I've only read the article and not the underlying paper, but it seems to be saying a $400 grant yields an average annual return of 40% - it would seem that woul

I've only read the article and not the underlying paper, but it seems to be saying a $400 grant yields an average annual return of 40% - it would seem that would make it viable as a loan scheme rather than a grant scheme (maybe in terms of a loan that automatically gets written off after X years so it's a pseudo-grant). It's important to note also that they're using the group effect that are also popular among microlenders, in that the grants are made to groups of individuals so you'll have some degrees of the individuals checking up on each other.