Microfinance pioneer from Pakistan — who developed an interest-free microfinance programme — was among Tuesday’s September 1winners of Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Muhammad Amjad Saqib, 64, won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his “first-of-its-kind” interest- and collateral-free microfinance program that catalysed scores of poor households. Nearly two decades after its launch, Akhuwat — founded by Dr. Saqib — has grown into the nation’s largest microfinance institution, distributing the equivalent of $900 million and boasting an almost 100 per cent loan repayment rate, the award foundation said.