ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Iqbal Quadir - Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants.

Why you should listen

As a kid in rural Bangladesh in 1971, Iqbal Quadir had to walk half a day to another village to find the doctor -- who was not there. Twenty years later he felt the same frustration while working at a New York bank, using diskettes to share information during a computer network breakdown. His epiphany: In both cases, "connectivity is productivity." Had he been able to call the doctor, it would have saved him hours of walking for nothing.

Partnering with microcredit pioneer GrameenBank, in 1997 Quadir established GrameenPhone, a wireless operator now offering phone services to 80 million rural Bangladeshi. It's become the model for a bottom-up, tech-empowered approach to development. "Phones have a triple impact," Quadir says. "They provide business opportunities; connect the village to the world; and generate over time a culture of entrepreneurship, which is crucial for any economic development."

More profile about the speaker
Iqbal Quadir | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2005

Iqbal Quadir: How mobile phones can fight poverty

Iqbal Quadir以移動電話對抗貧窮

Filmed:
589,394 views

Iqbal Quadir講述他在孟加拉的童年經驗,以及他後來在紐約從事投資銀行業的經歷,讓他開啟手機事業,並為孟加拉鄉村地區八千萬人口提供服務,他的事業成為由私人企業發展基礎建設的最佳典範。
- Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
I'll just take you to Bangladesh孟加拉國 for a minute分鐘.
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我想讓各位瞭解一下孟加拉。
01:07
Before I tell that story故事, we should ask ourselves我們自己 the question:
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在我開始之前,我想要問各位一個問題:
01:10
Why does poverty貧窮 exist存在?
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為什麼會有貧窮存在?
01:12
I mean, there is plenty豐富 of knowledge知識 and scientific科學 breakthroughs突破.
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我是說,現在的知識這麼普及,科技也這麼發達,
01:17
We all live生活 in the same相同 planet行星,
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我們都同樣住在這個地球上,
01:20
but there's still a great deal合同 of poverty貧窮 in the world世界.
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但世界上還是有很多窮人。
01:22
And I think -- so I want to throw a perspective透視 that I have,
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我想要告訴各位我對貧窮的看法,
01:26
so that we can assess評估 this project項目, or any other project項目, for that matter,
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這樣我們才能共同參與這個計畫,或是任何改善貧窮的計畫,
01:33
to see whether是否 it's contributing貢獻 or --
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看看我們是否能夠
01:36
contributing貢獻 to poverty貧窮 or trying to alleviate緩和 it.
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為窮人做些什麼,或是幫助他們改善貧窮。
01:38
Rich豐富 countries國家 have been sending發出 aid援助 to poor較差的 countries國家 for the last 60 years年份.
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富裕國家已經幫助貧窮國家六十年了,
01:43
And by and large, this has failed失敗.
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最後,這項行動還是失敗了。
01:46
And you can see this book,
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你看看這本書,
01:48
written書面 by someone有人 who worked工作 in the World世界 Bank銀行 for 20 years年份,
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是一個在世界銀行工作了二十年的人寫的,
01:51
and he finds認定 economic經濟 growth發展 in this country國家 to be elusive難以捉摸.
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他發現這些國家的經濟幾乎沒有成長,
01:56
By and large, it did not work.
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所以,這種援助沒有效果。
01:59
So the question is, why is that?
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問題是:為什麼會這樣?
02:03
In my mind心神, there is something to learn學習 from the history歷史 of Europe歐洲.
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我認為,我們應該從歐洲的歷史裡記取教訓。
02:08
I mean, even here, yesterday昨天 I was walking步行 across橫過 the street,
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昨天,就在這裡,我走過街道,
02:12
and they showed顯示 three bishops主教 were executed執行 500 years年份 ago,
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他們告訴我有三位主教在五百年前被處決了,
02:16
right across橫過 the street from here.
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就在那條街的對面。
02:18
So my point is, there's a lot of struggle鬥爭 has gone走了 in Europe歐洲,
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我要講的重點是,歐洲也經過自己的一番掙扎與努力,
02:22
where citizens公民 were empowered授權 by technologies技術.
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人民則因科技而取得權力,
02:25
And they demanded要求 authorities當局 from --
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他們要求當權者
02:28
to come down from their high horses馬匹.
