Have you ever been to Kinshasa? I haven't. And before I started my recent job with the Christian microfinance organization, HOPE International, I'm not sure I could have found it on a map. it is the chaotic capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

This year I'll be visiting HOPE's microfinance operations, staff and clients, in Kinshasa as well as conducting a visit to Brazzaville, located in the neighboring Republic of Congo which is is distinct from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is something I learned last year when I applied for a visa to the wrong country!

Times are tough in this part of the world. Unemployment figures go as high as 97%. The World Bank has named DR Congo the worst country to do business three years in a row. The global economic crisis has caused commodity prices to fluctuate. At the bottom of this economic pyramid and getting crushed are the poor.

Microfinance is an economic development intervention designed to spur businesses among the poor. But can it work somewhere as distressed as the Congos? That is what I intend to find out. I'll be touching down Thursday, April 30th. Stay tuned for what happens....