Microcredit for Mexico: Grameen Carso Launches

Microcredit is everywhere these days. After Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to expand economic opportunity to the world’s poor, the idea caught on big time. Now everyone from Jordan’s Queen Rania to Matt Damon is involved.

And now Carlos Slim Helú, the third richest man in the world (after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) according to Forbes, is getting in on the action. Last week his foundation, Fundación Carlos Slim, and Grameen Trust announced the launch of the Grameen Carso microcredit program in Mexico, according to a CSRWire press release.

The new organization, based on the Grameen Bank model, will give Mexico's poorest people opportunities to make income in new ways so they can lift themselves into better circumstances. Fundación Carlos Slim will contribute $45 million, with $5 million dedicated to grantmaking and $40 million tagged for microloans. The ambitious founders plan to serve more than 100,000 borrowers in the first five years. Lending will start first in Oaxaca, where the group opened an office in July.

Yunus is happy with the progress of the new microcredit effort. “We are very pleased with the start in Mexico and the enthusiasm and work orientation of our growing number of Mexican employees and borrowers. Grameen Carso [h]as all the essential elements of a large and long term success,” he said.

Photo of Mexican coins courtesy of vektorum on stock.xchng