VOA标准英语2008年-Microloans Foster Entrepreneurship in Poor Coun

In many developing countries, micro-financing has created possibilities for burgeoning¹ entrepreneurs who would not have found funding before. VOA's Barry Wood reports that special attention is now being paid to female entrepreneurs, who have had to overcome cultural barriers to get financing. (Part 3 of 5)

The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is a ground breaker. It lends almost exclusively to women. And its small business loans are almost always paid back.

Nobel Prize-winning Standard
　
Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus is the bank's founder² and a hero in his country. Grameen was the first to lend on a grand scale to poor, aspiring³ entrepreneurs in the developing world. The venture into microcredit won Yunus and his bank the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

"It's fantastic news. We are all very excited about the good news. It excites everybody in Bangladesh and also the people who are involved in micro-credit around the world," Yunus said.

Melissa Carrier, at the University of Maryland, says Grameen's micro-financing has expanded the concept of entrepreneurship.

"Certainly Grameen Bank has given legitimacy⁴ to those kinds of micro-loans to local villagers," she noted⁵. "And so the idea of entrepreneurship now is about doing for yourself. It's about raising chickens, and having cows, and knitting scarves and being able to feed your family."

Microlending in Kenya

Margaret Okoth runs a market stall in Nairobi, Kenya. She is benefiting from low-interest micro-loans from her village cooperative.

"(The cooperative) has recently increased its limit so that you can borrow 80,000 (shillings)," she said. "And if you take out that big a loan you'll really see your business grow."

In Kenya's post election violence, Okoth's stall was destroyed. But coop loans allowed her to rebuild - and also balance her business with her other job, as a wife and mother of 12.

Now, the Grameen model is being promoted by big lenders like the World Bank, in its discussions with developing countries.

African Issues
　
Micro-credit can help women like this one, at a market in Sao Tome

Dahlia Khalifa is a business specialist at the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. She says women in African countries face special issues.

"Often times we've seen, and there has been some research done especially in African countries, that women are not given the same consideration as men when they apply for a loan," she said.

That was the case in Egypt. Hoda Galal Yassa is one of Cairo's leading female entrepreneurs. She says women in the Arab world face a formidable barrier.

"Everybody looks at a woman...as a good secretary, a good assistant, maybe she can cook very well and make something from that," she said. "But to be a business woman, particularly in the industrial field, it wasn't easy or accepted easily by men."

Yassa started her detergent⁶ and other factories with funds from family members.

Women Face Challenges

Elaine Allen, a professor at Boston's Babson College, says access to capital remains⁷ the biggest obstacle female entrepreneurs must overcome, especially in Africa and the Middle East.

"Culturally, they (women) are not able to go into banks and deal with men," she noted. "That is a cultural barrier. And what we're seeing is that micro-finance is one way to get around this. And also we have recommended that banks there (in Africa) hire women."

Discrimination against women goes even further, says Dahlia Khalifa of the World Bank.

"In many jurisdictions⁸, we're sometimes finding that women are treated as legal minors⁹, or they're not able to be a full signatory to a contract, or to represent themselves in court," she said.

Overall, the situation is improving. Men and women entrepreneurs are finding ways to obtain capital. And some governments are beginning to take action to make it easier to do business.

　

 

1 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

4 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 detergent   

n.洗涤剂；adj.有洗净力的

参考例句：

• He recommended a new detergent to me.他向我推荐一种新的洗涤剂。
• This detergent can remove stubborn stains.这种去污剂能去除难洗的污渍。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

9 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》