COVID-19 • Solving Poverty • Grameen Foundation

NextBillion’s series “Enterprise in the Time of Coronavirus” features Grameen’s groundbreaking work in India.

The series, which explores how the business and development sectors are responding to the pandemic, discusses the power of local women and our innovative social capital model for rural financial inclusion in India during COVID-19.

As the authors say, “Grameen Foundation and its subsidiary, Grameen Foundation India have created the Grameen Mitra model (Grameen means rural and Mitra means friend). This model has provided a lifeline for rural women and communities in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district. It is an initiative of Grameen’s Women-Link project in Bhandara, which is involved in educating local communities on digital financial literacy, banking modules and goal-based financial planning. Scaled up with the goal of bringing financial inclusion to far-flung rural areas by leveraging digital technologies, this model is helping the local communities in the villages of Bhandara weather the COVID-19 lockdown.”