News Flash
DHAKA, June 30, 2025 (BSS) - The launching ceremony of a book on “Small Loans, Big Dreams: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank and The Global Microfinance Revolution” was held today at the RH Home Center, head office of the University Press Limited (UPL) in the capitals Green Road area.
Former Board Member of PKSF and Chairperson of Manusher Jonno Foundation Parveen Mahmud, Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Md. Fazlul Quader, Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Sardar Akhter Hamid were the discussants at the book launching ceremony.
The author of the book Alex Counts also spoke at the Bengali edition of this book launch ceremony.
Managing Director of Innovation Consulting Md. Rubaiyat Sarwar conducted the ceremony. UPL Managing Director Mahrukh Mohiuddin also spoke on the occasion.
This Bangla edition of the book is a unique account of the birth and development of microfinance in Bangladesh under the leadership of Dr Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. Syed Faiz Ahmed translated the book in Bengali.
Its author, Alex Counts, founder of Grameen Foundation, USA, explores the history of microfinance and discusses how Grameen Bank has changed its methods in the wake of economic recession and environmental disaster.
In addition to answering various questions from critics about the value and significance of the Grameen model, he also describes the long-term legacy of Dr Yunus’s extraordinary vision in the book.
In this book, the author presents vivid anecdotes from the lives of several women in remote villages of Bangladesh and the suburbs of Chicago.
All of them were able to change their fate by setting up small businesses on their own initiative because they had the opportunity to receive microfinance.
This project in Chicago was a pilot project of the Grameen model in the United States. He also highlighted how the rural system spread to America.
Speaking on the occasion, Alex Counts said that Prof Yunus had given him enough time for writing this book adding that Dr Yunus had designed a model where half of the borrowers were women.
In his widespread experience while working in Bangladesh, Counts said that the women in Bangladesh are more reliable; they are better borrowers and do not take unnecessary risks.
Counts said that one needs to understand the Grameen Bank to understand the magnitude of works of Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus.
PKSF Managing Director Md Fazlul Quader said that it was found that it yields better results if loans are provided to the women borrowers while better financial management is also being seen among the women borrowers.
He said that through the Grameen Bank, PKSF and other MFI institutions, it has been possible to prove that a sustainable institutional mechanism can be created in the country.
Former PKSF Deputy Managing Director Parveen Mahmud said that as being a homegrown model, all feel pride as Grameen Bank got the Nobel Prize alongside Prof Yunus.
She opined that the volume and extent of microcredit has now grown over the years since its inception in the country.
Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Sarder Akhter Hamid said that Grameen Bank is a bank for the unbanked while it would also remain as a Bank for the unbanked.
He opined that the Grameen Bank operating in villages across the country had helped in women empowerment and in management of better finance.
In this book, Alex presented a classic account of the innovation and growth of microfinance in Bangladesh, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. It illustrated how a marginalized woman transformed her life by launching a small business with the help of microfinance.
Alex addressed critics' concerns about the Grameen model and highlighted the lasting impact of Yunus' remarkable vision.
In the book, the author also showed how microfinance could play a significant role in reducing economic inequality by enabling the underprivileged to participate creatively in the global economy.
With the help of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Alex Counts founded the Grameen Foundation in 1997 and served as its president and CEO.
In addition, he also served as President and CEO of the American India Foundation in 2016-17.
While studying at Cornell University, he received the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award.
