“Women often take on the risks of microcredit without reaping the benefits.”

J obra, Bangladesh, 1976. Sitting on the ground, 42 women weave bamboo stools, which are then resold at low prices to middlemen. Touched by their plight, a young economist, Muhammad Yunus , lends them $27 out of his own pocket, without interest or collateral. A seemingly modest gesture, but ultimately subversive. Thanks to this loan, the women bypass the resellers, sell directly at the market, and repay their loan in full.

From this experience, in 1983, Grameen Bank was born, the first microfinance institution, founded on a strong belief: trust is worth more than guarantees. Working in small, supportive groups, borrowers invest, support each other, and repay together. The model quickly spread to India, Africa, Latin America, and then developed countries.

Very quickly, women became the priority target because they repay better and invest in education and health. In 2018, they represented 80% of microcredit beneficiaries . But half a century after Jobra, the flaws in the model are becoming apparent. Beneath the ideal of emancipation lie darker realities: social pressures, spiraling debt, and loss of control over borrowed funds. What if lending to women wasn't enough?

In January 2011, in the village of Palivelupa, in central India, Rama Peadda Boiana , a 29-year-old mother of three, ingested a pesticide in the fields and died four days later. Consumed by six microloans, she could no longer bear the daily visits from debt collectors or the reproaches of her neighbors, members of her solidarity credit group. Indeed, in the microfinance model, loans are often granted to a small group of individuals who act as mutual guarantors: if one does not repay, the others must pay in their place .

This mechanism, supposed to reinforce repayment discipline, actually exerts unbearable social pressure on some. Like Rama, more than 80 people have committed suicide in the space of a few months in the Andhra Pradesh region , caught up in a system that has finally overwhelmed them.

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