Blog Archives

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

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
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Opportunity Colombia’s Grand Opening Celebration as a Deposit-Taking Bank

Opportunity Colombia celebrated its grand opening event in Bogota last month. As a regulated financial institution, Opportunity Colombia can now offer a full range of financial services to its clients, including interest-bearing savings. By 2015 it aims to reach 60,000 Colombians who live at the base of the economic pyramid. With 150 attendees at the Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Client Stories, Donors, Events, Faith in Action, Loan officer, Local Staffing, Our Leadership, Our Work, Savings, Strategic Partners, T24, Technology, Where We Work
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Starting a New Branch in Kyenjojo, Uganda: Building Community Relationships

 is more than just  and  and business—it’s a way forward for many families with few resources and little hope. Wherever we work, we strive to understand the local communities and to get to know the families who use our resources. This is my fourth in a six-part blog series that explores how we serve the Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Savings, Where We Work
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Getting to Know the Community

is more than just and and business—it’s a way forward for many families with few resources and little hope. strives to understand the local communities and to get to know the families who are improving their lives through our tools. This is my second post in a multi-part blog series about a new branch in Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Local Staffing, Training
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Success Story: Banking on Africa Campaign

In 2008,  embarked on its most ambitious effort to date, a $123.6 million Banking on Africa campaign to expand financial services for impoverished families throughout sub-Saharan Africa. With the partnership of our committed supporters, we’re celebrating the successful completion of this campaign and we’re confident we’ll reach our Banking on Africa goal: to reach five Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Insight Trips, Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
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Opportunity Colombia Receives Operational Banking License, Bringing Microfinance to More Impoverished Colombians

On Friday, June 22, the Superintendency of Finance in Bogotá, Colombia, granted  Colombia the final operational banking license it needs to be a deposit-taking and full service bank. Opportunity Colombia‘s CEO Enrique Ordonez and his staff began the process of applying for this license 18 months ago in January 2011, and through perseverance, financial support, and a Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Faith in Action, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Savings, Training, Trust Groups, Where We Work
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Retrospective on Opportunity’s 40 Years: Spotlight on the 1990s

Opportunity International celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In honor of our four decades partnering with microfinance clients, we’re taking a look back at all the triumphs and joys of helping people around the world create change in their lives. A Look Back at the ’90s In the 1990s, Opportunity expanded into new continents, bringing tremendous Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Loans, Our Work, Where We Work
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What We’re Watching: Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka’s Voice of America Interview on Congo Grand Opening

Following the grand opening of our first regulated microfinance institution in the DR Congo, Congolese native and Opportunity supporter Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka appeared on Voice of America‘s In Focus TV program, which airs throughout Africa, to discuss the growth of microfinance in the DRC and the impact of Opportunity DRC on the lives of the Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Loans, Our Leadership, Our Work, Where We Work
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Grand Opening Today of Opportunity DR Congo: Expanding Microfinance to One of World’s Most Impoverished Countries

Today at 10:00 a.m. local time, Opportunity International celebrated the grand opening of Opportunity Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the capital city of Kinshasa, expanding our network of microfinance institutions to the Congo. The grand opening ceremony was attended by local government officials and dignitaries, Opportunity representatives from the DRC and the United States, as Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Where We Work
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Leading the Way in Agricultural Microfinance

Seventy percent of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty (surviving on less than $1.25 per day) live in rural areas. Two years ago, Opportunity International launched the Banking on Africa campaign, a cutting-edge strategy to address rural poverty by expanding access to financial services in rural areas and to develop an agricultural finance Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Resources, Rural Outreach, Savings, Training, What We're Reading
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