Who founded Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh microfinance institution, in 1983?

Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983.

Yunus, an economist and professor at the University of Chittagong, became interested in small loans after seeing how poor borrowers were trapped by informal lenders. He began lending his own money to villagers in Jobra in 1976, then developed a larger program through a bank project.

Grameen Bank was established as an independent bank in 1983. It specialized in very small loans, particularly for people who lacked conventional collateral. Borrowers commonly organized into groups, although the loans were generally individual obligations rather than a simple shared loan.

Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Microfinance has since expanded widely, but research and experience show that small loans are not a universal solution to poverty. Grameen’s history remains a major case study in financing tiny enterprises and household economic activity.