His work as a social entrepreneur, banker, economist and writer has had a profound effect across the world, earning him multiple awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was able to prove that a guarantee built on relationships was often more secure than any traditional form, when, during the Global Financial Crisis, the Grameen Bank had repayment rates higher than many other banks around the world. This led him to establish the Grameen Bank in 1976 in his home country of Bangladesh, putting into place a new form of lending called micro-loans, predominantly to poor women that could be guaranteed by their communities. He started to investigate what constituted security for poor communities and realised that it was their relationships and community connections that ensured their survival. Why, he asked, did banks have to guarantee loans by taking security against people’s property or real assets? He pointed out that because of this, people experiencing poverty, people with no property or real assets, could never access finance-the very thing that might allow them to move themselves out of their circumstances. Perhaps the greatest example was his question about lending practices in banks. Muhammad Yunus is no stranger to asking challenging questions. “Human beings are driven by the fact that they can make the impossible possible.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |