Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via EmailBlog Archives
Opportunity International’s MicroEnsure Named Runner-up
Congratulations to Opportunity International’s subsidiary MicroEnsure, which has been named runner-up for the 2010 Financial Times Sustainable Banking Award for Banking at the Base of the Pyramid. MicroEnsure was recognized for its successful health insurance product serving the low-income market in India. This was the first product in India to provide coverage for maternity and pre-existing Read more…
Getting to the Source: Meeting Ugandan Farmers and the Nile River
by Alexandra Arch, Writer and Uganda Insight Trip Participant The events of the day center on getting to the source. Not only did we trace the chain of coffee production back to the very farmer who planted the seed, but we also arrived at the source of the famed Nile River. Moving out of the Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Agrifinance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, boda boda, Coffee, Education, Farmers, Financial services, Insight Trip, Kalagi, Kampala, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nile River, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Rural lending, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
UN Secretary-General Visits Opportunity Malawi Mobile Bank
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Opportunity Malawi’s mobile bank in the UN Millennium Village of Mwandama on Sunday, May 30. “The secretary-general took time to talk with one of our customers who had just made a deposit. She had her smart card [bank card using biometric technology] in her hand and explained how she uses Read more…
Tagged Africa, Ban Ki-moon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell Phones, Financial services, Kiosk, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Millennium Village, Mobile Banking, Mwandama, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Smart cards, Technology, Training, United Nations, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
USAID: "Agriculture Development is Springboard for Economic Development"
Opportunity International is attending today’s Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Keynote speaker Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, unveiled the Feed the Future Guide, which details the implementation strategy for the U.S. government’s new global hunger and food security Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Children, Education, Farmers, Feed the Future Guide, Food security, Food Sustainability, Hunger, Loans, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rajiv Shah, Savings, Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, USAID, Women
Women Helping Women: Panel Discussion Inspires Women’s Investment Group
It is a unique situation: a roomful of professional U.S. women gathered together to learn how to help expand the professional prospects of poor women in other countries. At the lunchtime talk, “Beyond the Basics of Microfinance: Empowering women through scalable, sustainable, multi-faceted financial solutions,” hosted by Women Investment Professionals (WIP), Chicago women from the Read more…
Tagged Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, Education, Global Opportunity Quilt, Half the Sky, Insight Trip, Kenya, Microfinance, Mother's Day, Nike Foundation, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Ruth-Anne, Savings, Trust Groups, Women, Women Investment Professionals, Women Leaders, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
We are excited about the news that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States, Canada and other countries have launched the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to help the world’s poorest farmers grow more food and earn more to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. As part of the worldwide effort Read more…
Tagged Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, Global Agriculture and Food Policy, Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, Microfinance Conference, Roger Thurow, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Washington D.C.
Opportunity LiveBlog: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Champions Rural Outreach
When Bill and Melinda Gates decide to take on a project, they do it with gusto. They call themselves “impatient optimists,” and firmly believe that they are changing the world, one person at a time. Associate program officer in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, Clara Veniard is no Read more…
Melinda Gates Highlights Opportunity International
Earlier this week, Opportunity International was honored to host Melinda Gates as she visited some of our clients and experienced our banking services in Malawi. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Opportunity is expanding access to savings accounts, loans, training and insurance to people struggling to work their way out of Read more…
