Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have to expand their horizon to meet the requirements of the poor. They need to align the knowledge, capital and technology to address the challenges faced by the poor.

I strongly feel that we can create a poverty-free world. Basic ingredient of overcoming poverty is packed inside each poor person. All we need to do is to help the person to unleash this energy and creativity. Once this can be done, poverty will disappear very fast. Only place in the world where poverty may exist will be in the poverty museums, no longer in human society.

Microfinance is a significant tool to reduce global poverty. It has been evolving over the last three decades and proved to be an effective way of reaching out to the poor and improve their lives. In the early 1980s, the microfinance industry was dominated by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) with innovative programs to provide financial services for the poor from external funding. However, the concept came into the limelight because of the Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank initiatives. Acknowledging its yeomen services, the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2006 to its founder Muhammad Yunus. With this the Grameen Bank has perhaps become the best-known MFI. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an innovative citizen group, has become a giant in the industry not only in Bangladesh but also worldwide. The impressive results of these institutions generated a great deal of interest in the MFI arena, for a broader socioeconomic development of the community.

MBA Review Magazine, Microfinance, Microfinance Institutions, MFIs, Non-Government Organizations, NGOs, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC, Socioeconomic Development, Asian Development Bank, ADB, Microfinance-funded Projects, Microfinance Services, Corporate Social Responsibility, Automated Teller Machine, ATM.