The Grameen family of organizations has grown beyond Grameen Bank into a multi-faceted group of both commercial and non-profit ventures. It was first established by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder of Grameen Bank. Most of the organizations in the Grameen group have central offices at the Grameen Bank Complex in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank started to diversify in the late 1980s when it began attending to unutilized or underutilized fishing ponds, as well as irrigation pumps like deep tubewells.[1] In 1989, these diversified interests started growing into separate organizations, as the fisheries project became Grameen Fisheries Foundation and the irrigation project became Grameen Krishi Foundation.[1]
The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral. The system is based on the idea that the poor have skills that are underutilized. The bank also accepts deposits, provides other services, and runs several development-oriented businesses including fabric, telephone and energy companies. The organization and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.[4]
Grameen Trust
Grameen Trust (GT), a non-profit and non-government organization established in 1989 uses microcredit as a tool for fighting poverty and follows the Grameen Bank approach for the purpose. It supports and promotes poverty focused microcredit programs all over the world under its Grameen Bank Replication Program (GBRP) through a number of ways - dialogue programs for potential replicators, training and technical assistance to replication projects, funding selected projects, and monitoring performance.[3][5] Grameen Trust funds are provided in two forms - seed capital and scaling up fund.[6]
Grameen Fund is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh established to provide risk capital to small and medium enterprises (SME) beyond the scope of Grameen Bank's objectives of providing microcredit to the very poor.[5][7] Incorporated on 17 January 1994, Grameen Fund started operation in February 1994, inheriting 40 projects of Grameen bank with assets of 391 million Bangladeshi taka investments in small industries, fisheries and agriculture.[6] As of 2007, it invested equity worth $1.0 million in 13 joint ventures and financed 1763 small and micro enterprises in Bangladesh, especially in technology-oriented industries, by providing collateral-free fixed and working capital loans.[7][8]
Grameen Telecom (GTC) is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh established with a partial stake in Grameen Phone (GP). GTC has driven the pioneering GP program of Village Phone that enables rural poor to own a cell-phone and turn it into a profit making venture. The vision behind the village phone program was formulated by Iqbal Quadir who was convinced that a mobile phone could become a source of income generation. Quadir worked with Professor Yunus and the Norwegian company Telenor to make the program a reality. Currently Grameen Telecom provides mobile phones among the villagers of the country.[3][9][10]
Grameenphone is ]-based cellular operator in Bangladesh and market leader[11] with more than 50% of the Bangladeshi market share. Grameenphone started operations on January 2nd, 1929. It is partly owned by Telenor (62%) and Grameen Telecom (38%). It has more than 10 million customers as of December 2006.[12] It is also the fastest growing cellular telephone network in Bangladesh. At the end of 2005, it had about 3500 base stations around the country with plans to add about 500 in the following six months. Grameenphone's stated goal is to provide cost-effective and quality cellular services in Bangladesh.
Grameen Solutions Limited
Grameen Solutions Limited (GSL) is a software development company.[13]
Grameen Communications
Grameen Communications (GC) is a not-for-profit information technology company established in Bangladesh in 1997, with a portfolio that includes software products and services, internet services, hardware & networking services and IT education.[2][3] The life of the company began as an IT support unit under Grameen Trust in 1994.[14] Besides providing IT support to various Grameen family organizations it in charge of developing systems for organizations like CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services Private Limited (CFTS) in Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh, India, CMC in UIndia, Swayam Krishi Sangham (SKS) in Hyderabad, India, Grameen Koota in Bangalore, India, Moris Rasik in East Timor, Ganesha Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Ahon sa Hirap Inc. (ASHI) in Manila, Philippines.[14]
The company has developed the Village Computer and Internet Program (VCIP) to set up a number of multipurpose Cyber Kiosks in rural areas using different connectivity solutions for information access, communication and IT education.[14][15] The first VCIP was established in a room rented from the Grameen bank at Madhupur Upazila, which is connected through microwave link to the VSAT at Grameen Communications office 160km away in Dhaka.[16][17] Two others were established at Sarishabari Upazila and Mirzapur Upazila.[16] A partner of International Development Research Centre (IDRC) initiative Pan Asia Networking (PAN),[18] GC is also developing a program with Digital Divide Data of United States to provide data entry jobs for rural Bangladeshis.[16]
Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation
Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation or Grameen Motsho O Pashusampad Foundation (GMPF), a non-profit organization, was founded as Grameen Fisheries Foundation or Grameen Motsho Foundation (GMF), in February 1994 to mitigate poverty through aquaculture & fisheries, as well as an integrated fish-crop-livestock and dairy development farming system. The mandates of the organization are to provide rural landless poor, especially women, to gain access to common resource properties; replace exploitation with community empowerment; replace stagnation with social and economic growth; replace traditions with modernity; provide women with legal and gender rights; and to provide food security and sustainable livelihood.[3]
Grameen Shakti
Grameen Shakti (GS) is a renewable energy social enterprise established in 1996 to promote, develop and popularize renewable energy technologies in remote, rural areas of Bangladesh.[19][20] It is a part of the Grameen family founded to take the Grameen Bank objective of alleviating poverty for the extreme poor through microcredit.[19][20] Grameen Shakti into one of the largest and fastest-growing renewable energy companies in the world. GS trained its engineers to be ‘social engineers’ who go from door-to-door to demonstrate the effectiveness of renewable energy. GS trained local youth as technicians to ensure that people would have efficient and free after-sales service right on their doorstep.
