1、1650 单词, 8400 英文字符 ,2800 汉字 外文题目: Can the Grameen experience work in Africa? 出 处: African Business; Apr2007, Issue 330, p74-75, 2p, 2 Color Photographs 作 者: Ford, Neil 原 文: Can the Grameen experience work in Africa? Can Africa learn from the revolutionary micro-finance solutions pioneered by the Gra
2、meen Bank experience in Bangladesh? The banks founder and the bank itself were awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Neil Ford discusses the philosophy behind the system. The decision to award the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has underlined the potential
3、of micro-finance in developing countries. Micro-finance banks have been set up in most African countries over the past decade but the sheer scale of the Grameen operations is staggering. Providing individuals or very small businesses with access to what are often very small sums of money may seem li
4、ke a marginal contribution to economic growth but it can widen a nations economic base and promote the kind of growth that leads to real increases in living standards. All too often, jumbo infrastructural projects are still portrayed as the key to economic development. Giant dam schemes, large therm
5、al power plants and new port developments all have their place in the grand scheme of things, but they are of little use without a vast network of water pipelines, transmission lines, and road and rail links to transport goods to and from the port. In the same way, the construction of a new aluminiu
6、m plant or opening of a new copper mine can make a contribution to economic growth but every strong, well balanced economy is based upon thousands of very small businesses that form the underbelly of a nations social and economic life. It is often overlooked that large and medium sized businesses make a smaller contribution to GDP than small businesses in many western economies. This is not the ca