The cure to poverty is connectivity and individual empowerment

TEDBlog has just posted a talk from Iqbal Quadir, the Bangladeshi innovator responsible for GrameenPhone, the mobile phone company that has made dramatic differences in quality of life for tens of millions of poor Bangladeshi villagers. For anyone who has felt that fighting poverty in developing countries is a losing battle, please watch Mr. Quadir's talk to gain some refreshing, pragmatic new ideas on the subject.

He believes far more in the power of individuals, even those whose only resources are their minds and imaginations, than the power of the state. He charges that foreign aid has failed to improve living standards, in his words because "aid empowers authorities, not citizens."

If we can start promoting businesses and connectivity in these areas, it can have a much greater impact on people's lives than all the aid we can imagine. Let's do it!

The video can be viewed here.

innovation, mobile, entrepreneurship, Bangladesh