Muhammad Amjad Saqib, Chairman Akhuwat Foundation, on Tuesday won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his services in the development of interest- and collateral-free microfinance program.
Saqib, a 64-year-old Pakistani microfinance pioneer, was bestowed with the award for creating the largest microfinance institution in Pakistan that has helped millions of poor Pakistani households stabilizing their income.
Muhammad Amjad Saqib established Akhuwat Foundation in 2001 and is the world’s largest nonprofit organization. Today, 20 years after its foundation, Akhuwat has become the nation’s principal microfinance institute having distributed around 4.8 million interest-free loans to three million needy families. The incredible thing about the loan program is its 99.9% repayment rate.
The foundation also runs several social welfare, educational, health, and psycho-social services programs. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it distributed emergency loans and grants, food relief, and other assistance in more than a hundred cities in Pakistan.
PM Imran Khan praises Saqib
PM Imran Khan applauded Mr.Saqib for winning Asia’s most prestigious award.
“We are proud of his achievement as we move forward in creating a welfare state based on Riyasat-e-Madina Model,” he said in a tweet.
Ramon Magsaysay award background
Ramon Magsaysay award, regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize, is named after a Filipino president who was killed in a plane crash and devoted her life to the scientific profession and vaccine development.
It was created in 1957 to recognize and honor individuals and organizations in Asia for working tirelessly to tackle the developmental problems in the continent. Ramon Magsaysay is a merit-based award given regardless of race, creed, gender, or nationality. The award has been given to more than three hundred personalities and organizations over the past five decades.
The Akhuwat Foundation chairman, who uses places of worship to hand out money, was cited for “his inspiring belief that human goodness and solidarity will find ways to eradicate poverty.”
Saqib was among the 5 winners of Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay award. Tuesday’s Ramon Magsaysay award winners also included a fisherman from Filipino and a Bangladeshi scientist.
This year, the award ceremony was held virtually, after it was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.