Abed Sir becomes Sir Abed : Problem Solved, Poverty Alleviated

Its a matter of great pride and rejoice that our beloved Abed Bhai or Abed Sir is officially going to become Sir Abed. He is going to become officially knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of the Commonwealth Rani Mata Elizabeth Part II. Please note the difference it makes when Abed Sir becomes Sir Abed, how a mere reordering two words changes the landscape.

Of the many good things the British left for us as colonial hangovers other than English language, railway networks etc. is the term 'sir'--to use as a sign of respect to professionally superior, respected personalities, teachers, bosses etc. The three-letter word is expected to carry a lot weight when it comes to branding a person's capabilities, experience, expertise. The term 'sir' has great powers to please your boss, to oil him, to pretend as if you respect him and his (mostly shallow) knowledge (about which you care little). So here we are, the first Bangladeshi to become a 'Sir', or a 'Mohashoy', 'Jonab' in local lingo. Its interesting how we don't become 'bhodrolok' or 'gentleman' unless 'bideshis' label us for our whatever achievement. However I would carefully leave aside any critical discussion and analysis on Sir Abed or on his brainchild BRAC, as not only I am under qualified to talk about these but also there are many sage word and wisdom traders in the country who can do the honours. I would rather make merry of the fact that this has given us another opportunity to broadcast brand Bangladesh, brand BRAC and another brand ambassador in the form of Abed Sir..thukku..Sir Abed, proudly seconding champion boxer Muhammad Ali in the field of micro-credit...Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

There is no surprise we only recognize our own potential and brand icons mostly after foreign friends recognize and appreciate it. I am sure even though we have the option to look at the good side of Mr. Abed's receiving this recognition, there would be thousand voices ready within Bangladesh to belittle or question his contribution in the form of BRAC. As it happened after Boxer Yunus received his Nobel trophy. Inspite of home-grown allergy to global success by Bangladeshis, I think its a great opportunity to establish BRAC brand as the pioneer in the field of poverty alleviation, international development. BRAC is an export ready (already exported to 8 countries in Asia and Africa) Bangladeshi brand, the visibility of which is mostly limited to development practioners in the West. I wonder how many of us and non-Bangladeshis actually know that BRAC is the largest development organisation in the whole world? We can discuss later what 'large' means and how and why it effects on our lives but for now, eat the fact that this is the biggest mark in this field and you can stop guessing names such as ActionAid, CARE, Oxfam etc. Though I get a feeling that BRAC genuinely cares more about alleviating poverty and being recognized in the process through genuine contribution in terms of poverty research, action plans, success stories etc. They might not be that bothered about how their brand value could be extended on a global level so that other Bangladeshi brands (both belonging to the NGO and non-NGO sectors) can piggyback on the excellence of achievements that BRAC has bagged globally. BRAC and Mr. Abed's contribution in this field is another testimony of the fact other other than exporting Taslima Nasreen, hoard of illegal immigrants, Islamic fanatics, stories of floods and cyclones, Bangladesh also exports iconic brands such as BRAC and icons such as Mr. Abed, Yunus and hopefully there are many more in the making.

I also think however that we should come out of this notion and euphoria of us being awarded by friends and well-wishers in the West. Although many claim that I live on pots, I still hope for the day when BRAC will give an award to an NGO in Africa or to a development researcher in a UK/US university for their (his/her) notable achievement in the field of poverty alleviation. The award will be called BRAC Poverty Alleviation Excellence Award to be given by Great Sir Abed Part I. Award recepients need to travel to Bangladesh and receive it. We can also start giving away 'Bhai' awards or 'Kutub' awards to foreigners in this field. Say Ban-Ki Moon receives 'Kutubhood' or 'Bhaihood' from Sir Abed for the former's contributions to some field related to poverty...so he comes Kutub Ban-Ki Moon or Bhai Ban-Ki Moon.

I admit though that if Bangladesh becomes the center of excellence for poverty reduction strategies and initiatives then it should become a rich country before any other. Why this is still not happening is a fact well known and not much worked on (please refer to our 'khaslots'). Its very paradoxical that the places that produce top-notch brains to tackle poverty are themselves one of the most impoverished. Keep getting awards and remain poor and wait for foreign instructions and aid. A bit of a dog and pony show for this sector that is.

Key take aways for this post:

--BRAC is world's largest development organisation

--Dr. Muhammad Yunus is Made in Bangladesh, as his side-kick, the Bangladesh production also features Sir Fazle Abed, the founder of BRAC.

--Please share this with your non-Bangladeshi friends.

