“Enterprise Facilitation Project” in Congo
In the video being analyzed, the President of the Sirolli Institute, Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, deliberates about the effectiveness, nature and funding of the “Enterprise Facilitation Project” launched in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, the expert recalls his unsuccessful and unproductive years of 1971-1976 when he worked on the aid initiatives implemented by the Italian government. The speaker explains his thoughts and assumptions as to why, in his opinion, they may have been a huge failure for him and his colleagues (One Just World).
The failure must have been ascribed to a cultural way and mental treatment exercised by the missions in the African lands with regard to indigenous population. Dr. Sirolli adamantly surmises that Western governments still keep sending aid missions with a paternalistic cultural attitude toward aboriginal people, which prove to precipitate more harm to them than contributing to a creation of any good. This all is about the mentality: young missioners from Western countries come to Africa with almost the same colonizing approach pursued by their predecessors a few centuries ago. Moreover, professor Sirolli also emphasizes that they are really young – 20-something years old and called “bosses” by local population (One Just World).
In particular, Dr. Sirolli mentiones that the so-called “enterprise facilitators”, hired by the Project initiators, are paid for their job only 350 Australian dollars. This sum evidently appears to be insufficient to correspond to the anticipated scope of their duties. In accordance with the program purposes and its main idea, the all Project shall be considered as a “barefoot economics” with limited resources and infrastructure in contrast to numerous aid initiatives launched by Western states before (Bond, Sirolli, and Lawson 18).
The number of “enterprise facilitators” counts three individuals, each is assigned to one of the projects in such cities as Kalemie, Kamina and Bukama. The facilitator is employed from the local population and sent to a training course conducted in the United States. Pursuant to the report on the assessment of the given Project, the facilitator’s vocation is to find people having commercial ideas and train them with the aim of establishing a team of skilled pioneering entrepreneurs to set up a company. However, there is one significant exception: the facilitator does not assist them in managing a company, he just helps them arrange this (12).
Consequently, Dr. Sirolli claims that the duration of the Project has resulted in the creation of 190 companies employing more than 700 workers. Nevertheless, the funding issue remains the most painful one questioning the acceptability and appropriateness of paying the Project stakeholders such miserable salaries dictated by local standards. The author is more inclined to agree to Dr. Sirolli’s allegations that it is even unethical to demand such an outstanding performance from the facilitators in exchange for this wage.
Works Cited
Bond Carol, Dr Ernesto Sirolli, and Lynda Lawson. “Enterprise Facilitation Project in DRC.” Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining. The University of Queensland. Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <https://www.csrm.uq.edu.au/publications?task=download&file=pub_link&id=388>.
One Just World. “Ernesto Sirolli on Transcending Past Mistakes in Africa, and Enterprise Facilitators.” Online video. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSuKgPwCgU0>.
