Finding ways for people to make their own decisions is a powerful model for change -- and nowhere is that truer than in Africa. Those who will succeed in improving lives in Africa will be the people who recognize the poor as consumers and make critical goods and services that meet their needs and desires accordingly. At the end of the day, development is a people business, pure and simple. The challenge is to get philanthropic investors to see the value of affordable prices for poor individuals.

The question is how to balance the spiritual quest of caring for the most vulnerable people with avoiding the indignity of creating unnecessary dependency. It is a delicate balance, maybe the question at the center of how our generation needs to organize itself to maximize the potential of all human beings. This is something that has never been done in history. We have enough money in the world to tackle global poverty -- maybe even enough in the development coffers, if it were used to catalyze monies from the capital markets. Critical to change is how we invest this money, how we identify and use smart subsidies to include the needy, and how we let the markets work where they can be most effective.

Too many people are still talking in terms of teaching men to fish in Africa. I have never met a person who lives near water in Africa who doesn't know how to fish. What is needed instead are better technologies and design innovations to make their fishing more effective; more information and eased trade restrictions so that more markets are available; and connections, networks, and management skills that can help people grow their businesses. Africans also need real jobs. This is where change begins -- that moment when people have expanded choice about how to pursue better lives for themselves and their children.

In the coming years, the emphasis on Africa should start with recognizing the efforts of Africans to solve their own problems, examples of where innovation has been scaled, and studies of what went wrong, and why. Africans are tremendously resourceful, but the continent and the rest of the world need more examples of "winners." Nothing begets success like success. The philanthropic community needs to think more creatively about investment and also understand (and provide) the management support needed to grow a stronger professional base of leaders. A culture of greater accountability is also important. The goal should be to celebrate Africa's success and move away from a salvation mentality that has a fairly poor track record on that continent when it comes to unleashing individual human energies.

Supporting local initiative and genuine partnerships -- not dependency -- is the only way to achieve sustained change. As a philanthropic investor in Africa, I am excited to see communities rebuilding themselves brick by brick. The world is seeking silver bullets -- quick solutions to end poverty now. But people in developing countries aren't waiting. Families are saving tiny amounts of money every day to solve their own problems. The process is complex, messy, and time-consuming, and steps are taken backward almost as often as forward. Communities are being built, leadership is being fostered, and people are making their own decisions.

Foundations should harness the power of innovation by investing capital to leverage the sweat equity and investment that communities in Africa have already amassed. It is up to philanthropic investors to see patterns, understand what is best replicated and how the system can be more efficient, and then help scale promising solutions to other places in Africa and around the world.

A fundamental shift needs to occur around building truly effective delivery of basic goods and services to the poor. It comes down to creating leaders at all levels of society with hard heads and soft hearts. They must have the moral imagination to listen to what people with limited resources -- and unlimited problems -- are saying about constraints as well as aspirations. They must also have the financial understanding and discipline to make tough decisions in the name of the greater good that is embedded in building strong institutions that can sustain themselves and endure.

This is a critical moment in history, and we have so many of the resources, skills, and connections across the globe to solve tough problems. I'm not talking about just a few elites but citizens across the world who can wake up in the morning and tackle big issues. We have the ability to communicate with millions, organize people to take action, partner in ways like never before. We cannot afford to be numb and to distance ourselves from otherness; instead, we have no choice but to recognize our interconnectedness and act appropriately -- the operative word is act. If we can -- and we can -- we must.

Jacqueline Novogratz is CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture fund that uses an entrepreneurial approach to tackle the challenges of global poverty by building financially sustainable and scalable organizations that deliver affordable, critical goods and services that target the 4 billion people who live on less than four dollars a day.