Attempts by the Chris Blackwell-led groups, Island Outpost and Island Jamaica, to bring the Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank to Jamaica have reportedly been stalled by their failure to raise the US$2 million (J$180 million) in equity capital required for the venture.
Based in Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank is known internationally as the “bank of the poor”, with loan interest rates ranging from zero per cent to 20 per cent on the reducing balance.
Some time in 2008, Island Outpost members invited the Grameen Trust to visit Jamaica, preliminary to talks on establishing a branch here in Jamaica. The Grameem mission visited poverty pockets in Trench Town in Kingston, Bunkers Hill, Falmouth, and Oracabessa in St. Mary, and found high demand for Grameen credit among the poorest here; however, talks on establishing a branch in Jamaica have stalled for lack of start-up capital. It is believed that they were not able to raise the required funds because of the general local, regional and international economic downturn.
According to reports however, the idea will not be allowed to die, and negotiations on the matter will reportedly resume as soon as economic conditions improve.
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