Blog Archives

What We’re Reading: Banking in Africa: Continent of Dreams

By Allison Bearden on March 22, 2013

Africa is the next frontier for banks from all corners of the globe. Last week, The Economist aptly portrayed both the high hope and sheer uncertainty felt by financial institutions serving the African continent in Banking in Africa: Continent of Dreams. A number of the article’s key points are central to both why and how Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Our Work, Poverty, Resources, Rural Outreach, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Banking, Banking Tools, Economic development, Economics, Economist, Rural banking

3 Ways Opportunity International Will Tackle Poverty in Mozambique This Year

By Allison Bearden on March 7, 2013

Opportunity Mozambique is providing over 57,000 impoverished clients with loans, savings and insurance to catalyze sustainable economic development across the country. In 2013, Banco Oportunidade de Moçambique (BOM) will reach more impoverished families through the following three strategies, among others: Investing in Savings Expansion with New Products and Promotions. Savings help protect low-income families against Read more…

Posted in Hunger, Loan officer, Loans, Local Staffing, Microfinance, Our Method, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology, Training, Transformation, Where We Work
Tagged Agricultural finance, Clients, Financial Access, Financial services, Mozambique, Savings

The Power of Technology to Eradicate Poverty

By Opportunity International on January 18, 2013

Technology efficiently and cheaply brings financial services to people in remote or rural areas. It breaks through barriers throughout the developing world, where people are excluded from financial services because of illiteracy, expensive transportation and geographic isolation. With the support of our strategic partners, individual donors and dedicated staff, Opportunity International leverages technology to help free people Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Biometrics, Cell phone banking, Client Stories, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, POS devices, Poverty, Resources, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Where We Work, Women
Tagged Africa, Annie Nyangomba, ATMs, biometric fingerprint technology, Cell phone banking, Client Stories, Clients, Cloud technology, Community, Democratic Republic of Congo, DR Congo, Ending Poverty, Felicitus Mmboge, Financial services, Global Poverty, invest in technology, Kenya, Kinshasa, Leaders, Loans, local staff, Marie-Claire Ina, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Nairobi, Opportunity International, POS devices, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Technology

What We’re Reading: Council on Foreign Relations, “Five Development Innovations to Watch in 2013″

By Emily Riemer on January 14, 2013

MicroEnsure, the microinsurance subsidiary founded by Opportunity International, was recently recognized by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) as a “development innovation to watch in 2013.” In a blog post last month, CFR reported that MicroEnsure has “sign[ed] up a million [life insurance] customers [in Ghana] over 14 months, 85% of them new to insurance” by linking Read more…

Posted in Cell phone banking, Microinsurance, Our Work, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged accra, Africa, Cell Phones, chronic poverty, Clients, Council on Foreign Relations, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Health insurance, life insurance, Microensure, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Risks, Rwanda, Tanzania, Technology, Tigo, Weather-index crop insurance

Opportunity Ghana Innovates to Reach More Marginalized Clients

By Dana Lunberry on January 3, 2013

Opportunity Ghana is using innovative technology to provide financial services to a greater number of impoverished people in remote and rural areas of the country, many of whom have never before had access to formal banking. Through a “hub-and-spoke” method, Opportunity International uses low-cost delivery methods, including kiosk satellite branches, point-of-sale (POS) devices, cell phone Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Cell phone banking, Loan officer, Local Staffing, POS devices, Rural Outreach, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged accra, Africa, Banking, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial Access, Financial services, Ghana, Kumasi, Loan Officer, Loan repayment, Loans, Microfinance, mobile banking vehicle, OISL, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, POS devices, Technology

Cracking the Code on Food Security: YAO Leader Samantha Snabes Uses Technology to End Hunger

By Emily Riemer on December 28, 2012

“The Opportunity International Conference changed my life,” says Young Ambassador Samantha Snabes. The fall 2011 conference, says the NASA “social entrepreneur in residence,” was the moment when she became inspired to take action to do her part to end global poverty. Shortly thereafter, she became part of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) and is currently working Read more…

Posted in Agricultural Finance, Donors, Events, Hunger, Technology, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, app, crop yields, crops, David Kone, Dr. Norman Borlaug, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Engineers Without Borders, Financial services, Food security, Geralyn Sheehan, Granada, Hunger, NASA, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Nicaragua, Smallholder farmer, south america, USAID, world food prize, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, yucca, yucca processing plant

The Power of One Client, Felicitus, to Impact the Lives of Many

By Opportunity International on December 19, 2012

Felicitus Mmboge is one of the millions of Opportunity women clients who has used a small loan to seize a big opportunity, and achieve great change in her life, her family and her community. Twenty years ago, at the age of 22, Felicitus left her struggling village in Western Kenya and took a job as Read more…

Posted in Cell phone banking, Client Stories, Loan officer, Loans, Our Work, Technology, Women
Tagged Africa, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Felicitus Mmboge, Financial services, invest in women, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, M-PESA, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Nairobi, One Woman Holiday Challenge, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Poverty, Technology, Women

One Woman Holiday Challenge Launches Today for Opportunity’s Women Clients

By Vicki Escarra on November 16, 2012

This holiday season, with your help, Opportunity International has the potential to fund 6,000 new loans for women around the world. For our new campaign, the One Woman Holiday Challenge, we have an ambitious goal of raising $450,000 in 45 days. And thanks to a generous donor, all gifts to the campaign will be matched Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Biometrics, Client Stories, Fundraisers, Loans, Our Leadership, Savings, Technology, Women
Tagged Africa, Annie Nyangomba, biometric fingerprint technology, biometrics, Clients, Democratic Republic of Congo, donors, DR Congo, Ending Poverty, Financial services, fundraisers, Kinshasa, Loan Officer, Loans, match, Microfinance, One Woman Holiday Challenge, Online fundraising, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Training, Vicki Escarra, Women

CEO Vicki Escarra Checks in from 2012 Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna

By Vicki Escarra on November 16, 2012

This is an inspiring week as I attended the fourth annual Global Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna, Austria, where several hundred leaders from the corporate, academic and NGO settings gathered to explore the future of management and its impact on the future of global society. Peter F. Drucker was a management consultant, educator, author and Read more…

Posted in Agricultural Finance, Education, Events, Loans, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Training
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Austria, Capitalism, Clients, Education, Events, Financial services, Insurance, Loans, Microfinance, Nonprofit, Opportunity International, Peter Drucker Forum, Peter F. Drucker, Poverty, Savings, Technology, Training, Vicki Escarra, Vienna

With a Grant from Citi Foundation, Opportunity Brings Financial Solutions to More Colombians

By Opportunity International on November 9, 2012

Opportunity opened a financially-regulated, full-service bank to serve people living in extreme poverty in Bogotá, Colombia in early October. Leveraging a grant from Citi Foundation, a long-time supporter of programs promoting the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low-income people, we’re developing the capacity to conduct formal banking transactions, including interest-bearing savings, with the goal Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Microfinance, Our Leadership, Our Work, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged Bank Building, Bogotá, Citi Foundation, Clients, Colombia, Ending Poverty, Enrique Ordonez, grand opening, Henequen, Latin America, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, Poverty, Progress Trust Group, regulated bank, Savings, Technology, Trust Groups

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