Yunus now plans to set up Social Business villages

Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus has planned to set up Social Business Villages (SBVs) in the second phase of 'Nobin Udyokta' (new entrepreneurs) initiative, reports UNB.

"To make it an autonomous and economically viable entity, we take a union, the lowest tire of local government in Bangladesh, covering a cluster of about 20 villages, as the 'greater village'. This village unit is being developed as a Social Business Village," he said.

Prof Yunus came up with his plan in his new article titled 'We Are Not Job-Seekers, We Are Job-Givers - Turning Unemployment into Entrepreneurship'.

The Nobel Laureate said each SBV will have a Social Business Fund and a Social Business Incubation Company. The incubation company will promote the idea of social business, help develop business plans, bring successful social businesses from outside to replicate, create joint ventures with companies from outside the village, network with other SBVs.

"The company will also invite non-resident villagers who are engaged in professional activities outside the village, or the country, to help build up the Social Business Fund and invest in social businesses in their own village," he writes.

Dr Yunus said Bangladeshi people have a very strong emotional attachment to their own villages. No matter how long they are away, how far they are away, from their villages, they still feel a strong bond with village. The SBV programme may reconnect them to their villages in meaningful ways, he added.

The Nobel Laureate said a SBV will qualify to call itself as such only after it is formally recognised at the annual Social Business Day celebration which is held regularly on June 28 every year. The minimum qualification required for applying for this recognition is to create at least 25 Nobin Udyokta projects and 5 other types of social business successfully.

"We're inviting individuals, foundations, and businesses to contact us, if they are interested in creating their own SBVs. We can help them set up appropriate structures to do that, like Social Business Fund, and Incubation Company," he said.

"We offer our services to manage the Fund and the company under management contracts. Grameen Telecom trust will select three unions among those who will contact us, to provide matching funds. For these three unions, Grameen Telecom Trust will invest an amount of money equal to whatever amount the union can mobilise on its own. In these cases both the Social Business Fund and the Incubation Company will be managed by Grameen Telecom Trust."

Prof Yunus said this will be an interesting experience of joint venture between Grameen Telecom Trust and the unions in creating SBVs.