Muhammad Yunus

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Muhammad Yunus Microcredit – Addressing an Ongoing Debate in Kooperation mit Microcredit – Addressing an Ongoing Debate F. J. Radermacher D. Solte unter Mitwirkung von E. Herlyn P. Hesse A. Huber Ph. Jung / J. Zolk M. Kasper H. Lind W. Pinger H. Reitz P. Spiegel N. Wimmer Verantwortlich im Sinne des Presserechts: FAW/n 2 Gliederung Zu diesem Text ................................................................................. 2 Einleitung ........................................................................................ 4 1. Genossenschaftlich organisierter Mikrokredit in Armutsregionen der Welt - eine Idee mit transformatorischer Kraft ................................. 6 2. Erfolgsfaktoren der Innovationen von Muhammad Yunus ................ 18 3. Einordnung von Mikrokredit in den globalen Entwicklungskontext ..... 37 4. Aktivierung von Wertschöpfungs-Treibern – acht Hebel für mehr Wohlstand ................................................................................. 42 5. Thematische Bezüge der Überlegungen von Muhammad Yunus zur Global Marshall Plan Initiative ...................................................... 87 6. Eine schwierige Diskussionslage: Das Mikrokredit-Narrativ und der Mikrokredit-Hype ..................................................................... 100 7. Missbrauch von Mikrokredit – ein hässliches Kapitel profitmaximierender Marktradikalität .......................................... 106 8. Das Gegennarrativ: Kampagne gegen Mikrokredit ........................ 112 9. Grenzen quantitativer Nachweise der Erfolge von Mikrokredit ........ 119 10. Narrativ und Gegennarrativ – Halbrichtig ist auch falsch ............... 131 Zusammenfassung ........................................................................ 146 Danksagung ................................................................................. 149 Literaturverzeichnis ....................................................................... 151 Autoren ....................................................................................... 157 Kooperationspartner ...................................................................... 170 Zu diesem Text Das Konzept des Mikrokredits, der Bereitstellung von Kleinkrediten für Arme weltweit, erlangte durch die Verleihung des Friedensnobelpreises im Jahr 2006 an den wichtigsten Promotor dieser Thematik, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Gründer der Grameen Bank sowie zahlreicher weiterer Social Busi- ness Unternehmen in Bangladesh, internationale Bekanntheit. Im Zuge des dadurch ausgelösten „Hypes“ entstanden jedoch auch kritikwürdige Formen der Mikrokreditvergabe. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine ähnliche Entwicklung, wie sie die Welt im Bereich üblicher Finanzierungsmechanis- men in der Weltfinanzkrise erleben musste. Finanzierungsinstrumente sind wichtig für eine funktionierende Gesellschaft. Sie beinhalten aber bei un- zureichender Regulierung auch erhebliche Potenziale für dysfunktionale Effekte. Nachdem sich dieses negative Potenzial mit völlig unakzeptablen Konsequenzen für die Kreditnehmer auch im Bereich von Mikrokrediten of- fenbarte, entstanden Studien, die Mikrokredite und ihre Wirkungsweise undifferenziert behandeln und diese pauschal negativ positionieren. Diese Beurteilung ist nicht nur inadäquat, sondern gefährdet zudem den zukünf- tigen Einsatz wertvoller Finanzinstrumente wie den Mikrokredit, die poten- ziell von erheblicher Bedeutung für die Überwindung von Armut sind. Dies gilt insbesondere bei der Förderung von unternehmerisch befähigten Per- sonen mit tragfähigem Geschäftsmodell, die über keine ausreichende Ini- tialfinanzierung verfügen. In dieser Situation haben sich eine Reihe von Institutionen zusammenge- schlossen, die alle seit vielen Jahren, teilweise Jahrzehnten, mit den The- men Globalisierung, Nachhaltigkeit, aufholende Entwicklung, Weltfinanz- system und internationale Zusammenarbeit beschäftigt sind, um gemein- sam die Charakteristika eines gesellschaftlich positiv wirkenden Mikrokre- dits herauszuarbeiten. Ziel ist eine wissenschaftliche Analyse der Gege- benheiten im Mikrokredit-Bereich. Einerseits geht es um eine Würdigung der historischen Entwicklung. Andererseits soll eine Differenzierung von Entwicklung-fördernden Formen des Mikrokredits, die insbesondere zur Armutsüberwindung beitragen, gegenüber solchen ausbeuterischen For- men vorgenommen werden, die im Kontext einer Finanzialisierung der Armut die Situation der Betroffenen weiter verschlechtern statt sie zu ver- bessern. Das Missbrauchspotenzial ist in der Tat erheblich, nicht zuletzt aufgrund der hohen „Verletzlichkeit“ ökonomisch schlecht gestellter Men- schen. Wie die Weltfinanzkrise allerdings deutlich machte, ist Missbrauch im Finanzbereich ebenso in den reichsten Strukturen der Welt möglich, unter Nutzung geeignet konzipierter Finanzmarktinnovationen und unter Ausnutzung von regulativ ermöglichten Intransparenzen - und zwar in um Größenordnungen höherem Umfang. 