The guru of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Peace prize in 2006 for his work in providing small amounts of loans to poor people is in the news today for all the wrong reasons. He set up the Grameen Bank which is a microfinance organisation and community development bank. Microfinancing is especially helpful to the poor because the bank takes very little collateral or none at all. This type of lending has helped many people especially in Asia. Today it is being reported that Mr Yunus is being investigated for possible alleged financial mismanagement of the Grameen Bank. Apparently, money given to the bank has been transferred to another company without the permission of the Norwegian government who donated to the fund. Microfinance gives people who live in poverty some control over their lives. These people don't then have to rely on charity all the time which can be on and off in being given to them. Also, international aid doesn't always go the people in those countries who need them. Microfinance has helped millions of people to get out of poverty. I really hope that microfinance in Asia has not been corrupted as many more millions of people could benefit from this.
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