Nothing counts for something
Muhammad Yunus in Melbourne. Picture: Jon Hargest Source: Herald Sun
NOBEL Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus ignored all the rules of conventional banking when he set up micro lender Grameen Bank.
"The richer you are the more attractive you are to a conventional bank," he told business leaders at a lunch in Melbourne yesterday.
"But if you have absolutely nothing you are a prized client (for Grameen)". Bangladesh-based Grameen now lends out about $US100 million a month in tiny loans to the poor, many of whom go on to build self-sustaining businesses.
Professor Yunus yesterday urged leaders from companies including Exxon Mobil, National Australia Bank and BHP Billiton to break with convention and invest in business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region that help alleviate poverty.
He told the Business for Millennium Development event that the aim of such ventures was to solve problems, not make money.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/nothing-counts-for-something/story-e6frfh4f-1225839128596
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