This Blog is about the Bank of the poor or Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. An innovative micro-credit innovative model for poverty alleviation and economic growth that gave professor Yunus the Peace Nobel Prize in 2006.

In 2018 I had the opportunity of staying a couple of months in Dhaka, Bangladesh working for the Peace Nobel Prize and creator of the Bank of the Poor (Grameen Bank) Professor Muhammad Yunus. I thought Bangladesh was going to be very similar to India, but I discover afterwards that they are very different when it comes to culture, language, religion and even food.

Yunus Center and Grameen Group Headquarters

With Professor Muhammad Yunus at the Yunus Centre. Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is 90% muslim, which means that the do meat (eat chicken and lamb) there are few hindus that are vegetarian but they are a minority. Also, since they only worship one God which is Allah, they do not worship cows and there are not altars to different gods in the streets or at the markets like in India. They also respect the holy month of Ramadan and locals do not drink alcohol. In fact, there are no bars in Dhaka, locals enjoy having a conversation or a friends reunion at really cool cafes.

Europeans working there in the textile business have their own private clubs where they go to spend time hanging out and have access to alcohol. I was invited to the Dutch club during my stay in Dhaka and the place is a recreation center where foreigners go to practice sports during the day and get drunk in the evenings.

Historic Dhaka wearing a traditional Bengali Kurta

Bangladesh means "Land of the Bengals”. The bengals are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. After the British ruling of India, Bangladesh was called East Pakistan a separated territory.

Enough history…. let's talk about this beautiful country…!!

The country has an estimated 171 million people, and it was one of the poorest countries in Asia. In 1971 was the second poorest country in the world. Nevertheless the country has come a long way to reduce poverty and has come into an economic growth path since 1971 reaching the lower-middle income status in 2015 and it is on track to become one of the UN's Least Developed Counties (LDC) in 2026.

And this is when I have to talk about the most important initiatives for the nation's development that changed dramatically the fate of Bangladesh: Grameen Bank or the Bank of the Poor. This institution contributed significantly to poverty alleviation and empowering the marginalized poor in Bangladesh through micro-credit.

Visiting the communities that are part of the Grameen Bank

GRAMEEN BANK

It started in 1976 as a research pilot project and in 1983 the project transformed into a bank. The most important feature about the bank is that no collateral is required to get the credit. You might be wondered without collateral how is the bank having success… let me explain this to you.

Unlike mainstream commercial banks that bring their clients to their shiny branch premises where the poor are afraid to be trampled, Grameen Bank carries its services to the comfort zone of its clients’ doorsteps. In the picture above, I visited one the communities where the branches are. This branch is being managed by the same women of the community. All banking transactions except loan disbursement are done in the meetings of the borrowers at the village level centers organized by the center managers!

This is how a Grameen Bank branch looks like

There is one thing I find awesome about the model, and it is the fact that women are the main actors, imagine the cultural disruption in a muslim country!! Women are the only ones that are allowed to get the credit, pay the low interests and hold accountable the other women of the network of the branch they are in…awesome, isn't it?

THE SERVICES OF THE GRAMEEN BANK:

Higher education loan: For the children of the members of the bank
Struggling member loan: It is only for beggars in Bangladesh
Savings account: members and non members can have one
Grameen Pension scheme: for the future financial security of the members and employees of the bank
Fixed deposit
Double in 9 years deposit
Monthly profit scheme: 5 year term
Family Welfare Savings
Basic loan: startup capital for new and fresh group members
Microenterprise loan: Fast moving members can take large loans for special investments
Crop loan: Provided for short-term investments for seasonal farming and is repayable within the term
Livestock loan: For purchase and fattening of cattle
Young entrepreneur loan: Provided to the children of the members who are educated and willing to become entrepreneurs
Bridge loan is a short-term loan offered by the Grameen Bank
Housing loan: Is one of the social impact loan products of the Bank

Grameen Bank is only one of the organizations of the Grameen Group I had the opportunity to visit. If you would like to learn more about social innovation and my experience in Bangladesh, you can read my next article clicking here:

Social Innovation

Natalia Cortes. Dhaka, Bangladesh 2018

working with a peace nobel prize in bangladesh

THE ART OF ITALIAN CUISINE

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