The Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

10th of December Mohammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Price, and I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the ceremony, which took place in the city hall of Oslo. It was a very special experience to see all the Bangladeshis with small flags, hear Yunus talk and see the dancers from Bangladesh. I was there with Shaheen, former BRAC colleague who studies in Oslo now, and afterwards we both met a lot of Bangladeshis we haven't met before. It turned out there are quite a few in Oslo after all. Telenor had set up a tent outside with dal and ruti for everyone who wanted to try a Bangladeshi specialty (or at least something that resembled...). There we met two other former BRAC people, Shahjamal (left in the photo) and Milon, who also study here. It is so fun to see BRAC people in Oslo!

The peace prize has created a debate about Telenor's role in Grameen Phone, and sadly it has mostly been on a tabloid level, accusing Telenor of expoiting the poor women in Grameen Bank. It is not a secret that commercial enterprises want to earn money, but it is also not a secret that creating sustainable, profitable businesses benefits the development of a country. Having made that clear, we can go on to discuss how much profit should be taken out, or whether or not the company should be converted into an enterprise where all the profit is reinvested in the company. That is by the way a really interesting model that I would like to learn more about.

Happy Lucia-day everyone!