Grameen Shakti is the leading company on renewable energy in Bangladesh. As of December 2010 Grameen Shakti has installed 25MWp solar system. Beside these, Grameen Shakti have installed solar mobile charging van, Solar lighting Boat, Solar emergency Lighting, Solar water Purifier, solar power telecom systems, Off grid power supply system and also nowadays they are encouraging urban people to use hybrid solar- National grid system with low price.
In 2007, Grameen Shakti was honoured with a Right Livelihood Award for "bringing sustainable light and power to thousands of Bangladeshi villages, promoting health, education and productivity."[21] He has also won two Ashden Awards, in 2006[22] and 2008.[23]
Grameen Shikkha
Grameen Shikkha or Grameen Education was established in 1997 to promote mass education in rural areas, provide financial support in the form of loans and grants for the purpose of education, use IT for alleviation of illiteracy and development of education, promote new technologies and innovate ideas and methods for development of education. Additionally, it runs the Arsenic Mitigation Program, the Pre-school/Child Development Program, the Life the Focused Education Program, and the Early Childhood Development Program.[2][3]
Grameen Byabosa Bikash
Grameen Byabosa Bikash (GBB) or Grameen Business Promotion and Services was established in 1994 as a social business and not-for-profit organization to provide supplementary services on top of microcredit to rural entrepreneurs dealing in products like vegetables, livestock or handicrafts to provide experience, skill and knowledge.[3][24]
Grameen Danone Foods was launched in 2006 as a joint venture between Grameen Bank and the French food company Groupe Danone. Grameen Danone's first product is a fortified yoghurt, branded Shoktidoi, which is designed to provide children with many of the key nutrients that are typically missing from their diet in rural Bangladesh.
Grameen America is a microfinance organization. Grameen America provides loans, savings programs, credit establishment and other financial services to the working poor, especially women, in the United States.[citation needed]
The Grameen Foundation USA works to replicate the Grameen Bank model of microfinance around the world through a network of partner microfinance institutions.
Related Research Articles
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
Grameen Bank is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral.
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that "lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty" and that "across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development". Yunus has received several other national and international honours. He received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of January 2022, its current subscribers span over 83.02 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation. Telenor, a telecommunication company from Norway, owns a 55.8% share of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.
Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that uses digital technology and data to understand very poor people, in detail, and offer them—and the entire ecosystem of agencies and actors surrounding them—empowering tools that meet and elevate their everyday realities. Its CEO is Zubaida Bai. Grameen Foundation's mission is, "To enable the poor, especially women, to create a world without poverty and hunger." According to the OECD, Grameen Foundation’s financing for 2019 development increased by 33% to US$45.5 million.
A micro-enterprise is generally defined as a small business employing nine people or fewer, and having a balance sheet or turnover less than a certain amount. The terms microenterprise and microbusiness have the same meaning, though traditionally when referring to a small business financed by microcredit the term microenterprise is often used. Similarly, when referring to a small, usually legal business that is not financed by microcredit, the term microbusiness is often used. Internationally, most microenterprises are family businesses employing one or two persons. Most microenterprise owners are primarily interested in earning a living to support themselves and their families. They only grow the business when something in their lives changes and they need to generate a larger income. According to information found on the Census.gov website, microenterprises make up 95% of the 28 million US companies tracked by the census.