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從高位走下來,
02:31
And in the end結束, there's better bargaining議價
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最後,當權者與人民
02:34
between之間 the authorities當局 and citizens公民,
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才能坐下來談判,
02:37
and democracies民主, capitalism資本主義 -- everything else其他 flourished蓬勃發展.
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民主思想、資本主義等,也才能蓬勃發展。
02:40
And so you can see, the real真實 process處理 of --
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現在我們才能看到這中間真實的過程,
02:43
and this is backed已備份 up by this 500-page-頁 book --
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全都記載在這本五百頁的書裡,
02:47
that the authorities當局 came來了 down and citizens公民 got up.
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最後當權者下台,人民上台執政。
02:52
But if you look, if you have that perspective透視,
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如果你瞭解這一段歷史,
02:55
then you can see what happened發生 in the last 60 years年份.
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你就會瞭解過去六十年發生了什麼事。
02:58
Aid援助 actually其實 did the opposite對面.
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外國的援助其實幫了倒忙,
03:01
It empowered授權 authorities當局,
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那只會坐大當權者的權力,
03:03
and, as a result結果, marginalized邊緣化 citizens公民.
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幫助他們剝削人民。
03:06
The authorities當局 did not have the reason原因 to make economic經濟 growth發展 happen發生
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當權者沒有理由去促進經濟發展,
03:09
so that they could tax people
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雖然這樣做就可以對人民課稅,
03:12
and make more money for to run their business商業.
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然後就有經費來建設國家,
03:16
Because they were getting得到 it from abroad國外.
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但他們不需要這樣做,因為已經有外國的援助了。
03:19
And in fact事實, if you see oil-rich石油資源豐富 countries國家,
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如果你看看產油國家,
03:23
where citizens公民 are not yet然而 empowered授權, the same相同 thing goes --
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那裡的人民也沒有自主權力,這是同樣的道理。
03:26
Nigeria尼日利亞, Saudi沙特 Arabia阿拉伯, all sorts排序 of countries國家.
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奈及利亞、沙烏地阿拉伯這些產油國都一樣,
03:29
Because the aid援助 and oil or mineral礦物 money acts行為 the same相同 way.
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因為外援就像石油或礦產一樣,已經幫他們創造出金錢了,
03:34
It empowers如虎添翼 authorities當局, without activating激活 the citizens公民 --
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這些錢壯大了當權者的實力,不需要人民出力,
03:38
their hands, legs, brains大腦, what have you.
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人民不需要出勞力,也不需要動腦力。
03:42
And if you agree同意 with that, then I think the best最好 way to improve提高 these countries國家
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如果你同意這一點,那麼我認為,要改善這些國家的經濟,
03:48
is to recognize認識 that economic經濟 development發展 is of the people,
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最好的方法就是認清「經濟發展」這件事,其實是民主、
03:51
by the people, for the people.
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民有、民享的。
03:54
And that is the real真實 network網絡 effect影響.
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這才是真正有效的方法。
03:56
If citizens公民 can network網絡 and make themselves他們自己 more organized有組織的 and productive生產的,
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如果人民能夠組織起來,創造自己的生產力,
04:00
so that their voices聲音 are heard聽說,
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他們才能夠發聲讓別人聽見,
04:02
so then things would improve提高.
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整件事才會有轉機。
04:04
And to contrast對比 that, you can see the most important重要 institution機構 in the world世界,
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相反的,這個世界上最重要的組織,
04:09
the World世界 Bank銀行, is an organization組織 of the government政府,
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是世界銀行,這個組織則是由政府把持、
04:13
by the government政府, for the governments政府.
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為政府所用、為政府效力的。
04:16
Just see the contrast對比.
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看看這個相反的例子。
04:18
And that is the perspective透視 I have, and then I can start開始 my story故事.
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這就是我的看法,現在我可以開始我的演說了。
04:23
Of course課程, how would you empower授權 citizens公民?
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要怎麼讓人民擁有權力?
04:26
There could be all sorts排序 of technologies技術. And one is cell細胞 phones手機.
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有許多科技可供選擇,手機是其中之一。
04:28
Recently最近 "The Economist經濟學家" recognized認可 this,
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最近經濟學人雜誌發現了這一點,
04:31
but I stumbled迷迷糊糊 upon the idea理念 12 years年份 ago,
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但我早在十二年前就發現了,
04:36
and that's what I've been working加工 on.
