N'ganj small entrepreneurs becoming self-reliant

A good number of micro and small entrepreneurs in the villages across Narayanganj have become self-reliant through their hard work and efforts, also creating opportunities for others, with easy microcredit from the Grameen Bank (GB).
Earlier, many of these entrepreneurs were deprived of collateral-free easy loan despite having skills and strong will to break the barrier of poverty, they said.
However, the difficult path of entrepreneurship has been facilitated for them by the country's four-decade-old microfinance organisation that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, they added.
Iyad Ali, one of the GB's beneficiary entrepreneurs in Ganga Nagar village of Rupganj upazila, weaves popular Jamdani sari at his own cottage industry.
After learning the craft he began his own business a decade ago with financial support from the bank, he told the FE during a field visit in the area last week.
"At the beginning, I availed loan from the bank through my mother. After my marriage, I could access the support through my wife Mahmuda Khatun, who is a member of the bank."
It requires a good amount of money to start and continue a business like this, as the workers need to be paid advanced wages, he noted.
Starting with only one production unit, Mr Ali now owns 20 units - generating employment for 40 people. Two employees working at one unit can produce one piece of Jamdani sari in a week, which sells between Tk 7,000 and Tk 10,000 on an average at wholesale level.
His wife now maintains a loan amounting to Tk 2,10,000 from the bank.
"We are doing fine," Mr Ali added, without elaborating on his earning from the craft.
Like them, several other families in the area were also found working with small or large Jamdani weaving units.
According to available data, a total of 10,334,895 members across the country are registered with the bank until this April, with 10,007,617 female members.
Beneficiaries of the bank are engaged in different kinds of trades, including weaving, textile manufacturing, livestock farming, sweetmeat making, operating beauty parlours, and jewellery production.
Kritibas Bhowmik, who makes and supplies sweetmeats from his shop at Nayapur Bazaar in Sonargaon upazilla to neighbouring areas, said he and his wife started the business nearly two decades ago.
"Once we were in need of some money to expand the business, but no one came to our help with the finance we required. Then my wife applied for Tk 5,000 loan from GB nearly 15 years ago," he said.
Now they maintain a loan amounting to Tk 1.0 million with the bank. His small business has created employment for 10 people.
Sumi Dhar, a female entrepreneur in the same neighbourhood, has been expanding her family businesses since 2001, making the best use of loan.
"We've expanded our businesses from one jewellery shop to five shops of different trades, including a beauty parlour," she added.
Talking to the reporters, Abul Kalam, an assistant general manager (AGM) of GB, said adopting proper methodologies to pick beneficiaries and regular monitoring help ensure success of the entrepreneurs as well as loan recovery of the bank.
"Qualified members get our loans without any kind of collateral, which is a unique feature of the bank."
Most beneficiaries of the bank usually have no other sources to avail credit on easy conditions.
In addition to basic loans, there are loans for higher education and house building that aim to improve the beneficiaries' living standard and allow them to pay back the money easily.
The interest rate for the most basic loan borrowers hovers around 10 per cent, which needs to be paid on weekly basis, he also said.
"The beneficiaries are also encouraged to maintain a savings scheme with the bank, so that they can get a good return after the maturity period."
There are around 2,82,000 members of the bank in Narayanganj zone, of whom around 1,87,000 are maintaining loans at present, he said.
As per the bank's data, it has 62 branches in Narayanganj zone, while a total of 2,568 branches are operating across the country. Its loan recovery rate has been reported at almost 97 per cent.

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