Donne senza confini

MICROLENDING IN BOLOGNA

From Ester Ocloo and the World Women Bank to micro.Bo, first association in Bologna for the development of the microfinance baptized by the prof. Yunus

If Muhammad Yunus is considered father founder of the microlending with his Gramen Bank, the bank of the poor men, we can define Ester Afua Ocloo as her mother.
Ms. Ocloo died 3 years ago but her signs are still evident in fact the Women World Bank from her conceived, it is one of the principal institutes of microlending in the world today.
Ester was born in Ghana in 1919 and she has experimented the poverty and being woman in a poor country where traditionally women haven't a role in the economy.
Her father was a poor farmer man but he succeeded in making to attend the school to Ester. Necessity to have some financial availability pushed Dr. Ocloo to use 10 shillings received in gift by her aunt to buy sugar and oranges to sell the jam in front of the school.
She used earningses to increase the production of jam. School wanted to stipulated a contract with the Ocloo for a supply of her product. It was the beginning of the Nkulenu Industries.

(Ester Ocloo)

With the first savings she went in Great Britain to go to the university studying Food and Technologies. Ester wanted to export her knowledges for the rural women to give them a possibility to change their life, the possibility that she had with that 10 shillings. "I have discovered that a woman that sells rice on the road earns more than a woman employed in an office". Women in Africa are discriminated in comparison to the men and Ester wanted to give them the financial autonomy so that to make to affirm them in the society.
In 1975 was born the idea to found the World Bank of the Women together with another indian woman founder of the institute of microlending SEWA, Ela Bhatt.
Ester Ocloo was economically affirmed because she has had a base from which to depart, unfortunately, a lot of women don't have often, this possibility.
The report of the General Secretary of the United Nations defines the microlending a valid tool to reduce the poverty but it must be accompanies and sustained by the social context. As truth that before the end of 2005, 100 million of poor families in the world will take profit from microlending programmes.
Today it is not more correct to connect the microlending to the underdeveloped countries because problems of access to the credit also exist in the developed countries, also in Italy, also in Bologna, one of the richest italian cities.

(the group micro.Bo with the prof. Yunus)
September 14 th 2004 has been constituted micro.Bo, Association for the Development of the Microfinance in Bologna.
I have met Julia Vichi, one of the partners founders of the association.
How was born the idea of micro.Bo? "The idea was born in October 2003. The prof. Yunus had been invited in Italy by the professor Luisa Brunori teacher of psychology of the groups to the university in Bologna.. Some students of Economy have been invited to participate in the workshop with Yunus and from there it is initiated everything. When Yunus gone away, these guys said:why can't we do the same of Yunus? We have initiated to study the various experiences of microlending in the world to understand whether to do for applying it to Bologna. In September 2004 we are constituted as association before to a notary and the engineer Checcoli, entrepreneur of Bologna, has become president."
Why micro.Bo? "Because we have realized there that also in Italy not all have access to the credit. Money is disbursed to whom has already them."
To testify that the access to the credit is not so easy in Italy, the development of many initiatives of microlending during these years: Foundation S. Carlo, the Company SocialMicrolending S. Paolo, MAG2 Finance, Community "Le piagge" of Florence. Dr. Vichi, there are already european social funds for instance in favor of young entrepreneurs, waht is your particularity?
" The funds exist but they remain for few and then they don't succeed in satisfying the existing question. Our particularity is that we want to work really with the people that would never ask any money in loan because they are convinced not to be able of to return them. We want to work with people that don't know what is a business plan."
The system of the microlending conceived by Yunus is very simple: a group of 5 people is constituted (usually women) and named a person responsible (to rotation). once introduced a project held valid, it is subsequently financed. The installments of reimbursement of the capital are weekly.
Which are differences among the projects of microlendingo realized by the Gramen Bank in Bangladesh and from micro.Bo in Bologna? "We know that Bologna is very different from Dhaka but some things the same because we speaks of people, families, poverty.
Surely an aspect that differentiates us,it is that in Italy people in economic difficulty, they finds a support and help from the welfare e/o religious institutions. For this reason we are trying to begin to collaborate with them because they know very well the histories of poverty and they can put us in contact with people interested in our projects. Besides very different in our project it is the network of relationships that characterizes the beneficiaries. In Bangladesh the beneficiaries of the loans live in villages where every person knows the other one. In Bologna it is different; the people live in a blander interlacement of relationships so that not all have an enough number of knowledges to constitute a group. For this reason we have been activating an intense work with associations of the cities to make to know our initiative. Other difference is the entity of the loan, maximum 10.000 €."
The interest rates applied by Gramen Bank are not low, do you hold the same politics? >"Our settled bank will apply an interest rate between 6 to 7% so normal rates of market. Also the Gramen Bank is only 4 points superior to the rate of market. We have to remember us that in Bangladesh the rates are taller than in Europe."
What kind of projects do you give the priority? "We don't give priority to the projects but to the people. We don't ask for a business plan neither we prepare it for our customer, simply help him to realize it. Our role is like Virgilio for Dante: we will accompany them by hand in this adventure up to when they won't be ready for the traditional banks. Our greater interest goes to the handicraft activities, commercial, to the services to the person and the jobs that are slowly disappearing. Yunus told us, "you ask what people can do and start from there."
Have you already started some projects? "From February 2 nd 2005, day of the inaugural press conference, we are formally operational. About twenty people has contacted us to receive loans. We have begun to work with them.
And' important to choose well the first group and the first project because then mechanisms of emulation go off. And' better therefore to depart later a few months but with the correct group."
The enthusiasm and the professionalism of the group micro.Bo can give important opportunities to whom, also in Bologna, alive to the borders of the society. The globalization doesn't unite only the markets but it also exports problems, the successes of the microlending in the undeveloped countries could be useful also in the "rich" Europe.

Federico Bastiani

For further information www.micro.bo.it