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而且我一直朝這個方向努力。
04:42
So 12 years年份 ago, I was trying to be an investment投資 banker銀行家 in New York紐約.
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十二年前,我那時正打算成為一個紐約的投資銀行家,
04:45
We had -- quite相當 a few少數 our colleagues同事 were connected連接的 by a computer電腦 network網絡.
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有許多同事都連上同一個電腦網路,
04:53
And we got more productive生產的 because we didn't have to exchange交換 floppy軟盤 disks磁盤;
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這讓我們節省了許多時間,因為我們不必交換磁碟片,
05:00
we could update更新 each other more often經常.
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就能頻繁地幫別人更新資料。
05:04
But one time it broke打破 down.
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但有一次,網路當掉了,
05:06
And it reminded提醒 me of a day in 1971.
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這讓我想起1971年的某一天,
05:10
There was a war戰爭 going on in my country國家.
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那時我的國家正有戰事發生,
05:14
And my family家庭 moved移動 out of an urban城市的 place地點, where we used to live生活,
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我的家人於是從原本居住的城市,
05:17
to a remote遠程 rural鄉村 area where it was safer更安全.
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搬到較為安全的鄉村去。
05:21
And one time my mother母親 asked me to get some medicine醫學 for a younger更年輕 sibling兄弟.
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有一次,我母親要我去為年幼的弟弟拿藥,
05:24
And I walked 10 miles英里 or so, all morning早上, to get there, to the medicine醫學 man.
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我走了一整個早上,走了大約十英哩(16公里),才到藥師那裡,
05:31
And he wasn't there, so I walked all afternoon下午 back.
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但他竟然不在,所以我又花了一個下午走回來,
05:34
So I had another另一個 unproductive非生產性 day.
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那一天也是一樣,一事無成。
05:36
So while I was sitting坐在 in a tall building建造 in New York紐約,
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所以,那天當我坐在紐約的高樓裡,
05:39
I put those two experiences經驗 together一起 side by side,
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我把這二個經驗放在一起比對,
05:42
and basically基本上 concluded總結 that connectivity連接 is productivity生產率 --
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我發現原來「連結力」就是生產力,
05:45
whether是否 it's in a modern現代 office辦公室 or an underdeveloped發育不全的 village.
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不管你是在現代的辦公大樓裡,或是在未開發的鄉村裡都一樣。
05:50
So naturally自然, I -- the implication意義 of that is
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很自然地,我認為這件事背後所隱含的意義是,
05:53
that the telephone電話 is a weapon武器 against反對 poverty貧窮.
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電話是對抗貧窮的武器。
05:58
And if that's the case案件, then the question is
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如果我的想法沒錯,那麼問題來了,
06:00
how many許多 telephones電話 did we have at that time?
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以前那個年代,我們有多少電話?
06:04
And it turns out, that there was one telephone電話 in Bangladesh孟加拉國
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我發現,在以前那個年代,孟加拉每五百個人
06:09
for every一切 500 people.
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才有一具電話,
06:11
And all those phones手機 were in the few少數 urban城市的 places地方.
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而且所有的電話都集中在少數都市區域,
06:15
The vast廣大 rural鄉村 areas, where 100 million百萬 people lived生活,
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在有一億人口居住的廣大鄉村地區,
06:18
there were no telephones電話.
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則連一具電話也沒有。
06:21
So just imagine想像 how many許多 man-months人月 or man-years人年 are wasted浪費,
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想想看,有多少人的時間是這樣被浪費的,
06:24
just like I wasted浪費 a day.
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就像我那天一樣一事無成。
06:27
If you just multiply by 100 million百萬 people, let's say losing失去 one day a month,
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假設每個人每個月都會浪費一天,而我們有一億人口,
06:31
whatever隨你, and you see a vast廣大 amount of resource資源 wasted浪費.
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你會發現有天文數字的資源就這麼被浪費掉了。
06:35
And after all, poor較差的 countries國家, like rich豐富 countries國家, one thing we've我們已經 got equal等於,
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畢竟,窮國和富國間,只有一件事是平等的,
06:38
is their days are the same相同 length長度: 24 hours小時.