2 Die vorliegende Studie ist das Ergebnis der Zusammenarbeit mehrerer Partner. Die Hauptverantwortung für die inhaltlichen Arbeiten hat das For- schungsinstitut für anwendungsorientierte Wissensverarbeitung (FAW/n) in Ulm übernommen. Es wurde von vielen weiteren Personen unterstützt, die ebenfalls in die Texterstellung involviert waren und als Mitautoren ge- nannt sind. Besonders wichtig sind dabei die Beiträge von Peter Spiegel als Impulsgeber und Begleiter der Thematik seit Jahrzehnten, von Estelle Herlyn am FAW/n auf der inhaltlichen Seite und von Peter Hesse, Martin Kasper, Winfried Pinger und Nancy Wimmer als Zeitzeugen. Diese Zeit- zeugen sind für die Einschätzung der positiven Wirkungen der Aktivitäten der „Grameen-Familie“ von zentraler Bedeutung. Denn sie kennen die dargestellten Zusammenhänge in der Welt des Mikrokredits aus persönli- cher Erfahrung und Anschauung. Ihre Aussagen wurden in eigene „Käs- ten“ mit individueller Autorenschaft aufgenommen. Die Qualitätssicherung durch das Grameen Creative Lab war wichtig für diese in deutscher Sprache erstellte Studie. Die Arbeiten an der Studie sollen fortgesetzt werden. Eine Publikation in englischer Sprache ist angedacht. Die Rückkopplungen aus der Veranstal- tung mit Muhammad Yunus am 10. November 2014 in Berlin sowie weite- re Rückmeldungen und Anregungen werden in die weiteren Untersuchun- gen einfließen. Die jetzt vorliegende Studie wird hoffentlich die überfällige Differenzierung zwischen den verschiedenen Mikrokredit-Konzepten erleichtern, die welt- weit existieren und in Teilen sehr unterschiedlich sind. Sie unterstreicht im Ergebnis das positive Wirken von Prof. Muhammad Yunus, der mit seinem Mikrokredit-Modell Millionen Menschen den Weg aus der Armutsfalle berei- tete. Deutlich wird darüber hinaus das positive Wirken der verschiedenen Unternehmen der Grameen-Gruppe und ebenso der übergreifenden Idee des Social Business. Gerade die Wechselwirkung dieser drei „Werkzeug- ebenen“ eröffnet große Potenziale für Entwicklung und die Überwindung von Armut. Dies wird in den Kapiteln 4 und 5 in diesem Text erstmalig auch mit Bezug zu früheren Untersuchungen der Autoren zu Wohlstands- treibern und internationalen Hilfsansätzen herausgearbeitet und ist ein wichtiger neuer Erkenntniszugewinn. Auf der Grundlage der neuen Erkenntnisse dieser Studie wird es in Zu- kunft einfacher möglich sein, das erhebliche Potenzial eines sachgerechten Einsatzes von Mikrokredit-Programmen zur Überwindung von Armut in Breite zu entfalten. 3 Einleitung Muhammad Yunus hat mit dem von ihm induzierten großflächigen Einsatz von Kleinkrediten für die Ärmsten, ausgehend vom Grameen Bank Projekt in Bangladesh, die Welt ein Stück besser gemacht. Er hat damit im Rahmen des Grameen-Projekts unter anderem verdeutlicht, welche gra- vierenden Nachteile Menschen haben, die keinen Zugang zu einem regulä- ren Kredit zu fairen Konditionen haben, weil es keine Finanzinfrastruktur gibt wie wir sie überall in Deutschland, auch in den ländlichen Regionen, vorfinden – mit u. a. einem dichten Netz von Instituten des genossen- schaftlichen Sektors und der Sparkassenorganisation. Kredite zu fairen Konditionen lösen nicht alle Probleme der Welt, insbe- sondere können sie nicht das grundsätzliche Armutsproblem von Men- schen lösen. Reicht das Einkommen von Menschen (ohne Vermögen und/oder ohne Unterstützung durch Dritte) für einen tragfähigen Lebens- standard nicht aus, und zwar in einer Betrachtung über einen längeren Zeitraum unter Ausgleich von Volatilitäten, können Kredite das Problem der Erwirtschaftung des Lebensunterhalts aus eigener Kraft nicht lösen. Ausnahmen stellen leistungsbereite und leistungsfähige Menschen mit ei- nem Geschäftsmodell dar, das bisher nicht verwirklicht werden konnte, das aber über einen Kredit aktiviert werden könnte. Aus dieser Feststellung folgt, dass ein Kredit insbesondere dann der Schlüssel zu einer fundamentalen Verbesserung der Lebenssituation von Menschen oder Familien sein kann, wenn eine der beiden folgenden Be- dingungen erfüllt ist: (1) Das Einkommen ist über einen langen Zeitraum betrachtet ausrei- chend und es ist lediglich ein temporärer Engpass zu überwinden. 4 Dies können Situationen sein, in denen die Einkommenshöhe schwankt oder in denen das Einkommen wegen Krankheit oder schlechter Ernten vorübergehend ausfällt. (2) Ein ausreichendes Einkommen könnte erwirtschaftet werden. Dies setzt aber Vorleistungen oder Investitionen voraus, z.B. den Einkauf benötigter Materialien, den Kauf von Geräten oder Werkzeugen, die Wiederherstellung der eigenen Gesundheit, die Finanzierung einer Ausbildungsmaßnahme, den
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