The microfinance industry, which came to prominence through its pioneer Muhammad Yunus (pictured) of Grameen Bank, is being rocked by scandals and poor economic performance. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The microfinance industry and the microloan came out of the last several decades as a novel way to empower low-income people by extending them credit. Microlenders have been showered with praise and even Nobel prizes. However, some modern microfinance firms don’t appear to be following in the ethical or economic footsteps of the ones that came before.

Microlending firms founder

Microlending firms in Asia have experienced turbulence recently, leading some to question what the future of microcredit holds in that region. SKS Microfinance, according to the New York Times, has lost about 70 percent of its stock value on the market since its initial public offering in August of 2010. In the last quarter of 2010, the company posted a loss of more than $15 million after posting a profit of more than $14 million in the first quarter. The Indian government has been legislatively cracking down on SKS and other microcredit firms after numerous accusations of strong arm loan collections have become rampant. Last year the Economic Times reported that about 30 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh committed suicide in a 45-day period, allegedly because of debt to microcredit lenders.

Governments square off

The governments of Bangladesh and India have both pushed back against microlenders that they say crossed the line. The central bank of India passed legislation capping interest rates on microloans to 26 percent and loan amounts to 50,000 rupees or about $1,120. Furthermore, state politicians in Andhra Pradesh encouraged people to stop paying their debts to microloan lenders, and loan repayments there fell to about 10 percent, according to Forbes. In Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus was forced from his position as head of Grameen Bank, the institution he founded, which has lent out billions in microloans to impoverished people around the world. Yunus won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work. Lenders are accused of forcing people into a vicious cycle of debt and some are accused of using illegal or immoral methods to get borrowers to pay their debts. Yunus has been openly critical of for-profit lenders; he contends that the motive to make money rather than to help people get out of poverty is crippling microcredit as an economic tool.

The end may not be in sight

Microcredit lenders may be struggling because of economic and political conditions, but the model is beginning to take off in other countries. The Kiva organization uses donations from private individuals to raise capital for microloans all over the world. There are also American versions of microfinancing opening up. For instance, the Samuel Adams brewing company launched a joint venture with the non-profit foundation ACCION USA. Entrepreneurs can get small l0ans of a few thousand dollars to start the food-related business of their dreams, according to USA Today,. The Small Business Administration has loan programs for startups.

Sources

New York Times

Forbes

USA Today

Economic Times

Muhummad Yunus has been forced out of his position at Grameen Bank by the Bangladeshi government. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has been forced out of his position at Grameen Bank by the government in Bangladesh. Yunus, the longtime head of Grameen Bank, is well known for his work in the realm of microfinance, lending small loans to the poor to help them start businesses. He and the Bangladeshi government have feuded for years.

Nobel Prize winner forced from office by government

The Bangladeshi government has forced Muhammad Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, according to NPR. Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, was ordered out of his position as managing director of Grameen Bank by Bangladesh Bank, the central bank for the nation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank maintains that Yunus did not comply with a statute that mandates bank directors retire at age 60. Yunus is 70, but Grameen Bank was founded under a law passed in 1983 which exempts Yunus from the statute. He was given an indefinite term of office as managing director of Grameen Bank in 2000, when he reached the age of 60. However, Grameen is fighting the charges, and Yunus still retains his position.

Ongoing feud between microcredit legend and government

The Bangladeshi government and Yunus have been embroiled in a feud for years. Yunus has previously  accused the government of corruption, while government officials termed the small loans that Grameen lends to the impoverished as “sucking the blood from the poor.” Muhammad Yunus tried to launch his own political party in 2007, but it floundered. Officials have been looking at the operations of Grameen Bank to root out any possible malfeasance for months, after allegations were made of an improper funds transfer, according to the New York Times. Grameen allegedly transferred more than $100 million in donations from the Norwegian government to a Grameen affiliate without alerting the Norwegian government, but all the funds were redeposited.

Key figure in fight against poverty

Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank are held in high esteem worldwide for their work in fighting poverty with microfinance loans. Grameen Bank lends small loans to the very poor, mainly women, in order to help them establish a cottage industry. For instance, an extremely poor clothing maker could get a microloan for a sewing machine and fabric and establish a business and an income. Women make up 97 percent of Grameen’s borrowers, according to USA Today, and the bank has more than $10 billion in loans. Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for efforts in alleviating poverty in Bangladesh. However, the microcredit model has come under heavy criticism as microlenders in other countries have been found to engage in corrupt practices, including intimidating customers with violence to collect payments, and some believe it encourages a vicious cycle of debt among the impoverished.

Sources

USA Today

New York Times

NPR