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Yunus Centre Press Release (28 May, 2019)

Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was invited by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde to give the Prime Ministerial Lecture at the third international conference on reimagining Cape Verde, titled CV (Cape Verde) Next. It was held in Praia, the capital of the Republic of Cape Verde, an island countryin the central Atlantic.

Professor Yunus attended the conference from May 22nd to 24th.

Located 570 km west of the coastline of Northwest Africa, the Cape Verde islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square km. Cape Verdewas uninhabited until the 15th century,when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands. It provided a valuable staging port to European discoverers who wanted to discover the sea route to India. Cape Verde also became the major center of slave trade for the entire western coast of Africa.

Cape Verde became independent from Portugal in 1975. It has a population of 500,000, with more than half living in Santiago, the main island. Praia, the capital city, is located here. More than two million tourists visit these islands every year. Some even have permanent homes on the islands.

The country, being in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, has become a natural shipping hub for people traveling all over the world. Although it is in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, Cape Verdedoes not experience significant natural disaster or severe weather. Historically, tornados have formed around Cape Verde but moved towards the Caribbean and Florida coasts.

This year the International Forum, CV (Cape Verde) Next, was held right in the middle of the central farmer’s market of the city in order to make it accessible to all people, including women vegetable and fish sellers. Experts from many countries attended the Forum. The Prime Minister’s conversation with Professor Yunus was the special attraction of the Forum. Many cabinet ministers were present to listen to the exchange of ideas between the Nobel laureate and the Prime Minister. They had an open discussion lasting for 90 minutes on issues raised by a moderator. Prime Minister José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva (57)is a banker, businessman, and politician, who has been Prime Minister of Cape Verde since 2016.Prior to that, he was the finance minister.

During the conversation, Professor Yunus advised the Prime Minister to create a microfinance fund, with the participation of all banks in the country,for the "right" microfinance organizations. He explained that the right microfinance organizations are those which operate to help poor people, not to get the owners rich by charging high interest. He said a microfinance organization should preferably be a social business to remain 100 percent committed to its goal of helping poor women become entrepreneurs. He said the central bank can play the most important role in creating this microfinance fund.

He also suggested that new initiatives may be taken to give banking licenses to social business banks for the poor. He drew attention to the existing microfinance organizations in CV which are engaged instead in making money for their owners and charging high interest rates. Governments should help social business microfinance organizations and give them banking licenses.

In the future, all banking licenses should be made conditional. The condition of the license should be that the new banks under this policy be obliged to create social business subsidiaries exclusively offering microfinance for unbanked people.

Professor Yunus suggested to the Prime Minister that the government encourage all companies to create social business subsidiaries to address issues of healthcare, environment, education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship for youth.

He also suggested that, while the government can give any contracts to any company for construction or supplies, it should give priority to companies which have social business subsidiaries.

They discussed the situation of youth unemployment, and talented youth leaving the islands for US or Europe. Yunus pointed out that this problem will get worse as artificial intelligence will take over most of the jobs in the world in the coming years. Job should not be seen as a solution for youth problems, entrepreneurship should instead be the path to be followed.

Earlier, Professor Yunus met the President of the country,Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca. He is a politician, lawyer, and university professor who has been President since 2011. They had a long discussion on Professor Yunus’ various initiatives and their relevance to Cape Verde.

During the visit, Professor Yunus was taken on field-visits to six microfinance organizations and their borrowers.  He was accompanied by Dr Jacinto Santos, former two term mayor of Praia. He is a dedicated organizer of microcredit organizations, and is currently the President of the Microcredit Association of Cape Verde. He closely follows the global microcredit movement. He has authored a book on microfinance and is preparing a book on social business. People and policy makers in Cape Verde are generally familiar with microcredit.  Some leading cabinet ministers pointed out that they studied microfinance while studying in the US or Portugal.

During his stay, Professor Yunus addressed civil society leaders and academics. He addressed bankers in a separate session.

Interest was generated for microfinance and social businesses through these interactions. It was decided that the government will take steps to create a National Microfinance Fund. Professor Yunus will be consulted during the formulation of the structure and operational design of the fund. It was also decided that a delegation will attend the Social Business Day event in June in Bangkok to understand social business and set up Yunus Social Business Centres (YSBCs) at universities in Cape Verde. A foreign minister agreed to sponsor the Social Business Forum in the UN during the next UN General Assembly meeting in September. Already, a great numbers of countries are sponsoring it, as in previous years.

Caption for Photo 1 to 3: Professor Muhammad Yunus makes a curtsey call on  HE President of Cape Verde, Jorge Carlos Fonseca II, at his office. They had discussion on Social Business and the Three Zero Economy.

Caption for Photo 4: Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde HE Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva in his office

Caption for Photo 5: Conversation between Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva,during The International Forum“CV (Cape Verde) Next”. The forum was held in the middle of the central farmer’s market of the city. Among the audience many cabinet ministers were present to listen to the exchange of ideas between the Nobel Laureate and the Prime Minister. The forum was accessible to all.

Caption for Photo 6: Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus with a microcredit borrower on his right , and the president of Microfinance Association of Cape Verde Dr. Jacinto Santos(former two term mayor of capital city Praia) on his left.

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