Nobel laureate wants to take banking for the poor to Africa

BERLIN – Bangladeshi Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said yesterday he was hoping to export the micro-credit system he pioneered in Asia to more African countries to help the continent overcome poverty.

“There is a lot of interest from African leaders to whom I have been talking. The question is how can this be translated into practice,” he told a press conference at the close of a World Bank meeting on Africa in Berlin.Yunus said all of the developed world needed to strive to help Africa in order to live up to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals which include halving extreme poverty by 2015.”This is very important.It is the first time the UN has set such goals.The time has come to stick to them.”Yunus, nicknamed the “Banker to the Poor”, won the 2006 Nobel peace prize for helping millions escape poverty through micro-credit financing projects which enable people without collateral or steady income to get small loans.A few African nations, including Rwanda and Mali, already have micro-credit financing projects based on the model he developed.Yunus held talks with African officials in Berlin just weeks ahead of the Group of Eight summit from June 6-8 in Heiligendamm, Germany.The host nation, which holds the G8 presidency, has promised to put initiatives to help Africa high on the summit agenda.German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said yesterday the summit would look at how to give ordinary Africans access to financial institutions.”This will be an important point at the summit.”Nampa-AFPThe question is how can this be translated into practice,” he told a press conference at the close of a World Bank meeting on Africa in Berlin.Yunus said all of the developed world needed to strive to help Africa in order to live up to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals which include halving extreme poverty by 2015.”This is very important.It is the first time the UN has set such goals.The time has come to stick to them.”Yunus, nicknamed the “Banker to the Poor”, won the 2006 Nobel peace prize for helping millions escape poverty through micro-credit financing projects which enable people without collateral or steady income to get small loans.A few African nations, including Rwanda and Mali, already have micro-credit financing projects based on the model he developed.Yunus held talks with African officials in Berlin just weeks ahead of the Group of Eight summit from June 6-8 in Heiligendamm, Germany.The host nation, which holds the G8 presidency, has promised to put initiatives to help Africa high on the summit agenda.German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said yesterday the summit would look at how to give ordinary Africans access to financial institutions.”This will be an important point at the summit.”Nampa-AFP