For thirty years he has been refining the microfinance approach, working incredibly hard every day despite many obstacles. The Grameen Bank that he established now reaches 6.2 million families in Bangladesh alone
It has been a testimony to the power of Microfinance in solving the world's poverty problem. Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank which he founded, one of the World's most successful Microfinance Institiution in Bangladesh, was awareded the 2006 Nobel Peace Price. Yunus has not only made an impact to Bangladesh but for the last 30 Years, he has export his successful model of Microfinance to the world and has actively drive this global movement. He is a hero to anyone who is aspired to contribute something positive to the world. Read on for an extract from Grameen Foundation on his sucess.
"The world is in a barely acknowledged global poverty crisis, one that is at the root of many other crises that grab the headlines every day. More than one billion people are condemned to live on less than US$1 per day. Such a crisis demands tangible, scalable solutions, put into practice on a wide scale. It requires leadership from civil society, and governments. Microfinance is one of the most powerful solutions to poverty in existence today, and Dr. Yunus is the leader most responsible for developing and implementing it in Bangladesh and globally. For thirty years he has been refining the microfinance approach, working incredibly hard every day despite many obstacles. The Grameen Bank that he established now reaches 6.2 million families in Bangladesh alone, and he has established more than twenty other companies, non-profit and for-profit, that attack different dimensions of the poverty problem in a businesslike manner. His story is well told in his memoir, Banker to the Poor, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about how this incredible individual started a worldwide movement.
Dr. Yunus, who was a founding Board member of Grameen Foundation, an organization that I have led since it began in 1997, has the intelligence and entrepreneurial talent to have been a multi-millionaire if he had chosen that course. Instead, he focused on creating millions of “multi-hundredaires” by developing an approach to empowering the poor through loans and other financial services." extract from Grameen Foundation.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Founder of Grameen Bank
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Beijing Inspiration
I have finally got back from Beijing and had a couple of meetings with Gabrielle Harris, the Executive Director of Planet Finance-China. Before turning up at the capital, I had little ideas of how this shall progress, all I know is I wanted to work on something meaningful for my lives and the I need to keep on exploring opportunites. My expectation was by meeting this organisation, it will lead to a job with them or some other organisations related to Microfinance eventually. Though deep down I always know that the salary an NGO can afford will be a hurdle that I properly cannot overcome.
Our first meeting took place over lunch in a English book club-restaurant called 'Book Worm'. Rightaway, Gabrielle pass me lots of contacts collected from the recent "Asia Microfinance Forum", ranging from commercial banks, investment banks and established large microfinance institutions in asia. It was like she was trying to persuade me to look else where, which was kind of strange. Couple of days later, we visited their office and meet the crew of PF China, who were very interesting people to speak to. The chief manager Mr Gao has set up one of the most successful MF operation in China, others are also working on some interesting projects. Though I can see little of my banking experience that can be applied directly to their operations.
It was at the final chat with Gabrielle that things fall in place for me. Bascially, she reckoned the tour de force of MF in future are the commercial banks. I can join an NGO like Planet Finance but with limited funding at the moment, the impact will be modest. The days will come when medium size banks in China will downsize their operation to enter the MF market and work with establish NGOs with track record of poverty alleviation, that is where she see MF will become a great poverty alleviation tools. Hence working in an international bank right now, I am at good poisition to shape the future of MF in China.
This has been quite a revelation for me. So instead of giving up my job and be exiled to the NGO world, the next stage of this 'project dream life' will be to work within Standard Chartered to promote microfinance and get the training I need. Failing that, there are plenty other banks who have shown more sincereity in supporting the development of MF.
More from Freeyasoul on: Micronfinance Travel
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Introductory Video to Microfinance
Unitus is an international organisation that promote Microfinance by funding promosing Microfinance Institues (MFIs) around the world. They have a video which give an introduction to what Microfinance is and how it impacts the lives of thousands of people in poverty.
Another organisation Grameen Foundation has just formed a company in India called IndCo. Its aim is to form a bridge between the poverty alleviating MFIs with the internation capital market. IndCo. will package Microfinance loan portfolio and sell it off to the capital market. Microfinance loan is becoming an asset class which people can invest like any other investment tools such as funds and equity. this is good in a sense that more money will become available to the MFIs but sceptics do fear that commercial influence will affect the poverty alleviation goals of MFIs.
More from Freeyasoul on: Micronfinance
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Ah Min's Blog
小馬哥的公日記 點止撞到林慧詩咁簡單
Ah Min (Ronny) wrote a post that was quite touching for me. The great thing about him is his ability to pour out the deepest thoughts from his heart with such honesty. Last saturday, we met up with Ah Kwai who just returned from America. Ah Kwai (Timothy) wanted to be a good doctor, knowing that opportunities are few in Hong Kong, he went all the way to US last year to strive for his dream. On saturday night, we sat down in Dickens and had one of those long chat over beers. We always talk about plans and dreams. Ah Kwai said that it has been a fruitful decision for him to move to the US, being able to see the world's diversity was great for himself just as a person. We both shared our feeling of suffocation of Hong Kong, such a small place with such homogenous attitude to life. I don't want to get started here. But my dream to be in the development partitioner will one day come true.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Be a Global Microfinacier
I read about this interesting organisation related to Microfinance, called Kiva. It is where ebay meets microfinance! The organisation let you choose and sponsor a business in the third world, you offer 'sponsorship' real time with paypal, then the money will be channel from Kiva to the local charity partner, who lend them your 'sponsorship' and monitor the progress of the business and repayment of the loan. You won't be paid interest on your sponsorship, just pictures and journal of the people you have supported. Kind of intersting concept. Microglobal financier link to microentreprenur. Though there is criticism from major MF organisations of this approach, as it ignore the need to build strong local microfinance institutes. As a pillar of MF is sustainability, microloan should get repaid and reused, treating it as charity fund will not motivate the borrower or the lender to ensure repayment in full. Secondly, another aspect MF promote is saving, the idea is if they saved properly, the community will be able to fund each other for their projects. Instead of relying on external financing. Nonetheless, it is a very interesting idea, imagine World Vision let you bid the sponsorship of a child on the internet...
