As I mentioned in our last newsletter, The Vanity Fair July 2007 issue is a special on Africa--especially how people live and work there now in contrast to how they lived and worked during the last century. Binyavanga Wainaina's article "Generation Kenya" can give us a whole new way for FAF to interact with our friends and colleagues in Kenya. He talked about how banks were considered only for the privileged, saying that until recently a customer needed a letter of introducation to open an account. I found this when I was a Fulbright Scholar in Trinidad and Tobago in 1992. Wainaina wrote this about a new bank in Kenya.

Equity is Kenya's largest bank. It recently hit the million-customer mark. It controls one-third of the country's bank accounts. It targets as customers the vast majority of Kenyans who, until recently, did not have bank accounts at all. It has invested millions of dollars in building a sophisticated I.T. system. It is commonly thought to be the bank of the people. They call you Sir! They are nice to you! You can see the manager! You can get a small loan in one day!

There is much to be learned in "Generation Kenya."

Laura Salazar

FAF Executive Director