Women's business networks with a loan fund, run the way Grameen Bank does it, not on charity

A first step

Call together 15 women in one village who run or want to run a small business, and agree that each saves a small fixed amount every week into a shared fund. Lend the first sum to the one with the clearest plan, with group repayment rules drawn from the Grameen record. The proof is the first loan repaid on time, in full.

Who pays first

Women running small trades who cannot get a bank loan, paying a modest interest charge because the group lends when the bank will not.

What leaves today

Without credit, women sell raw produce instead of processing it; a small loan fund lets them add value and keeps the interest in the village.

The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.

In the book

• Ch. OneThe Letter That Says Yes and Means No
  32% of adult women in work, against 70% of men

More from cluster 23

• 436Childcare co-operatives run by mothers for mothers, licensed and inspected, in every town
• 437After-school clubs at the schools, paid by the parents, run by teachers who want the income
• 438Women-only transport services for the night shifts and the early trains
• 439Home-based work platforms that pay properly: sewing, bookkeeping, transcription, design
• 440Shared workspaces for women with childcare attached, in Colombo and the district towns
• 441Women's craft co-operatives with a single brand and a single buyer abroad

All 15 ideas in this cluster