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Helping people access markets does more for economic development than sending aid. This article draws from a presentation by Efosa Ojomo, co-author with Clayton Christensen of The Prosperity Paradox. He describes how market-creating innovations open jobs, shift incentives away from corruption, and lead to lasting prosperity.
When Efosa Ojomo first arrived in the United States from Nigeria in 2000, he had no intention of returning home. He likened the experience to leaving prison: escape meant freedom, and freedom meant never going back. Nigeria’s lack of opportunity, weak education system, and requirement for deep personal connections to succeed made return seem unimaginable.
Yet, nearly a decade later, one encounter would fundamentally change Ojomo’s path. In 2008, reading The White Man’s Burden by William Easterly, Ojomo came across the story of a 10-year-old girl from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Each day, she walked miles to collect firewood to sell at the market. Sitting alone in his room, Ojomo wept. He realized he could not remain detached from the struggles faced by millions worldwide. That day marked the beginning of a new journey—one that led him to launch a nonprofit organization, attend Harvard Business School, and later co-author The Prosperity Paradox with Clayton Christensen.
The road from personal anguish to published research took nearly a decade. Ojomo learned that meaningful impact often takes time. The seemingly instantaneous leaps we see, whether a book publication or a thriving venture, are underpinned by years of patient effort.
A few years ago, Ojomo shared this message with the BYU–Hawaii student body that inspired this article. He introduced the students to a new way of thinking about development. Rather than relying on traditional methods, he taught the power of market-creating innovations. He believed these ideas could help BYU–Hawaii students return to their home countries and lift their nations by giving their people the chance to build better lives for themselves.
Thinking About the Future Through Theory
At Harvard, Professor Christensen emphasized a fundamental truth: we have no data about the future. All available data is rooted in the past, yet decisions must be made facing forward. In this uncertainty, theory becomes a powerful tool. To make good decisions, leaders must rely on clear and thoughtful theories that help them understand cause and effect. A well-formed theory gives a reason to act and a foundation to trust when facing the unknown.
Everyone relies on theories, often without realizing it. An executive launching a new product, a teacher planning a lesson, an investor choosing a stock, all act on implicit theories about cause and effect. Those who spend time shaping and using sound theories are more likely to find success as they move into the future.
Rethinking How Economies Grow
It is easy to think of an economy as a collection of industries and institutions. Schools, businesses, governments, and hospitals all play a part. But there is another way to understand it, one that focuses on access.
Picture three circles. In the center are the people who have the most. They enjoy good schools, safe homes, and reliable healthcare. The next circle holds those who have some but not all. The widest circle includes those who go without the basics that many of us take for granted.
Growth happens when more people move from the outer circles into the center. Innovation is the key to that movement. When someone finds a way to offer products and services that are simple and affordable, lives begin to change. True development happens when opportunities draw people into better circumstances, not when outside aid is handed to them.
The Three Types of Innovation
Not all innovations serve the same purpose. Some create new opportunities. Some improve what already exists. Some make production less costly.
Market-creating innovations give people new access to products they could not afford before. These efforts often take patience and vision. They ask for faith in the future and for investments that do not pay off right away. When they succeed, they create jobs and open new paths for growth.
Sustaining innovations take products that people already use and make them better. These improvements may help businesses remain competitive, but they do little to lift those who are still outside the market.
Efficiency innovations help businesses produce goods at lower costs. While they can make companies stronger, they sometimes remove jobs in the process.
Understanding these kinds of innovation helps leaders choose the work that builds a better future for the most people.
Lessons From the Past and Examples From Today
The United States, now filled with cities and industries, once faced hardships that seem distant today. A hundred and fifty years ago, life expectancy was low. Many families lived without steady income. Infant mortality rates were high. Rural life was hard, and opportunities were few.
Then came innovators who believed that more people deserved better. Henry Ford’s Model T did more than put cars on the road. It changed the way people lived. As cars became affordable, farms grew more productive. Towns expanded. Roads were built. New businesses took root.
A similar story unfolded in Nigeria. Instant noodles, once unfamiliar and distrusted, became a daily staple. Those who believed in a simple, affordable meal created a thriving market. Along the way, they built factories, offered jobs, and strengthened their communities.
Both stories show a truth worth remembering. When someone makes a good product accessible to those who could not reach it before, they help build a new and better world.
From Pushing Aid to Pulling Opportunity
Good intentions alone cannot create lasting change. Building wells, clinics, and schools can meet immediate needs. But without a way to keep them strong, these efforts often falter.
A better path pulls people forward. When entrepreneurs offer goods and services that people value and can afford, they draw communities into a future of their own making. Jobs appear. Investment grows. Pride and ownership take root. Instead of depending on aid, people stand on their own with new strength.
Entrepreneurship and the Work of Building Nations
Entrepreneurship is more than a career choice. It is the heart of strong economies. Those who build new markets help others find work, strengthen families, and improve communities. They give dignity where there was discouragement. They create choices where there were none.
For struggling economies, encouraging entrepreneurship requires hope and patience. It asks people to believe that growth is possible, even when the path ahead is steep. Every thriving country today once stood where struggling nations stand now. Innovation, not charity, opened their way forward.
Where True Progress Will Come From
The future belongs to those who see what could be and act with faith and courage. History shows that simple, affordable innovations can lift millions from poverty and create lasting prosperity.
Where traditional aid often reaches a limit, the work of entrepreneurs has no such boundary. By creating products and services that welcome more people into markets, they build economies that are stronger and more just.
The next great story of progress may not come from places of wealth or power. It may rise in quiet ways from those who choose to build something new where none existed before. They will be the ones who turn scarcity into strength and vision into reality.
Article notes:
- Adapted from Efosa Ojomo’s 2018 talk to the BYU–Hawaii student body.
- This article was developed with the assistance of AI.