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What We’re Reading: World Finance Magazine Discusses Opportunity’s Agricultural Finance Program

By Opportunity International on August 27, 2010

Amosi Kasamira’s face lights up as he shares his plans for the next season. ‘My vision is to replace the grass roof of our home to better protect us from the sun and rain,’ he explains, ‘and I intend to cultivate ten acres next season.’ –Excerpted from: ‘There is Still a Lot of Work Ahead,’ World Read more…

Posted in Loans, Microinsurance, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Clients, Community, credit life insurance, Crop insurance, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, food, Food security, Global Poverty, Hunger, hunger and undernutrition blog, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microfinance Video, OIBM, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity International, opportunity international UK, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Professional training, Savings, Technology, the true impact of crop insurance, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, world finance magazine

We’re Expanding Financial Access to Rural Malawi. Here’s How You Can Help.

By Opportunity International on August 26, 2010

Travel in your mind to the shores of Lake Malawi. In this remote region, extreme poverty is widespread. But because of the donations, hard work and advocacy of Opportunity supporters and staff, the Malawians here have been empowered financially. To reach the unreachable, Malawi has replicated its successful “hub-and-spoke” approach by opening a hub branch Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Insight Trips, Loans, Microinsurance, OptINnow, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Training, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Branch staff, Conference, credit life insurance, Crop insurance, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, fundraisers, Fundraising, Insight Trip, Insight Trips, Insurance, Latin America, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile branches, Online fundraising, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, opportunity microfinance conference, OptINnow, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Savings account, small business loans, Training, Transportation, Washington D.C.

Opportunity Attends the 10,000 Women Leadership Academy

By Opportunity International on August 16, 2010

The second annual 10,000 Women Leadership Academy brought more than 100 partners from around the world to Washington, D.C. from June 6-9, 2010. Opportunity International was honored to be in attendance to represent the Emerging Leaders Program, a part of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women initiative. created the 10,000 Women program to empower women entrepreneurs worldwide Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Training, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, afghanistan, brazil, Community, condoleezza rice, Conference, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, India, Kenya, leadership academy, Loan Officer, Melanne Verveer, MFI, Opportunity International, Poverty, President Obama, richard haass, Secretary of State, smithsonian museum, Training, Women, women for women international, Women Leaders, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Melinda French Gates on the Impact of Agricultural Finance

By Opportunity International on August 4, 2010

Want to do more to impact global poverty? In an interview in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine, Melinda Gates outlines the techniques the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is using to fight global poverty in the 21st century. (“Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives,” by Terence Monmaney) It’s part of the magazine’s 40th-anniversary issue, featuring ”40 Things You Read more…

Posted in Loans, Microinsurance, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Crop insurance, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Farmers, Financial services, Green Revolution, Healthcare, Hunger, Insurance, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Melinda Gates, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, Savings, Schools, Smallholder farmer, Students, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Spotlight on the Annual Report: Empowering Emerging Women Leaders in Microfinance

By Opportunity International on August 3, 2010

Meet Beatrice William. Beatrice is undergoing training through Opportunity International’s Emerging Leaders Program – part of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Initiative–which trains talented women in banking and finance to help them establish or advance careers in microfinance as loan officers and bank managers. “When I heard that I had been chosen to come to Nairobi for the Emerging Leaders Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 10k Women, 2009 annual report, Africa, annual report, Banking, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Dar es Salaam, Education, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nairobi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Poverty, Tanzania, Training, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Rwandan Women are Crucial to Economy — A Story on CNN.com

By Opportunity International on July 27, 2010

Check out CNN.com where Lisa Desai wrote a piece, accompanied by a video, that highlights the integral role that women play in the growing economy of Rwanda since the genocide in 1994. Today, women outnumber men in and, according to the piece, “there are more women in Rwanda’s parliament than any other country in the world. Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Savings, Strategic Partners, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, Africa, clementine uzabakiriho, CNN, CNN.com, Community, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Gahaya Links, Goldman Sachs, Kigali, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Savings, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Be Inspired: A Traveler Meets Opportunity Uganda’s Microfinance Clients

By Guest Post on July 23, 2010

Debby Farrington, a supporter of the is visiting Uganda with her 16-year-old nephew Matt Statman. Yesterday, Matt sent us about meeting teenage students in Kampala, and today, Debby reports on their visits with Trust Group clients and some very inspiring women entrepreneurs. Today, we visited a meeting and some very special clients of Opportunity Uganda. Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Local Staffing, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Children, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Insight Trip, Kampala, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Students, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, WON, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Spotlight on Agricultural Finance: An Interview with an Agriculture Finance Officer

By Emily Riemer on July 14, 2010

“Most of the world’s poor are smallholder farmers and their families. By targeting them, we can dramatically reduce extreme poverty and food insecurity.” -UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, addressing the Malawian parliament on May 29, 2010. Through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MasterCard Foundation, Opportunity is now offering greater financial Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Training, Where We Work
Tagged accra, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, andrew koehler, Ban Ki-moon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clients, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Farmers, Financial Times, Ghana, Insurance, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Uganda, United Nations

What We’re Reading: Roger Thurow Encourages Rwandan Farmers to “Keep Up the Momentum”

By Emily Riemer on July 9, 2010

This week, Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow on Global Agriculture and Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, posted a blog reporting on an unusual situation for farmers in Kirehe, Rwanda — an agricultural surplus. Thurow examines the situation, interviewing Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda’s minister of agriculture, and discusses the positive impact of USAID’s Feed Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Conference, Enough, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Feed the Future Guide, Financial services, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Microfinance Conference, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, Roger Thurow, Rwanda, Savings, Technology, Training, USAID

Harvesting Hope for Tomorrow: Women’s Role in Transforming Uganda

By Guest Post on June 25, 2010

Guest blogger and Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) member Julie Hindmarsh sends us this report while on WON’s “Mothers, Daughters and Sisters” Insight Trip to Uganda. What is your greatest challenge in farming? That was the question we posed to a group of rural farmers in Buwenda, Uganda, when we visited them on Thursday. “Transportation,” one Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Mission and Vision, Rural Outreach, Training, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture Microfinance, Children, Daughters, Farmers, Girls, Insight Trips, International Women's Day, irrigation, Microfinance Institution, Mothers, School fee loans, School fees, Sisters, Trust Group, Uganda, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, WON Uganda Insight Trip 2010

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