Forgive the weak translation, but here's a sample of googling what the French are saying about Yunus, and good for you!

 

The Social Purpose Companies
Providing many examples, Muhammad Yunus shows that this new economic model can be applied throughout the world.  In continuing the work begun by the spread of microcredit, the author hopes to put the talents lying dormant in every individual
at the service of a goal: the eradication of poverty

 

Micro credit: the Quiet Revolution

 Professor Muhammad Yunus is the pioneer of micro-credit and the Nobel Peace Prize 2006.  He has just announced a joint venture with Credit Agricole.
 "That smile, combined with a look that is yours, is an invitation to act."  This is how  Rene Carron, the Chairman of Credit Agricole, praised Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi otherwise known as the banker to the poor.   Together, they are creating a foundation to support microfinance.  This is the first time a major western bank agrees with the Grameen Bank, founded by Yunus.
 
 Microcredit is a concept born 30 years ago. Today it extends $ 30 billion loans to 150 million customers.  The potential for development is ten times higher.  It is flowing from Asia to.  Latin America, and Africa.  More than that, Grameen Bank is begining to lend to poor Americans.  And in France, there are organizations like Adie, the Association for the Right to Economic Initiative.  Microcredit is Phase 1.  Phase 2, there are micro-finance ie also: micro savings, micro insurance, mutual micro health… And finally, Muhammad Yunus believes in phase 3: a new capitalism, which would coincide with the 'poverty eradication.

 

 

Elements of Reflections of Capitalism Integral
 . According to the UN, 20% of the richest of the world's population held in 1960, over 70% of the wealth of the planet, in the early 2000 this figure had risen to over 85%.  The extreme inequality in the distribution of wealth strengthens the view that the poor, who represent more than three-quarters of the world's population cannot participate in the market economy.  According to data from the World Bank persons earning less than $ 2 per day currently represent more than 4 billion people.  If the current trend continues, they will be more 6 billion in the next 40 years, and the gap between rich and poor would lead to much more acute and a boomerang effect on the system incalculable: discontent, extremism, social decay, political chaos , terrorism, environmental destruction. 

 Despite this catastrophic result, the capitalist system has demonstrated an excellent ability in the efficient production of goods and services, contrary to various socialist experiments which have failed to fill the expectations in terms of productivity and wealth creation.   We must lay the foundation for a new form of capitalism in order to reduce abject poverty in which live ¾ of the world's population, eliminate barriers and social privileges, set up structures for equal access to opportunities through the education and health, and to promote the inclusion of the poor in the new market dynamics.  In this context, it is time to analyze the challenges of this new capitalism and the new strategies of globalization through a new vision of full capitalism.

 Why Full  Capitalism?
.  Within this article we mean by full capitalism, a system that balances environmental and profit, profit and social development, equality and benefit, unlike the dominant logic in our country and elsewhere, which usually involves profit and wealth in the exploitation , theft and looting.  In this sense, we are talking about a new form of capitalist organisation which is not concerned only growth markets of industrialized and emerging countries, but that facilitates the integration of billions of poor people in underdeveloped countries to the economy market and especially considers that the creation of wealth is at the base of the pyramid through fair trade, business investment, sustainable and responsible.  The base of the pyramid is a concept developed by the Indian economist CK Prahalad to refer to 4 billion poor people living on less than $ 2 a day.

 The investment of private enterprises in the base of the pyramid is conducive to free billions of persons in poverty, avoid political chaos, terrorism and environmental destruction.  The base of the pyramid is a challenge strategic management for private companies selling to the poor by helping them to improve their living standards, by producing and distributing products and services sensitive to their culture, sustainable environmentally and economically profitable.

 To assess the potential of this market, it is important to get rid of a set of assumptions and orthodoxies:
 The poor do not constitute a profitable market
 The poor will not be able to pay for goods
 The poor may not appreciate the new technology
 It is impossible to reconcile economic and social issues.

 Investing in the market of the poor involves taking into account a set of basic conditions, namely:
 Creation of Purchasing power
 The creation of purchasing power depends on a process of capital of the poor from a credit policy appropriate.  Historically the poor do not have access to commercial credit and banking.  As demonstrated in the brilliant Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto in his book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and fails in the rest of the world, trade credit is the driving force for building a market economy.  The access of the poor to credit is an essential tool for converting poor entrepreneurs flexible and active, and also to combat social exclusion.  In this sense it means to bypass traditional barriers of conventional financial institutions and identify innovative strategies to facilitate access to credit to the people that are at the base of the pyramid.
 This is evidenced, for example, the experience of Grameen Bank Limited.  Of Bangladesh, a pioneer in the use of micro lending to the poor, whose founder, Professor Muhammad Yunus, known as the banker to the poor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.  Grameen Bank Ltd has used an innovative strategy in its credit operations: borrowers must submit their proposals vetted and endorsed by 5 persons in the community.  5 These people should not talk about family relationships with the borrower.  After the loan, commercial agents provide continuous tracking loans in order to promote the profitability of the project for which the loan was granted. Operations are carried out under a single management, in contrast to cumbersome bureaucratic procedures Traditional bank classic.
 The bank currently has more than 4 million customers and 1170 branches serving more than 40000 locations across Bangladesh.  The repayment rate of Grameen Bank is comparatively higher than that of any other traditional financial institution.
 

