Women’s vulnerability around money is hardly exclusive to Africa. Throughout the world, women struggle with financial power. In the West, women’s financial literacy is notably lower than men’s. That lack of knowledge means that many women slide into poverty when they become widows. Ann Cotton Read Quote
You need to listen to the people experiencing the problems, and their ideas need to crowd out the words of the ‘can’t be done-ers.’ Ann Cotton Read Quote
There are 45 million children in Africa who are not in school. While other children are learning, exploring, and growing in the myriad ways that children were meant to grow, these children are trapped in a life of constant struggle. Without education, how can they be expected to escape such struggle? How can their children? Ann Cotton Read Quote
I hear, ‘But why do poor people make such bad decisions?’ But actually, their decision-making can be far more complex than that of the better-off in many ways. They’re not financially illiterate: they’re constantly weighing up choices based on the reality of poverty. Somehow the international development community has resisted accepting this. Ann Cotton Read Quote
Poverty diminishes confidence. So if someone offers you a grain store, even if you really need a plough, you take what is offered to you. Ann Cotton Read Quote
Never take your eye off the ball. Always remember that you and everyone on the team is the servant of the cause – in our case, girls’ education and young women’s leadership in Africa. Ann Cotton Read Quote
Be greedy for social change, and your life will be endlessly enriched. The only failure lies in not trying, or giving up. Ann Cotton Read Quote
