International Business: The New Realities, 5th Edition

Microfinance to Facilitate Entrepreneurship

Microfinance provides small-scale financial services, such as microcredit and microloans, that assist entrepreneurs to start businesses in poor countries. By taking small loans, often less than $100, small-scale entrepreneurs acquire enough capital to launch successful businesses. The leading advocate of microfinance is economics professor Muhammad Yunus. He founded the Grameen Bank (www.grameen-info.org), which has made small loans to millions of borrowers in South Asia. Aspiring entrepreneurs use the small loans to buy everything from cows that produce milk to sell in markets to mobile phones that villagers can rent to make calls.40 The Grameen Bank now has more than 2,500 branches and has inspired ...