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那就是:我們一天都只有24個小時。
06:41
So if you lose失去 that precious珍貴 resource資源,
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一旦我們浪費了時間,
06:44
where you are somewhat有些 equal等於 to the richer更豐富 countries國家,
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就和富裕國家的人民浪費了時間一樣,
06:47
that's a huge巨大 waste浪費.
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都是巨大的耗損。
06:50
So I started開始 looking for any evidence證據 that --
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所以我開始研究,
06:54
does connectivity連接 really increase增加 productivity生產率?
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連結力是否真能提高生產力?
06:58
And I couldn't不能 find much, really, but I found發現 this graph圖形 produced生成 by the ITU國際電信聯盟,
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我找不到太多文獻,但是我找到這張由ITU所發布的圖表,
07:02
which哪一個 is the International國際 Telecommunication電信 Union聯盟, based基於 in Geneva日內瓦.
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ITU就是設在日內瓦的國際電訊協會,
07:08
They show顯示 an interesting有趣 thing.
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他們的這張圖讓我看到了一件有趣的事。
07:11
That you see, the horizontal axis is where you place地點 your country國家.
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在橫軸上你可以找出你國家的位置,
07:15
So the United聯合的 States狀態 or the UK聯合王國 would be here, outside.
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像是美國或是英國,就在這邊比較外面的地方;
07:18
And so the impact碰撞 of one new telephone電話,
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而每裝設一具新的電話所產生的影響,
07:22
which哪一個 is on the vertical垂直 axis, is very little.
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就顯示在縱軸上,看起來沒什麼影響。
07:27
But if you come back to a poorer country國家, where the GNP國民生產總值 per capita人頭 is,
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但如果你的國家是較貧窮的國家,每人的國民生產毛額
07:30
let's say, 500 dollars美元, or 300 dollars美元,
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大約是五百美金,或是三百美金,
07:33
then the impact碰撞 is huge巨大: 6,000 dollars美元. Or 5,000 dollars美元.
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那麼一具新的電話產生的影響就很大了,有五千到六千美金這麼多。
07:40
The question was,
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問題是:
07:41
how much did it cost成本 to install安裝 a new telephone電話 in Bangladesh孟加拉國?
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在孟加拉裝一具新電話的成本是多少?
07:45
It turns out: 2,000 dollars美元.
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大約是二千美金,
07:49
So if you spend 2,000 dollars美元, and let's say the telephone電話 lasts持續 10 years年份,
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所以如果你花了二千美金裝一具電話,假設可以用十年,
07:52
and if 5,000 dollars美元 every一切 year -- so that's 50,000 dollars美元.
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每年可以產生五千美金的收入,十年下來就有五萬美金,
07:55
So obviously明顯 this was a gadget小工具 to have.
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這具電話我們絕對應該要裝。
07:59
And of course課程, if the cost成本 of installing安裝 a telephone電話 is going down,
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裝置電話的成本當然會逐年下降,
08:04
because there's a digital數字 revolution革命 going on,
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因為數位科技總是不斷進步,
08:06
then it would be even more dramatic戲劇性.
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所以我們會看到更明顯的收入變化。
08:10
And I knew知道 a little economics經濟學 by then --
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我知道那時有些經濟學家,
08:13
it says Adam亞當 Smith工匠 taught us that specialization專業化 leads引線 to productivity生產率.
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像是亞當.史密斯就認為只有專精某項技術,才能提高生產力,
08:16
But how would you specialize專攻?
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但我們該如何去專精我們的技術?
08:19
Let's say I'm a fisherman and a farmer農民.
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假設我是一個漁夫也是個農夫,
08:23
And Chris克里斯 is a fisherman farmer農民. Both are generalists多面手.
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而克里斯也是一個漁夫兼農夫,我們二個都沒有專精技術,
08:29
So the point is that we could only -- the only way we could depend依靠 on each other,
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所以最好的方式就是我們二個互相幫忙,
08:33
is if we can connect with each other.
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但前提是我們二個得能先取得聯繫。
08:36
And if we are neighbors鄰居, I could just walk步行 over to his house.
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如果我們二個是鄰居,我可以直接走到他家去跟他談,
08:41
But then we are limiting限制 our economic經濟 sphere領域 to something very small area.
