Time for radical change

It’s blindingly obvious that we need a new way of doing business. I for one am sick to the back teeth hearing about bankers and bosses bonuses for average performances. Capitalism and the relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of people and the environment is failing us.
 
Social business models on the other hand prove time and again that businesses can succeed and do 'good'. Microcredit is emering from the social business movement as one of the ways we can bring change, from the bottom up. The news that the Grameen bank could be coming to Glasgow is a breath of fresh air.
 
Grameen started with $27 back in 1983 by Nobel Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus. He took a radical idea and made history with it. The bank gives small loans to people at reasonable cost to help them start or expand businesses and ultimately get them out of the poverty trap.
 
Grameen, meaning 'village', started as a tiny homegrown project. Today it gives loans to over seven million people, across 78,000 villages in Bangladesh. The majority are women, typically the most powerless group in Bangladesh. And the repayment rate is over 96% which is better than many high street banks can report.
 
It could be because no borrower is left to just get on with it. Each is responsible for their loan. But everyone belongs to a group and every member has to approve all loans. They give each other encouragement and practical help. So it creates a community dynamic, a kind of social pressure. People don’t want to let the others in their group down.
 
These microcredit programmes have expanded into Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the US. But will it work in Glasgow?
 
Pockets of poverty in Glasgow and across Scotland are different. The poverty is not about a lack of resources. It’s welfare state poverty, a kind of poverty of spirit. Handouts take away people’s dignity, initiative and sense of responsibility. But as Yunus points out, the ability to spot opportunities is universal. And Grameen have shown that genuinely innovative thinking can solve seemingly intractable social problems.
 
Microcredit could create the conditions to turn things around as part of a wider effort. To be free of poverty, all aspects of life need to be addressed from better housing to health, support services and schools. Let’s hope we can embrace this truly innovative opportunity and grab it with both hands.