Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist who has championed microfinance as a way to alleviate poverty in the developing world through entrepreneurship, told The Huffington Post that he would encourage U.S. policymakers to change the way they administer foreign aid. Instead of giving handouts of food and other aid, Yunus argues that donor nations like the United States should help fund groups based on a model of social business.

Not quite a for-profit company nor a nonprofit philanthropy institution, a social business is a hybrid in which owners recoup their investment but take no more in dividends. The goal is not to get rich but to provide health care, housing, clean water, nutrition for malnourished children, renewable energy and other goods "in a business way." Yunus said the business model is aimed at "creating a new space without closing down the other sides."

While in Washington to speak to a gathering of international development and aid organizations, Yunus met privately with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She has been a longtime champion of his microcredit work and Grameen Bank, which he started in 1983 to make tiny loans to the poor, 97 percent of them women.

While Yunus was recently forced by the Bangladeshi government to resign from Grameen in what is widely viewed as a politically-motivated move, he said he hoped Clinton would step up her support of social business to help empower the powerless.

Was it a conspiracy? Last November, a documentary aired on Norwegian television accusing Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, of a slew of unethical and illegal practices. The most serious was the illegal transfer of $100 million from Grameen Bank, the financial institution he established to help his country's poor, to another Grameen company. The film sparked an investigation by the Norwegian government, but not a single charge leveled against Yunus held up to scrutiny.

Regardless of the film's inaccuracies, its consequences were significant. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed's government began attacking Yunus soon afterward, and the Bangladeshi press all but declared him guilty. Then in March, Yunus was fired as Grameen's director. The official reason was that the 70-year-old Yunus was ten years past the mandatory retirement age for government workers. But to some, this smelled contrived. Yunus had offered to step down numerous times over the years, and his requests were repeatedly denied. Moreover, there were cabinet members older than Yunus, like Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, the 76-year-old finance minister. In light of these inconsistencies, Yunus's supporters cast their gaze on the prime minister.

By Gines Haro Pastor

The microfinance pioneer and Nobel prize winner talks to Gines Haro Pastor about his future plans, supporting other social businesses and how the Grameen bank evolved.

You usually use the term social business instead of social enterprise. Can you explain the difference between them?

What I was trying to do was to take [entrepreneurship] in one particular direction: turning it into creating a social business. Social business is a business, where you don't want to make money for yourself, but you solve the problem with the business model. This is different from social entrepreneurship. A social entrepreneur may not be involved in a business at all, it could be just helping your neighbourhood, improving healthcare, helping people to do that in a new way.

What will you be focusing on over the next six months?

I have been over years spending more and more time on promoting social business, setting up social business, bringing social business to courses at universities, helping design social business institutes and universities...answering questions related with social business.

This is what I will continue to devote time to. Because now social business is spreading in many more countries - previously it was only in Bangladesh and one or two other countries - this will take up a lot of my time.

The recently elected young (36) mayor of Fukuoka city Mr. Soichiro Takashima declared the city of Fukuoka as a Social Business City, at the closing of the Asian Forum for Social Business that took place in the city from 21-23 July. The declaration took place at a signing ceremony between Mayor Takashima, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and Professor Hiroto Yasuura, Vice President of Kyushu University. The city which was announced as a social business hub last year, has now formally adopted the title of "social business city" which would promote zero dividend businesses to solve social problems in the city of Fukuoka, and throughout Asia.

On the same day, the Kyushu University announced the setting up a new academic centre named as " Yunus Shiiki Centre for Research on Social Business". A prominent businessman Mr. Shiiki of the city funds this Centre. The ceremony took place in the presence of 1250 participants at the closing of the three-day forum.

The Asia Forum for Social Business had earlier been opened by Mayor Soichiro Takashima on 21 July and brought together many influential policy makers and businessmen of Japan. Following opening speech by Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus, a high level panel discussion took place addressed by founder and CEO of UNIQLO, Tadashi Yanai, and CEO of Yukiguni Maitake, country directors of Danone and Veolia , all of whom have joint venture social businesses in Bangladesh, and President of Kyushu University.

Professor Yunus has been exploring the possibility of joint venture collaboration between Japanese businesses to create social business in Bangladesh. Carlos Ghosn the highly admired CEO of Nissan and Renault came to the hotel to meet Professor Yunus on Tuesday 19 July, 2011. He discussed various options of social businesses. Professor Yunus met many top CEOs in a meeting organised by the President of NEC Corporation. Mr. Yuzo Kayama, a veteran and highly popular singer and actor in Japan, came to meet Professor Yunus at his hotel to extend support to his social business initiatives. Mr. Kayama described himself as a big fan of Yunus' work.

On Thursday, Professor Yunus was received by Mr. Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan and Chairman of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary League. He organized a workshop with Professor Yunus for the members of the Parliamentary group in the Diet Hall on social business, especially about its potential for the earthquake affected areas. Thirty two parliamentarians attended the session which was followed by a Q and A from the participating MPs. Following this session, Professor Yunus addressed a women's leaders meeting attended by more than 50 women business leaders and organizers of women organizations all of whom want to find ways to contribute to helping the families and victims of the great East Japan earthquake. They want to work closely with Yunus centre to design and implement their programmes. Some of them will visit Bangladesh to get good understanding of social business. They invited him to come back to Japan again to visit earthquake area of Tohoku with them to launch their programmes.