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但我們的經濟活動範圍就會被限縮在一個很小的區域裡,
08:45
But in order訂購 to expand擴大 that, you need a river,
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所以若要進行擴張,我就需要一條河、
08:48
or you need a highway高速公路, or you need telephone電話 lines.
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一條公路,或是一條電話線。
08:50
But in any event事件, it's connectivity連接 that leads引線 to dependability可靠性.
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總之,要先能取得聯繫,才能互相幫忙,
08:55
And that leads引線 to specialization專業化.
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也才能談所謂專精技術的問題,
08:57
That leads引線 to productivity生產率.
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最後才能提升生產力。
08:59
So the question was, I started開始 looking at this issue問題,
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當我開始研究孟加拉的貧窮問題時,
09:03
and going back and forth向前 between之間 Bangladesh孟加拉國 and New York紐約.
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我不斷地往返班孟加拉和紐約,
09:05
There were a lot of reasons原因 people told me
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我發現當地電話數量不足,
09:09
why we don't have enough足夠 telephones電話.
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其實有各式各樣的原因,
09:12
And one of them is the lacking不足 buying購買 power功率.
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其中一個原因是沒有錢,
09:14
Poor較差的 people apparently顯然地 don't have the power功率 to buy購買.
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窮人當然沒有錢裝電話,
09:17
But the point is, if it's a production生產 tool工具, why do we have to worry擔心 about that?
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但如果那是生財工具,又有什麼好擔心的?
09:20
I mean, in America美國, people buy購買 cars汽車,
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我是說,在美國,大家都買車子,
09:23
and they put very little money down.
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而且只付一點點訂金;
09:26
They get a car汽車, and they go to work.
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拿到車子後,大家才能去上班,
09:29
The work pays支付 them a salary薪水;
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上班才有薪水可領,
09:32
the salary薪水 allows允許 them to pay工資 for the car汽車 over time.
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有了薪水才能定期支付汽車貸款,
09:35
The car汽車 pays支付 for itself本身.
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汽車本身就是生財工具。
09:36
So if the telephone電話 is a production生產 tool工具,
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所以如果電話也是一項生財工具的話,
09:39
then we don't quite相當 have to worry擔心 about the purchasing購買 power功率.
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我們應該不必擔心沒錢可以裝設才對。
09:42
And of course課程, even if that's true真正, then what about initial初始 buying購買 power功率?
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但如果這個假設成立,還是得要付得出訂金才行啊...
09:47
So then the question is, why can't we have some kind of shared共享 access訪問?
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為什麼我們不能讓大家共同擁有一具電話?
09:52
In the United聯合的 States狀態, we have -- everybody每個人 needs需求 a banking銀行業 service服務,
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在美國,每個人都會使用銀行提供的服務,
09:56
but very few少數 of us are trying to buy購買 a bank銀行.
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但很少有人會真的去買下一間銀行,
09:59
So it's -- a bank銀行 tends趨向 to serve服務 a whole整個 community社區.
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因為一間銀行就能服務整個社區,
10:03
So we could do that for telephones電話.
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電話應該也可以共用才對。
10:06
And also people told me that we have a lot of important重要 primary needs需求 to meet遇到:
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在此同時,孟加拉的人還告訴我他們缺乏許多基本的
10:11
food餐飲, clothing服裝, shelter庇護, whatever隨你.
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食衣住行項目,
10:14
But again, it's very paternalistic家長式.
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但以家長教育小孩的角度來看,
10:16
You should be raising提高 income收入
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你得先讓這些人學會賺錢,
10:19
and let people decide決定 what they want to do with their money.
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才能讓這些人決定要怎麼使用這些錢。
10:24
But the real真實 problem問題 is the lack缺乏 of other infrastructures基礎設施.
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真正的問題在於基礎建設的不足,
10:27
See, you need some kind of infrastructure基礎設施 to bring帶來 a new thing.
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有了基礎建設,才會帶來新的事物。
10:32
For instance, the Internet互聯網 was booming繁榮 in the U.S.
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舉例來說,網路在美國很盛行,
10:35
because there were -- there were people who had computers電腦.
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因為大部分的人都有電腦,
10:38
They had modems調製解調器.