Citibank In Bangladesh Launches Mobile Based Remittance Service From Malaysia

Siddique Islam - AHN South Asia Correspondent

Citibank and DIGI Telecommunications Sdn Bhd have teamed up to provide a new service - DiGiREMIT - to facilitate the transfer of money from Malaysia to Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.The new service is designed to simplify the transfer of money by using mobile phones. DIGI acts as a remittance agent of Citibank to its prepaid and postpaid cell phone customers, who can register at any of the 47 DiGi centers throughout Malaysia. The service offers issuance of drafts in Bangladesh payable at over 800 locations, which are delivered between 24 to 72 hours. The registration creates a virtual wallet for the customer to load up to Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 5,000 at any one time. The customer can then remit via SMS anytime or over the counter at designated DiGi outlets, subject to a limit of RM 5000 per transaction. The fee for the service starts from RM 8. Customers will also automatically receive free personal accident coverage along with that. Commenting on this product, Rashed Maqsood, Director and Head of Global Transaction Services of Citi Bangladesh, said: "We are the first bank in Bangladesh to pioneer mobile based cross-border remittance to Bangladesh market. Earlier, Citibank launched web-based remittances from US to Bangladesh through remit2home.com. Our culture in the transaction banking business is that of innovation, leadership & partnership."

What I didn't get here is how Citibank is paying out the money sent from Malaysia to the mentioned 800 locations in Bangladesh. To whom these outlets belong to? Also, when someone from Malaysia is sending the SMS, to which number, to whom they are sending the SMS? Is it a Citibank 'hot number', Grameen Phone number, Banglalink number? They also talk about 'issuance of drafts', who generates it, how it is collected and where are those 800 locations? May be its my limited understanding that I cannot grasp the whole picture, anybody reading this post is welcome to enlighten us. Nevertheless, what I understand, its a huge leap forward in the right direction. Human resource is our largest natural source of comparative advantage and remittance injects life into our forex reserve. I wonder what Grameen Phone is thinking in this regard. With their flexiload retail outlets scattered over almost every corner of the country, could they tie up with say BRAC/BRAC Bank to offer some sort of remittance services to rural recipients? BRAC Bank has already strengthened its competitive position through it SME banking division which has an outlet 'almost in every last mile' of Bangladeshi villages, thanks to BRAC's already established MFI network. Now I can only envisage a tie up between GP and BRAC Bank, to facilitate smooth and fraud-free remittance to throw up a challenge in this lucrative market against Citibank, who are doing very well also in other banking markets.

Big Pie of the Remittance Cake

Thousands of Filipino workers in Malaysia can now remit money to their families back home under a new mobile phone money transfer service unveiled by Malaysia's top mobile phone operator Maxis.In a statement late Wednesday, Maxis said it has tied up with the Philippines' Globe Telecom to introduce what it said was the world's first mobile international money transfer service called M-money. Under the system, Maxis customers can wire up to 500 ringgit ($143) per transaction to Globe subscribers in the Philippines, who can retrieve the money at Globe's 6,000 outlets, the statement said. M-money will "revolutionize money transfer" and make it a convenient and cheaper alternative for foreign workers in Malaysia to send money back home, it said. Maxis customers must cash in the money with Maxis before making any overseas remittance and are charged only a five ringgit ($1.47) service fee per transaction, less than half the fee that bank charges, it added. Maxis subscribers can remit up to 500 ringgit a day and 10,000 ringgit ($2,940) a month. Maxis said it plans to extend the service to Indonesia next month, to allow Maxis customers to send money to Indonesian bank accounts.


Citibank has also launched an internet-based remittance solutions (Remit2home) in partnership with Times of Money Limited, through which a non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) in the US can remit money to Bangladesh through internet access from anywhere in the US. This will bring enormous benefits to the NRBs living in the US providing 7 days a week round-the-clock remittance service, economical charges and competitive exchange rates. In Malaysia, the Philippines and the UK, we have introduced banking solutions based on mobile phone technology. A customer can transfer money to other beneficiaries through using his mobile phone. Introduction of the solution in Bangladesh is in an exploratory phase. The bank identified transparency and optimisation as the core requirements of clients in doing their banking transactions.

Thanks to The Dailystar for bringing up such interesting news, both focusing on one core issue--remittance. Citibank is showing the way to other banks to a very lucrative market. It is to be seen how the bank handles issues such as transparency, cost and reach. I wonder if they could come to any arrangements with mobile operators like GrameenPhone, BanglaLink, Warid etc. I am sure our telecom companies have the necessary infrastructure in place to facilitate this remittance transfer with banks like Citibank in between the process. I wonder if the telcos could also tie up with numerous branch offices of NGOs like ASA, BRAC etc. spread all over the country and use them as remittance collection outlets. Just a thought, I hope it realizes in near future.