Microfinance Expansion Jumps in Turkey; Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project Hits 10,000 Member Mark
SOURCE:
Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project
2008-07-21 09:56:00
Microfinance Expansion Jumps in Turkey; Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project Hits 10,000 Member Mark
Microfinance Expansion Jumps in Turkey; Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project Hits 10,000 Member Mark
Prime Minister Erdogan Will Hand Check to 10,000th Member
ANKARA, TURKEY–(EMWNews – July 21, 2008) – The Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project
(TGMP) announced today it has secured its 10,000th member. To celebrate
this milestone, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hand a loan check
to the 10,000th member in a ceremony on Friday, July 25, 2008, at 11 a.m.,
at the Prime Ministry Conference Hall in Ankara. Governors of 21 cities
will attend the ceremony. Following this ceremony will be a lunch held by
Speaker of the Parliament, Köksal Toptan, at 1:30 p.m. in the Grand
National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).
Since its inception in July 2003, TGMP, a private, non-profit organization
that provides loans and savings programs to Turkey’s self-employed poor,
has experienced impressive growth. In the past two years alone, TGMP has
jumped from three branches to 25 branches, more than tripled the number of
members (from 3,100 to 10,000 members), and disbursed over $33.9 million in
loans, compared with $2.3 million in 2006. To date, the project maintains
a 100 percent repayment rate by its more than 9,000 borrowers, all of whom
are women.
Following the model of the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank, a borrower
must be a TGMP member to be eligible for a loan. To become a member,
individuals must demonstrate a sufficient financial need following specific
criteria and undergo a one-week training.
“The exponential growth of our client base reflects the strong demand for
our loans and the promise for broader poverty alleviation throughout
Turkey,” said TGMP Co-Founder and former Member of Parliament, Professor
Aziz Akgul. “Microcredit is not only focused on helping women work their
way out of poverty, but also on preventing a culture of begging,” he
continued.
Reaching the 10,000 member mark is a major achievement in TGMP’s larger
plan to expand into 64 more cities by 2010 to meet the strong demand from
micro entrepreneurs needing capital. To support its rapid expansion plans,
TGMP endorses legislation in Parliament that would allow microfinance
institutions to relend their savings deposits, to benefit more potential
borrowers. TGMP has been reaching out to companies, other non-profit
organizations and individuals as potential collaborators in making more
funds available to micro entrepreneurs.
TGMP has 25 branches in 21 cities in Turkey: Adana, Amasya, Ankara, Aydin,
Batman, Bursa, Cankiri, Corum, Diyarbakir, Erzincan, Eskisehir, Gaziantep,
Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Mardin, Nigde, Rize, Sivas, Tokat, Yozgat, and
Zonguldak.
About TGMP
Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project (TGMP) is a private, non-profit
organization whose mission is to give women microenterprise loans to help
them work their way out of poverty. A partnership venture of Grameen Trust
and the Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction (TISVA), TGMP issued its
first loans in July 2003 in Diyarbakir, Turkey. For more information visit
TGMP is built upon the success of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and its
founder, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who jointly were awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace
Prize.
News media are invited to cover the July 25 ceremony and lunch and to pose
questions to TGMP spokespeople. For more information on microfinance,
Grameen Bank, and a biography of Professor Yunus, please visit
Contacts: Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project (TGMP) Prof. Dr. Aziz Akgul Co-Founder, TGMP 0090 312 440 88 66 (phone) U.S. Contacts: Ruth R. MacQuiddy (Turkey): (90) 534-871-30-46 Global Communicators |
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