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也有數據機,
10:40
They had telephone電話 lines, so it's very easy簡單 to bring帶來 in a new idea理念, like the Internet互聯網.
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還有電話線,所以像網路這種新概念才會如此風行。
10:44
But that's what's lacking不足 in a poor較差的 country國家.
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但在窮國就沒有這些東西,
10:47
So for example, we didn't have ways方法 to have credit信用 checks檢查,
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沒有人會幫我們審核信用額度,
10:49
few少數 banks銀行 to collect蒐集 bills票據, etc等等.
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也沒有幾家銀行會收支票,沒有這些先進的服務。
10:54
But that's why I noticed注意到 Grameen格萊珉 Bank銀行, which哪一個 is a bank銀行 for poor較差的 people,
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但我發現了鄉村銀行(Grameen Bank),那是專為窮人設立的銀行,
10:57
and had 1,100 branches分支機構, 12,000 employees僱員, 2.3 million百萬 borrowers借款人.
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有一千一百家分行,一萬二千個員工,二百三十萬筆貸款,
11:04
And they had these branches分支機構.
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他們的分行真的很多,
11:06
I thought I could put cell細胞 towers and create創建 a network網絡.
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我覺得我可以把基地台設在分行上面,這樣就形成了通訊網路。
11:11
And anyway無論如何, to cut the time short -- so I started開始 --
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好吧,長話短說,
11:15
I first went to them and said,
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我去找他們說:
11:18
"You know, perhaps也許 I could connect all your branches分支機構 and make you more efficient高效."
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「我可以幫你們把所有分行串連起來,讓你們更有效率。」
11:21
But you know, they have, after all, evolved進化 in a country國家 without telephones電話,
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但我發現,既然他們可以在沒有電話的國家立足,
11:25
so they are decentralized分散. I mean, of course課程 there might威力 be other good reasons原因,
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就表示他們不是靠集中管理成功的,雖然成為分散式的分行
11:30
but this was one of the reasons原因 -- they had to be.
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一定有其原因,但他們只想維持分散,
11:32
And so they were not that interested有興趣 to connect all their branches分支機構,
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所以對我的提議興趣缺缺,
11:36
and then to be -- and rock the boat.
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各個分行都不願意特立獨行。
11:38
So I started開始 focusing調焦. What is it that they really do?
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我開始思考,他們究竟是如何運作的呢?
11:42
So what happens發生 is that somebody borrows借閱 money from the bank銀行.
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需要錢的人會去銀行借錢,
11:45
She typically一般 buys購買 a cow. The cow gives milk牛奶.
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大部分的人是去買一隻牛,牛會生產牛奶,
11:49
And she sells塞爾斯 the milk牛奶 to the villagers村民, and pays支付 off the loan貸款.
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再把牛奶賣給村民,就可以償還貸款了。
11:53
And this is a business商業 for her, but it's milk牛奶 for everybody每個人 else其他.
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這對借錢的人來說是做生意,但對其他人來說就只是買牛奶而已。
11:58
And suddenly突然 I realized實現 that a cell細胞 phone電話 could be a cow.
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我突然聯想到手機也可以是一隻牛,
12:00
Because some way she could borrow 200 dollars美元 from the bank銀行,
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這個人可以向銀行借二百美金,
12:04
get a phone電話 and have the phone電話 for everybody每個人.
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買一支手機,再提供給其他人使用,
12:07
And it's a business商業 for her.
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這就是做生意啊...
12:10
So I wrote to the bank銀行, and they thought for a while, and they said,
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所以我寫信給銀行,他們想了一陣子,回覆說:
12:14
"It's a little crazy, but logical合乎邏輯.
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「有點瘋狂,但還算合理,
12:16
If you think it can be doneDONE, come and make it happen發生."
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如果你覺得行得通,就來試試看吧。」
12:20
So I quit放棄 my job工作; I went back to Bangladesh孟加拉國.
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然後我就辭去工作,回到孟加拉,
12:23
I created創建 a company公司 in America美國 called GonofoneGonofone,
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我在美國成立了一家叫做Gonofone的公司,
12:26
which哪一個 in Bengali孟加拉 means手段 "people's人們 phone電話."
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孟加拉語的意思是「大家的電話」,
12:29
And angel天使 investors投資者 in America美國 put in money into that.