Grameen Telecom (GTC) was established by Muhammad Yunus with a partial stake in Grameen Phone (GP) and registered as a Not-for-Profit Company, Limited by Guarantee, under Section 28 of the Companies Act, 1994. GTC has driven the pioneering GP program of Village Phone that enables rural poor to own a cell-phone and turn it into a profit making venture. The vision behind the village phone program was formulated by Iqbal Quadir who was convinced that a mobile phone could become a source of income generation. Quadir worked with Yunus and the Norwegian company Telenor to make the program a reality.
The Association for Social Advancement is a non-governmental organisation based in Bangladesh which provides microcredit financing.
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty is an autobiography of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus. The book describes Yunus' early life, moving into his college years, and into his years as a professor at Chittagong University. While a professor at Chittagong University, Yunus began to take notice of the extreme poverty of the villagers around him. In 1976, Yunus incorporated the help of Maimuna Begum to collect data of people in Jobra who were living in poverty. Most of these impoverished people would take a loan from moneylenders to buy some raw material, using that raw material to create some product, and then selling back the good to the moneylender to repay the loan, earning a very meager profit. One woman interviewed made no more than two cents per day creating bamboo stools using this system. The list Begum brought back to Yunus named 42 women who were living on credit of 856 taka.
The Comilla Model was a rural development programme launched in 1959 by the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development. The academy, which is located on the outskirts of Comilla town, was founded by Akhter Hameed Khan, the cooperative pioneer who was responsible for developing and launching the programme.
LAPO is a Nigerian organisation with a microfinance bank dedicated to self-employment through microfinance and an NGO, a non-governmental, non-profit community development organization focused on the empowerment of the poor and the vulnerable.
Village banking is a microcredit methodology whereby financial services are administered locally rather than centralized in a formal bank. Village banking has its roots in ancient cultures and was most recently adopted for use by micro-finance institutions (MFIs) as a way to control costs. Early MFI village banking methods were innovated by Grameen Bank and then later developed by groups such as FINCA International founder John Hatch. Among US-based non-profit agencies there are at least 31 microfinance institutions (MFIs) that have collectively created over 800 village banking programs in at least 90 countries. And in many of these countries there are host-country MFIs—sometimes dozens—that are village banking practitioners as well.
Solidarity lending is a lending practice where small groups borrow collectively and group members encourage one another to repay. It is an important building block of microfinance.
Grameen Fund is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh established by Muhammad Yunus to provide risk capital to small and medium enterprises (SME) beyond the scope of Grameen Bank's objectives of providing microcredit to the very poor. Incorporated on 17 January 1994, Grameen Fund started operation in February 1994, inheriting 40 projects of Grameen bank with assets of 391 million Bangladeshi taka investmented in small industries, fisheries and agriculture. Its lending capital is provided by Grameen Bank and other institutions like Calvert Foundation. From the first Calvert Foundation investment, approximately 6,000 permanent jobs have been created or maintained in agriculture, engineering, poultry, dairy, fishery, and handicrafts sectors.
Grameen America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit microfinance organization based in New York City. It was founded by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus in 2008. Grameen America is run by former Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung. The organization provides loans, savings programs, financial education, and credit establishment to women who live in poverty in the United States. All loans must be used to build small businesses.
Microfranchising is a business model that applies elements and concepts of traditional franchising to small businesses in the developing world. It refers to the systemization and replication of micro-enterprises. Microfranchising is broadly defined as small businesses that can easily be replicated by following proven marketing and operational concepts.
The impact of microcredit is a subject of much controversy. Proponents state that it reduces poverty through higher employment and higher incomes. This is expected to lead to improved nutrition and improved education of the borrowers' children. Some argue that microcredit empowers women. In the US and Canada, it is argued that microcredit helps recipients to graduate from welfare programs. Critics say that microcredit has not increased incomes, but has driven poor households into a debt trap, in some cases even leading to suicide. They add that the money from loans is often used for durable consumer goods or consumption instead of being used for productive investments, that it fails to empower women, and that it has not improved health or education.
Yunus Social Business (YSB) is an impact-first organisation with a non-profit impact-investing arm, Yunus Funds, and a corporate social-innovation consulting arm, Yunus Corporate Innovation. Both business units are based on furthering the concept of social business, as developed by YSB Co-founder and Chairman Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Kashf Foundation is a non-profit organization, founded by Roshaneh Zafar in 1996. Kashf is regarded as the first microfinance institution (MFI) of Pakistan that uses village banking methodology in microcredit to alleviate poverty by providing affordable financial and non-financial services to low income households - particularly for women, to build their capacity and enhance their economic role. With headquarters in Lahore, Punjab, Kashf has regional offices in five major cities and over 200 branches across the Pakistan.
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