This year's Nelson Mandela Seventh Annual Lecture was held on the 11 July 2009 in Johannesburg. The key speaker was Professor Muhammad Yunus. Prof Yunus is a Nobel Laureate and the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank specialises in microloans to the very poor.
This bank started in Bangladesh in the 1970s.  Now it operates in 100 countries, lending $100-million per month. "This business approach to the alleviation of poverty has allowed millions of poor to work their way out of poverty with dignity.Yunus's focus was on "investment in the marginalized as a way of creating wealth and combating poverty". Cited: Nelson Mandela, 2009.

The subject-matter of the address was fascinating and awakening; it reached out to all of us, from street vendors to up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Yunus reminded us of our past struggles, e.g. world wars, civil wars and apartheid. He said: we have managed to succeed in those struggles jointly as a nation. Presently, we have a great battle which is poverty. If we won the battle against apartheid, why can't we defeat poverty?

Yunus introduced an effective model of giving microloans to very poor to start up businesses. Currently, the commercial banks seldom lend to the poor, or to new businesses.  This is because these are perceived to pose a security risk.
Commercial banks believe that poorer people are a higher risk as they are less likely to be able to pay back the loans granted to them. Yunus argues that people should be given a chance to prove themselves.  He believes that everything is possible. He says that Bangladesh entrepreneurs have taken and paid back their loans, so why should we believe that South African entrepreneurs do not deserve that same opportunity?

Yunus says that the problem is not with poor people; the problem is the system which does not allow the poor to explore and develop their capabilities. Additionally, he says that if the system is not working, the solution is to change it. For example, our economic system does not work for the poor.  Therefore, now is the best time to undo the system and look for possible solutions.  One possible solution, he suggests, is to invest in marginalised communities in order to combat poverty.

Finally, in the conclusion of his address, Prof Yunus said that South Africa should give itself at least 20 years to try this approach to combat poverty. He said that after 20 years, we must build a poverty museum, to which we will take our children, and we will all wonder how we could have allowed such a terrible thing to go on for so long because by then poverty would be part of our history, not our present.

Professor Yunus has brought us some food for thought.  We should all sit up and take notice of what he is saying. Where is our Grameen Bank, allowing long-suffering entrepreneurs to grab every opportunity to change their lives for the better? It is indeed high time for South Africa's financial institutions to join us in the fight against poverty, and help us rebuild our country.
For more info on Grameen Bank click below:www.grameen-info.org 

For more information on Professor Yunus, follow these links:

• Muhammad Yunus:  (this site also includes a video of his address at the 7th annual Mandela lecture)
• Nobel Prize:
•  The Elders:
•  Wikipedia:

Sources:

• Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Grameen Bank