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許多友善的美國投資人都願意一起投入資金。
12:31
I flew around the world世界.
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我開始飛到世界各地,
12:33
After about a million百萬 -- I mean, I got rejected拒絕 from lots of places地方,
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飛了大約一百萬英哩--我被很多人拒絕,
12:36
because I was not only trying to go to a poor較差的 country國家,
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因為我不只是想要在窮國做這個生意,
12:39
I was trying to go to the poor較差的 of the poor較差的 country國家.
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而是在最窮最窮的國家裡做生意,
12:41
After about a million百萬 miles英里, and a meaningful富有意義的 --
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所以在飛了一百萬英哩,掉了很多,
12:45
a substantial大量的 loss失利 of hair頭髮, I eventually終於 put together一起 a consortium財團, and --
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很多頭髮之後,我終於籌組成立了公司,
12:48
which哪一個 involved參與 the Norwegian挪威 telephone電話 company公司,
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挪威電信公司也是股東之一,
12:52
which哪一個 provided提供 the know-how知識,
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他們提供有關手機業務的基本知識,
12:55
and the Grameen格萊珉 Bank銀行 provided提供 the infrastructure基礎設施 to spread傳播 the service服務.
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而鄉村銀行則提供分行來擴展我的服務。
13:01
To make the story故事 short, here is the coverage覆蓋 of the country國家.
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簡單來說,這是我們公司的覆蓋率,
13:05
You can see it's pretty漂亮 much covered覆蓋.
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你可以看到很高的覆蓋率,
13:08
Even in Bangladesh孟加拉國, there are some empty places地方.
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但即使在孟加拉,還是有一些地方沒有覆蓋到,
13:11
But we are also investing投資 around another另一個 300 million百萬 dollars美元 this year
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所以我們今年打算再投入三億美金,
13:15
to extend延伸 that coverage覆蓋.
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來擴展覆蓋率。
13:20
Now, about that cow model模型 I talked about.
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現在,來談談我想到的養牛的點子,
13:23
There are about 115,000 people who are retailing零售業 telephone電話 services服務
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有十一萬五千人提供電話服務
13:29
in their neighborhoods社區.
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給他們的鄰居,
13:31
And it's serving服務 52,000 villages村莊, which哪一個 represent代表 about 80 million百萬 people.
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有五萬二千個鄉鎮有這種服務,也就是涵蓋了約八千萬人口,
13:37
And these phones手機 are generating發電
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而這些電話則幫我們公司
13:41
about 100 million百萬 dollars美元 for the company公司.
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每年創造約一億美金的營收,
13:44
And two dollars美元 profit利潤 per entrepreneur企業家 per day, which哪一個 is like 700 dollars美元 per year.
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每一個股東每天可以賺進二塊美金,一年就賺進七百美金。
13:53
And of course課程, it's very beneficial有利 in a lot of ways方法.
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這個生意為人們帶來了許多好處,
13:55
It increases增加 income收入, improves提高 welfare福利, etc等等.
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為人們增加收入、改善福利等等。
13:58
And the result結果 is, right now, this company公司 is the largest最大 telephone電話 company公司,
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現在,這間公司成為最大的電話公司,
14:02
with 3.5 million百萬 subscribers用戶,
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有三百五十萬個用戶,
14:05
115,000 of these phones手機 I talked about --
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剛才我所提到的十一萬五千支電話也在其中,
14:07
that produces產生 about a third第三 of the traffic交通 in the network網絡.
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這些共用電話佔了約三分之一的電話流量。
14:12
And 2004, the net profit利潤, after taxes --
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2004年的稅後淨利--
14:16
very serious嚴重 taxes -- was 120 million百萬 dollars美元.
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我們繳了很多稅--稅後淨利是一億二千萬美金,
14:20
And the company公司 contributed貢獻 about 190 million百萬 dollars美元 to the government政府 coffers庫房.
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而這間公司也為政府的財政帶來約一億九千萬美金的收入。
14:26
And again, here are some of the lessons教訓.
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從這件事上,我們學到了很多:
14:28
"The government政府 needs需求 to provide提供 economically經濟 viable可行 services服務."
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「政府必須為人民提供可發展經濟的服務」
14:30
Actually其實, this is an instance where private私人的 companies公司 can provide提供 that.
