You Can Hear Me Now How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor To the Global Economy

by Sullivan, Nicholas P.

• ISBN13: 9780787986094
• ISBN10: 0787986097
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-02-02
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Bangladeshi villagers sharing cell phones helped build what is now a thriving company with more than $200 million in annual profits. But what is the lesson for the rest of the world? This is a question author Nicholas P. Sullivan addresses in his tale of a new kind of entrepreneur, Iqbal Quadir, the visionary and catalyst behind the creation of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh. GrameenPhone-a partnership between Norway's Telenor and Grameen Bank, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize-defines a new approach to building business opportunities in the developing world. You Can Hear Me Now offers a compelling account of what Sullivan calls the "external combustion engine"-a combination of forces that is sparking economic growth and lifting people out of poverty in countries long dominated by aid-dependent governments. The "engine" comprises three forces: information technology, imported by native entrepreneurs trained in the West, backed by foreign investors.

Author Biography

Nicholas P. Sullivan has written widely about technology and entrepreneurship, as well as international development issues. He is publisher of the journal Innovations: Technology/Governance/Globalization (MIT Press), and a partner in the Global Horizon Fund, a private-equity fund for emerging markets. This is his second book.

www.youcanhearmenow.com

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
The Author	p. vii
Introduction: The Three Forces of External Combustion	p. xvii
The Grameen Phone Story
Connectivity Is Productivity	p. 3
Dish-Wallahs of Delhi (and Other Early Models)	p. 17
Cell Phone as Cow: A New Paradigm in Search of Investors	p. 35
On the Money Trail in Scandinavia	p. 51
Building a Company	p. 71
Building a Network	p. 87
Transformation Through Technology
Wildfire at the Bottom of the Pyramid	p. 107
Cell Phone as Wallet	p. 125
Wealth Creation and Rural Income Opportunities	p. 145
Beyond Phones: In Search of a New "Cow"	p. 161
Eyeing the Dhaka Stock Exchange	p. 181
Epilogue	p. 199
Notes	p. 203
Resources	p. 215
Index	p. 217
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