Evil Days In Microlendingland

The practice of microlending, according to the vision of its founder, Mohammad Yunus, was intended to pull the poorest of the poor out of poverty through the practice of small scale capitalism. However, huge banks have evolved from the practice, making enormous profits and growing on the backs of the people it was supposed to help. The altruistic slant that the phenomenon was supposed to have immediately turned to vicious capitalistic venture as the poor became stuck in debt rather than seeing prosperity. Today microlending, which had the vision of helping "small" people out of poverty, instead makes the rich richer. The prevalent critique of microlending therefore forces the question as to whether its vision can actually pull the poorest of the poor out of poverty. Perhaps the most important quesition that besets the practice of microlending is the vision of well-being it has for the poor. There seems to be something wrong when an industry which was supposed to help people grow, grow faster than the people it was supposed to help. Apart from the fact that the microlending vibe has gone to Africa, its current regime seems eerily similar to the aid regime which has been trenchantly critiqued for its failure to enable development.