The GII has many times advocated for long-term investment in Africa, the kind that pays dividends in health, longevity and income as a way to help the poor gain a foothold in the global economy. But more traditional forms of investment seem to be gaining ground in parts of Africa: the sort that anticipates financial returns in relatively short order.

Business 2.0 included a spread on U.S. entrepreneurs starting and facilitating businesses in Rwanda as part of its "best business ideas in the world" feature in its August issue. From an American perspective, investments in Rwanda are formalized and trackable in a way that is too rare elsewhere on the continent:

Rob Fogler has a dream. He thinks hundreds of U.S. investors will sink money into burgeoning Kigali, a city of about 850,000. But as Fogler knows, even those aware of the opportunity here can't readily invest as individuals. "People always ask, 'I have $15,000, how can I invest in Rwanda?' The answer is, you can't." Not alone, anyway. The time required to manage an investment here prohibits most Americans from attempting solo ventures. That's why Fogler pools relatively small investments from wealthy Americans into funds large enough to buy into different sectors of Rwanda's economy. Fogler's first fund is aimed at backing businesses with high growth potential. His next fund, of $5 million to $10 million, is the one that's going after property. "The time," he says, "is right for real estate."

But Kenyans are moving away from traditional forms of investment (livestock, land) toward stock markets and formal investment instruments as well. The Washington Post tells of a recent shareholder meeting for KenGen -- Kenya's public power company -- held in Nairobi's largest soccer stadium to accommodate the 200,000 shareholders who attended.

Remarkable stuff. The great (and different) thing about such investments is that locals can provide direct feedback, if not by investing themselves, certainly by using or ignoring the products and services that get funded. That's different than the way aid projects normally work, in which success is rarely decided on such local terms.