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我們證明了私人企業也可以提供這類服務;
14:33
"Governments政府 need to subsidize資助 private私人的 companies公司."
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「政府必須補助私人企業」
14:36
This is what some people think.
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這是某些人的想法,
14:38
And actually其實, private私人的 companies公司 help governments政府 with taxes.
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其實私人企業反而是幫助政府收到更多稅收;
14:41
"Poor較差的 people are recipients收件人."
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「窮人得靠人施捨」
14:43
Poor較差的 people are a resource資源.
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窮人其實是未經開發的資源;
14:46
"Services服務 cost成本 too much for the poor較差的."
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「要花大錢才能為窮人提供服務」
14:48
Their involvement參與 reduces減少 the cost成本.
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只要讓窮人參與,就能降低成本;
14:52
"The poor較差的 are uneducated沒有受過教育 and cannot不能 do much."
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「窮人未受教育,成不了大事」
14:55
They are very eager急於 learners學習者 and very capable survivors倖存者.
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他們其實很願意學習,也很懂得生存之道,
14:58
I've been very surprised詫異.
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我曾親身感受過他們的學習能力,
15:00
Most of them learn學習 how to operate操作 a telephone電話 within a day.
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大部分的人都能在一天之內學會操作手機;
15:03
"Poor較差的 countries國家 need aid援助."
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「窮國需要援助」
15:06
Businesses企業 -- this one company公司 has raised上調 the --
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我們這家公司已經幫--
15:09
if the ideal理想 figures人物 are even five percent百分 true真正, this one company公司
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即使這個數據只有5%的可信度,我們這家公司為國家
15:14
is raising提高 the GNP國民生產總值 of the country國家 much more than the aid援助 the country國家 receives收到.
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提昇的國民生產毛額,已經超過了外國的援助。
15:19
And as I was trying to show顯示 you, as far as I'm concerned關心,
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而如同我前面所提到的,
15:22
aid援助 does damages賠償 because it removes移除了 the government政府 from its citizens公民.
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我擔心外國的援助反而會幫倒忙,因為援助會讓政府遠離人民,
15:27
And this is a new project項目 I have with Dean院長 Kamen假面, the famous著名 inventor發明者 in America美國.
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所以我和Dean Kamen一起進行一項新計畫,他是美國著名的發明家,
15:31
He has produced生成 some power功率 generators發電機,
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他開發了一些發電機,
15:34
which哪一個 we are now doing an experiment實驗 in Bangladesh孟加拉國,
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我們現在正在孟加拉測試,
15:38
in two villages村莊 where cow manure肥料 is producing生產 biogas沼氣,
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我們在二個村莊裡測試,我們用牛糞所產生的天然瓦斯,
15:41
which哪一個 is running賽跑 these generators發電機.
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916000
4000
當做這些發電機的燃料,
15:45
And each of these generators發電機 is selling銷售 electricity電力 to 20 houses房屋 each.
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每一台發電機可以供電給二十個家庭,
15:48
It's just an experiment實驗.
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目前還在測試階段,
15:52
We don't know how far it will go,
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我們不知道還要測試多久,
15:53
but it's going on.
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但我們會做下去。
15:55
Thank you.
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謝謝!
Translated by Marie Wu
Reviewed by Zhu Jie

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Iqbal Quadir - Founder, GrameenPhone
Iqbal Quadir is an advocate of business as a humanitarian tool. With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants.

Why you should listen

As a kid in rural Bangladesh in 1971, Iqbal Quadir had to walk half a day to another village to find the doctor -- who was not there. Twenty years later he felt the same frustration while working at a New York bank, using diskettes to share information during a computer network breakdown. His epiphany: In both cases, "connectivity is productivity." Had he been able to call the doctor, it would have saved him hours of walking for nothing.

Partnering with microcredit pioneer GrameenBank, in 1997 Quadir established GrameenPhone, a wireless operator now offering phone services to 80 million rural Bangladeshi. It's become the model for a bottom-up, tech-empowered approach to development. "Phones have a triple impact," Quadir says. "They provide business opportunities; connect the village to the world; and generate over time a culture of entrepreneurship, which is crucial for any economic development."

More profile about the speaker
Iqbal Quadir | Speaker | TED.com