This video by a West African in China has been shared everywhere. Yes, Chinese teachers drive BMW, Mercedes Benz and other expensive cars. That is true. But he missed a critical point in that video: nearly 99% of those teachers did not pay cash (I mean pay at once) for those cars.
In the US, you can walk into any Volkswagen dealership, give them your social security number (like National Identity Number) and they run your credit, and within an hour, you can drive out with most models. It is called Sign & Drive which means you do not even need to pay anything: Volkswagen will allow you to pay over 7 years!
Teachers in Ghana do not have that choice: they have to pay at once. Sure, this is not to say that teachers in Ghana or anywhere in Africa are well compensated. My point is this: if you allow most teachers in my village school alma mater – Ovim Community School, Abia State – to pay over 7 years for at least second hand cars, they have a chance. Today, that is not possible as they must pay 100% on delivery.
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So, context matters. Ghana and indeed Africa need a credit system to advance the wealth of the citizens. That is why we need fintechs to innovate on the credit system in Africa.
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