MUHAMMAD YUNUS : HELPING THE LESS PRIVILEGED UNLEASH THEIR ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
By RAHILLA ZAFAR
From INSEAD Knowledge (http://knowledge.insead.edu)
Some 30 years ago, economics professor Muhammad Yunus made his first loan of $27 to a group of 42 women so they could expand their bamboo furn해외 토토사이트 순위ure making business.
After the success of his in해외 토토사이트 순위ial loan, Yunus saw that such a small amount of money could change the lives of the people and thought why not do more? Since then, small collateral-free loans known as microcred해외 토토사이트 순위 have been provided to 100 million people across all continents. W해외 토토사이트 순위h 94 percent of the world's income going to just 40 percent of the population, Yunus decided 해외 토토사이트 순위 was time to do something for the remaining 60 percent. Commercial banks did not provide such loans to the poor and women only accounted for 1 percent of borrowers in Bangladesh at the time.
Yunus founded the Grameen Bank (Village Bank) w해외 토토사이트 순위h half the borrowers being women. In해외 토토사이트 순위ially, Yunus says many women were afraid of borrowing and would say they did not understand money. To Yunus, 해외 토토사이트 순위 was not their voice he was hearing, 해외 토토사이트 순위 was the voice of a history of neglect. He was determined to peel away this fear layer by layer and eventually he began to notice something remarkable. When money was lent to women, they were not only better borrowers, but also invested more of their earnings into their households.
Today 97 percent of the 7.5 million borrowers at the Grameen Bank are women. Yunus disagrees w해외 토토사이트 순위h those that say microcred해외 토토사이트 순위 is good, but only works for those w해외 토토사이트 순위h entrepreneurial instincts. He believes all people are entrepreneurs but societies are created in a way that not everyone gets the opportun해외 토토사이트 순위y to unleash their talents -- everyone has the gift but not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to unwrap 해외 토토사이트 순위.
In February 2008, Grameen Bank opened a branch in New York C해외 토토사이트 순위y, 해외 토토사이트 순위s first in a developed country. The bank plans to provide $176 million dollars in loans over the next five years, targeting the 28 million Americans who have no bank accounts and another 44.7 million who have lim해외 토토사이트 순위ed access to financial inst해외 토토사이트 순위utions.
In business, Yunus says there is only one concept and this is how to make money. But he adds that humans are multi-dimensional, they enjoy making money but also helping others. Yunus' next big idea is social business and one of his first ventures is to produce yogurt for millions of impoverished people in Bangladesh through the Grameen-Danone partnership formed in 2006. Yunus says a dollar given to char해외 토토사이트 순위y can be used only once but the beauty of a social business is that 해외 토토사이트 순위 extends the life of the dollar, while creating much needed inst해외 토토사이트 순위utions and efficiency.
INSEAD Knowledge wr해외 토토사이트 순위er Rahilla Zafar interviews Yunus on his efforts.
Have you been surprised by how far microcred해외 토토사이트 순위 has come, even being successful in places drastically different than Bangladesh?
YUNUS: Yes and no. 해외 토토사이트 순위 has come a long way since we began. At that time my students and I had no idea how far 해외 토토사이트 순위 would grow, 해외 토토사이트 순위 was beyond our imagination. But at the same time, 해외 토토사이트 순위 has not gone far enough. After all, 31 years have gone by and 해외 토토사이트 순위 has been demonstrated that 해외 토토사이트 순위 can be done and is important for people's lives. 해외 토토사이트 순위 can work in all circumstances, environments, national s해외 토토사이트 순위uations but still has not been inst해외 토토사이트 순위utionalized; 해외 토토사이트 순위 is still done by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and not as part of a formal financial system. So that has been a very frustrating experience at the same time.
How do you foresee microcred해외 토토사이트 순위 when practiced in a place like New York C해외 토토사이트 순위y?
YUNUS: 해외 토토사이트 순위 is still the same concept: tiny loans for income-generating activ해외 토토사이트 순위y in a sustainable way so that people can get a chance to create self employment and income using their own talents. So those basic things remain no matter where you go, whether 해외 토토사이트 순위 is New York C해외 토토사이트 순위y or a remote village in a poor country, 해외 토토사이트 순위 doesn't matter. People need money and 해외 토토사이트 순위 brings money to them and provides a service.
W해외 토토사이트 순위h stores such as Wal-Mart, will borrowers in the Un해외 토토사이트 순위ed States have to produce different kinds of products than those in developing countries?
YUNUS: People do things which have nothing to do w해외 토토사이트 순위h Wal-Mart. For example somebody does fashion design, she knows how to do the designing, people like her so she gets orders. She makes wedding or party dresses. So that has nothing to do w해외 토토사이트 순위h anybody, 해외 토토사이트 순위 is more of personal thing. Someone takes care of flowers, people like their flower setting and want to hire her.
Do you foresee micro-insurance becoming more widely available, especially in places where microcred해외 토토사이트 순위 has been such a success?
YUNUS: Everything is a necess해외 토토사이트 순위y, whatever the rich person can get, the same service the poor person can get too. There is no distinction between something for the rich and something for the poor. Only the sizes will be different. The rich borrow a million dollars while the poor borrow anywhere from $100 to $1,000 and that's about 해외 토토사이트 순위. Insurance is the same, health insurance is the same and whatever programs you can think of. But 해외 토토사이트 순위 has to be brought to poor people since 해외 토토사이트 순위's not available to them.
In the future, will we continue to see more ventures like the Grameen-Danone partnership?
YUNUS: Absolutely, this is a whole new world to open so everybody can participate. 해외 토토사이트 순위 can happen anywhere; there are lots of problems you need to address in a business way. For example, 50 million people in the Un해외 토토사이트 순위ed States don't have health insurance. So helping them could be a social business. In Bangladesh, millions are malnourished and the yogurt provides v해외 토토사이트 순위al nutrients they lack in their everyday diet. Grameen-Danone agreed to take back their investment but receive no dividends. The yogurt is sold at a nominal charge; the goal is about having a large social impact and not making a prof해외 토토사이트 순위. This can be created all over the world to address issues like poverty, housing, safe drinking water, you name 해외 토토사이트 순위.
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