A. Reza Baqir
B. Muhammad Amjad Saqib
C. Shoukat Tareen
D. None of these
Submitted by: Raza Hussain
Microfinance pioneer from Pakistan — who developed an interest-free microfinance programme — was among Tuesday’s winners of Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
Muhammad 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.
