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Iqbal Quadir
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Iqbal Quadir
Iqbal Quadir (born 13 August 1958) (Bengali: ইকবাল জেড. কাদীর) is a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and academic, known for founding the telecommunications company Grameenphone and for his work on development-oriented technology initiatives.
In the 1990s, Quadir initiated and helped establish Grameenphone, a mobile telecommunications company in Bangladesh that expanded telephone access beyond urban centers. According to The Economist, Quadir is described as an early participant in the global mobile telecommunications expansion, noting his focus on mobile device usage in low-income regions.
He served as a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for four years, where he conducted research on how emerging technologies influence governance and economic development in low- and middle-income countries. In 2007, he established the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT and serves as its director. In 2006, he co-founded the journal Innovations (published by MIT Press) and remains an editor.
Quadir was born in Jessore, Bangladesh. 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.[citation needed]
Quadir received a Bachelor of Science with honors from Swarthmore College (1981), followed by a Master of Arts (1983), and a Master of Business Administration (1987), the final two from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
His brother, Kamal Quadir, is also a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and artist.[citation needed]
Quadir served as a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (1983–1985), an associate at Coopers & Lybrand (1987–1989), an associate at Security Pacific Merchant Bank (1989–1991), and vice president of Atrium Capital Corporation (1991–1993).
In 1993, Quadir began efforts to broaden mobile telephone access in rural Bangladesh by integrating telecommunications deployment with microfinance and local enterprise partnerships. As part of this effort, he founded a New York-based company called Gonofone. (Bengali for "phones for the masses"). Then, he organized a global consortium including Norway's Telenor telecommunications; an affiliate of micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank in Bangladesh; Marubeni Corp. in Japan; Asian Development Bank in the Philippines; Commonwealth Development Corporation in the United Kingdom; and International Finance Corporation 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. Economist Jeffrey Sachs praised the Grameenphone initiative for demonstrating the potential of telecom expansion in low-income regions.
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Iqbal Quadir
Iqbal Quadir (born 13 August 1958) (Bengali: ইকবাল জেড. কাদীর) is a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and academic, known for founding the telecommunications company Grameenphone and for his work on development-oriented technology initiatives.
In the 1990s, Quadir initiated and helped establish Grameenphone, a mobile telecommunications company in Bangladesh that expanded telephone access beyond urban centers. According to The Economist, Quadir is described as an early participant in the global mobile telecommunications expansion, noting his focus on mobile device usage in low-income regions.
He served as a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for four years, where he conducted research on how emerging technologies influence governance and economic development in low- and middle-income countries. In 2007, he established the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT and serves as its director. In 2006, he co-founded the journal Innovations (published by MIT Press) and remains an editor.
Quadir was born in Jessore, Bangladesh. 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.[citation needed]
Quadir received a Bachelor of Science with honors from Swarthmore College (1981), followed by a Master of Arts (1983), and a Master of Business Administration (1987), the final two from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
His brother, Kamal Quadir, is also a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and artist.[citation needed]
Quadir served as a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (1983–1985), an associate at Coopers & Lybrand (1987–1989), an associate at Security Pacific Merchant Bank (1989–1991), and vice president of Atrium Capital Corporation (1991–1993).
In 1993, Quadir began efforts to broaden mobile telephone access in rural Bangladesh by integrating telecommunications deployment with microfinance and local enterprise partnerships. As part of this effort, he founded a New York-based company called Gonofone. (Bengali for "phones for the masses"). Then, he organized a global consortium including Norway's Telenor telecommunications; an affiliate of micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank in Bangladesh; Marubeni Corp. in Japan; Asian Development Bank in the Philippines; Commonwealth Development Corporation in the United Kingdom; and International Finance Corporation 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. Economist Jeffrey Sachs praised the Grameenphone initiative for demonstrating the potential of telecom expansion in low-income regions.
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