From beggar to businesswoman: banking for the poor (page 2 of 2)

Some are doing PHDs.

For Yunus, it is not about offering charity, but giving people hope. By offering micro-credit, people can start small businesses that make a real difference to their lives.

By insisting their children are educated, he gives them the opportunity to never fall into the poverty trap once they reach adulthood. Among those that have graduated he counts lawyers and doctors.

His scheme has been criticised. A common accusation is that he only helps the entrepreneurial poor, a charge he dismisses. To prove his case, four years ago his bank started lending money to beggars.

It has lent money to over 100,000 beggars, who are subject to the same conditions of repayment. The idea is that by lending them money to start selling products as well as beg, they can slowly improve their circumstances. He says 11,000 people in that programme are no longer beggars and that repayment rates are high.

The Grameen business has branched out from banking. It has a joint venture with Danone to help feed the poor. The venture sells fortified yoghurt full of essential nutrients. It costs very little to buy, but two cups a week gives people the nutrients their body needs. Any profits are ploughed back into the business.

In March, Grameen joined forces with Veolia Water to provide clean drinking water to the poorest communities. Other businesses included Grameenphone, now the biggest mobile telephony company in Bangladesh with 18 million subscribers. It was designed to provide communications for the poor.

Mobile phones need power, so he started a solar company called Grameen Energy. The plan was to sell 100 solar kits a month. It sells around 5,000 a month - again using the bank principals of small loans repaid weekly.

Solar equipment needs maintenance, so he had women trained in up keeping the equipment. They are called Grameen Certified Solar Engineers and can earn a living servicing people's products. To date Yunus has 26 companies operating under the Grameen brand.

Yunus has set up his businesses to help the poor, but not to just give them money. His belief is that by loaning them money they help themselves and it has a stronger long-term benefit than if they were just given aid. 'It's another way of looking at the world. It is in the poor person to change their world.'