need People fall ill and become depressed, al- there can be only one answer: courage. though they have no apparent previous Courage must become the tool of leaders health problems. People are confused. and governments. The only way to pro- Above all, they are morally confused, be- tect the individual and the community Psychoanalyst and philosopher Cynthia Fleury, 37, teaches at the American cause we’ve thrown many of our values is with courage. The greatest challenge is courage University in Paris. She is the overboard. Hyper-profitability, perfor- to turn courage from a form of resistance author of the books “La pathologie de la mance and individuality are glorified; of- into a leitmotif. I am convinced that we démocratie” and “La fin du courage”. ten the prevailing belief is that cowardice can achieve that. Because courage is the pays off better than courage. But the op- basic prerequisite – not only for resist- We lack courage. Courage drives us. posite is true. The price of cowardice, and ance, but also for development. We admire courage. An evolutionary biologist, a philosopher and an economist tell us why. “Only the courageous attempt the impossible” Inventors are considered very coura- ternatives and consequences, or they are “Courage is an geous people and rightly so. The main equally good or bad. reason they’re considered courageous is We have to face this paradox of making engine of evolution” because they “make things possible”.