Anticipating the needs
 Move away at the base of the pyramid involves a great ability to anticipate the needs of this market and adapt policies accordingly.  This factor requires the design of products culturally acceptable, and environmentally sustainable, through activities of studies and market development geared solely to the conditions and market realities.
 The electricity, water, refrigeration, the new information technology and communication is a source of opportunities for the marketing of a range of products services.  For example, an NGO from the United States, Solar Electric Light (SELF), has developed an alternative system for the production of electric power in rural areas.  The basis for this system is to generate energy through small units and renewable resources available at the community level.  To sell this service to poor, rural communities in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and elsewhere, SELF used a credit policy which is to provide the financial means to the people so that they become owners and operators of the electrical system. This activity has been so successful that the company began to expand into other parts of the world.

 Selling at a discounted price
 The conditions of sale on the market involve changing traditional patterns of cost to sell at a discounted price.  Not sell at a price lower than its cost of production to make philanthropy, because the principle of free absolute never existed in any economic system, but sell at a price that takes into account the purchasing power of poor and that can generate acceptable profits in the context of the profits accruing from the benefits of economies of scale.

Reshaping Social
 For more than 50 years, the donor nations, the World Bank, various aid agencies and national governments recently, civil society organizations have done their best, but they have been unable to eradicate poverty through policies they relate to social assistance to the poorest.  To overcome poverty, it is important to break with this logic assistancialiste social policies.
 The new direction of social policy is to treat the poor not as an economic burden or as victims in need to attend all the time, but as flexible and creative entrepreneurs and as consumers integrated in the different phases of the market.  It is to convert the poor as economic players in the production and wealth creation.
 As part of this redefinition, NGOs have a crucial role to play in articulating the social and the economic.  Their mission is to use the principles of affirmative action to accompany the new market dynamics and narrow the gap between rich history and the poor through sustainable productive activities:
 Development activities aimed at capitalising on the poor;
 The transformation of productive resources into opportunities
 Training for the poor to become aware of their creative abilities;
 Networking communities to promote exchange under a fair trade;
 Market research, given the limited capacity of mobility of the poor;
 Community support in all phases of the contract to convert the poor as actors in the global economy.
 

Conclusion:
 Capitalism integral part on the assumption that, despite the donations and funding from donors, the World Bank, donor countries, NGOs in the fight against poverty, they have proved unable to eliminate it, on the contrary it tends to grow stronger in the regions and programs are most visible and operable.
 Economic liberalism has created the optimal conditions for productivity, but was unable to manage the economic division of property with equity socialist planning could make conditions more or less fair for the sharing of wealth through social policy, but could not meet the expectations in terms of productivity and wealth creation.  The fight against poverty will be effective in so far as the poor are considered not as a burden or as victims to be present at the government, NGOs and civil society, but as genuine economic actors integrated in the different phases of the activities of market through:
 A process of capitalization through a credit policy adapted;
 Product design tailored to the needs and conditions of the poor;
 Planning a flexible pricing system that takes into account the low purchasing power and which promotes the benefits of economy of scale;
 The redefinition of a new vision of social policy which tends to break with the logic assistancia

Brad Meyer <bradmeyer@...> wrote:

Mostofa / Chris

 

This is a quick note to say that Robert, Nadine, Hamid and I met in Paris to talk about how we might support Yunus’ agenda in relation to his book launch and towards implementing social businesses in France. The combined experiences of us all resulted in about 4 hours of animated lateral and creative thinking. Our intention is to identify a tangible and time-specific action to take that will result in a specific, measurable, achievable and valuable outcome that we can deliver with only nominal dependencies on others – though of course we will seek to attract others into the activity set that we elect to take on.

 

Sometime soon, we should be able to share notes from that discussion. Sadly, we did not record it, which would have made the job of sharing ideas so much easier!

 

Brad

 

simple solutions * immediate impact * lasting learning

www.collaboration.co.uk

NEW NUMBER : +44 (0) 7 984 205 700

 

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