Iqbal Quadir
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Husband yomigt(; born 13 August 1958) is a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and academic. From 1993 to 1997, Quadir was the founder of
Grameenphone Grameenphone LTD, widely abbreviated as ( d/b/a) GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telen ...
in Bangladesh, a company aimed at expanding telephone access and creating economic opportunities in rural areas. He served as a Research Fellow at the
Harvard Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
for four years, where his work focused on the impact of technologies on the politics of developing countries. In 2007, he established the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
and serves as its director. In 2006, he co-founded the journal ''
Innovations Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...
'' (published by
MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...
) and remains an editor.


Early life and education

Quadir was born in
Jessore Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
. He moved to the United States in 1976 and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He completed his Secondary School Certificate from Jhenidah Cadet College,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
. Quadir received a Bachelor of Science with honors from
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
(1981), followed by a Master of Arts (1983), and a Master of Business Administration (1987), from the final two from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...
. His brother,
Kamal Quadir Kamal Quadir (born 1971) is a Bangladeshi American entrepreneur and artist best known for introducing e-commerce in Bangladesh by founding CellBazaar, an electronic marketplace which, after reaching 4 million users, was acquired by Norwegian ...
, is also a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and artist.


Career

Quadir served as a consultant to the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
in Washington, D.C. (1983–1985), an associate at
Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...
(1987–1989), an associate at Security Pacific Merchant Bank (1989–1991), and vice president of Atrium Capital Corporation (1991–1993). Starting in 1993, Quadir wanted to make sure everyone in Bangladesh, especially poor people in the countryside, could use digital phones and find ways to earn money for themselves. To achieve this, he started a company called Gonofone in New York. (Bengali for "phones for the masses"). Then, he organized a global consortium including
Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...
, Norway's leading telecommunications company; an affiliate of micro-credit pioneer
Grameen Bank Grameen Bank () is a microfinance, specialized community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It provides small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. Grameen Bank is a statutory ...
in Bangladesh; Marubeni Corp. in Japan;
Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...
in the Philippines;
Commonwealth Development Corporation British International Investment plc, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Off ...
in the United Kingdom; and
International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...
and Gonofone in the United States. The initiative aimed to provide telecommunications access through a model in which village entrepreneurs, supported by micro-loans, offered phone services in their local areas. The resulting company,
Grameenphone Grameenphone LTD, widely abbreviated as ( d/b/a) GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telen ...
, received a license for cell phone operation in Bangladesh in November 1996 and started operations in March 1997. As the largest telephone company in Bangladesh with about 55 million subscribers, Grameenphone generates revenues close to $2 billion annually and provides cellular coverage throughout Bangladesh with infrastructure investments of more than $3 billion. Grameenphone has been recognized for its approach to improving economic opportunity and connectivity in Bangladesh, contributing to access to telecommunications in rural areas. According to Economist
Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs ( ; born November 5, 1954) is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University, where he was formerly director of The Earth Institute. He worked on the topics of sustainable develop ...
, Grameenphone "opened the world’s eyes to expanding the use of modern telecommunications technologies in the world’s poorest places." From 2001 to 2005, Quadir served as a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School and taught graduate-level courses on technology in developing countries. At the same time, he was also a Fellow at the Center for Business Innovation at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (now
Capgemini Capgemini SE is a French Multinational corporation, multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and d ...
). In 2005, Quadir went to MIT. Two years later, in 2007, he started a place called the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. This center helps MIT students who want to create and grow businesses in developing countries by giving them special support. Quadir is no longer in charge of the Legatum Center. Quadir coined the phrase '''invisible leg to describe how technological innovations change economies in terms of the distribution of economic and political influence. To apply his development approach to electricity production in Bangladesh—where 70% of the population does not have access to the national electricity grid—Quadir founded Emergence BioEnergy, Inc., in 2006. This project and another one (namely, removing arsenic from water) were featured in an article titled "Power to the people" in the 9 March 2006 issue of ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
''. In 2007, Emergence BioEnergy won a
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
Asian Innovation Award. After a decade of working on developing these projects, he became dissatisfied and shut them down.


Current projects

Quadir and his brother Kamal cofounded
bKash bKash Limited ( d/b/a: bkash) is a mobile financial service (MFS) in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank PLC. This mobile financial service company started as a joint venture between BRAC Ba ...
in Bangladesh in 2009.
bKash bKash Limited ( d/b/a: bkash) is a mobile financial service (MFS) in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank PLC. This mobile financial service company started as a joint venture between BRAC Ba ...
, the country's leading mobile financial service, provides mobile banking and payment services to over 70 million subscribers. In 2004, he and his siblings founded the Anwarul Quadir Foundation to promote innovations in Bangladesh. In 2006, the foundation established a $25,000 global essay competition, the Quadir Prize, through the
Center for International Development The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
at Harvard University. In October 2007, the foundation made its first award to two recipients. In April 2009, Stephen Honan won the second award for developing an innovative way to extract arsenic from drinking water and soil.


Recognition

In 1999, Quadir was elected Global Leader for Tomorrow by the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2006, he became the 12th recipient of the Science, Education and Economic Development (SEED) Award from the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Dhaka, for initiating universal telephone coverage in Bangladesh. He appeared on CNN and PBS and was profiled in feature articles in the Harvard Business Review (Bottom-Up Economics, Aug 2003, & Breakthrough Ideas for 2004, Feb 2004), Financial Times, The Economist, and The New York Times, and in several books. In the Spring of 2007, The Wharton Alumni Magazine included Quadir in its list of 125 Influential People and Ideas. In 2011, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Swarthmore College and the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Case Western Reserve University. He serves as the chairman of the judging panel for the Legatum FORTUNE Technology Prize, which awards $1 million to individuals or organizations that positively affect developing countries’ business, technology, and quality of life.


See also

*
List of TED speakers This is a partial list of people who have spoken or otherwise presented at official TED (conference), TED conferences such as TED, TED@, TEDActive, TEDCity, TED-Ed, TED-NY, TEDGlobal, TEDSummit, TEDIndia, TEDSalon, TEDWomen, TEDYouth, TED Fellows ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quadir, Iqbal 1958 births American Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to the United States Harvard Kennedy School staff Living people Bengali Muslims 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Bengalis Swarthmore College alumni Jhenaidah Cadet College alumni Wharton School alumni Development economists Bangladeshi economists