A Pakistani microfinance pioneer, Muhammad Amjad Saqib who developed an interest-free microfinance programme has won Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
Amjad Saqib-64, won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his “first-of-its-kind” interest- and collateral-free microfinance programme that catalysed scores of poor households.
Nearly two decades after its launch, Akhuwat, founded by Dr Saqib, has grown into the nation’s largest microfinance institution, distributing the equivalent of $900 million and boasting an almost 100 per cent loan repayment rate, the award foundation said.
Saqib, who uses places of worship to hand out money, was cited for “his inspiring belief that human goodness and solidarity will find ways to eradicate poverty.”
