Colombia on Tuesday launched the Grameen Aval Colombia Corporation – a bank dedicated to the country’s poorest communities.
The new initiative was begun in June this year and formed through a partnership between the Grameen Trust and the Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Foundation. It aims to provide concessionary loans for Colombia’s poorest communities.
Over the coming months experts are due to arrive from Bangladesh to open the first Grameen office in Colombia, reported newspaper La Republica Tuesday.
From this HQ, loans will be offered according to a method developed by Nobel Peace Prize 2006 winner, Muhammad Yunus.
The corporation intends to offer credit to segments of the population who do not have access to formal credit because they are unable to maintain the capacity to pay nor can they provide credit guarantees to respond to a loan.
The funding to operate and provide loans will be donated by the Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Foundation which is expected to be self-sustainable.