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What We’re Reading: Council on Foreign Relations, “Five Development Innovations to Watch in 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…
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
Credit Suisse’s Microfinance Work Recognized at the Financial Times/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards
would like to offer our congratulations to Credit Suisse. They were awarded a special commendation for their program in the Sustainable Global Bank of the Year category at the Financial Times/International Finance Corporation Sustainable Finance Awards. The annual FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, now in their seventh year, are the major global awards for environmentally- and Read more…
Tagged agent network, ATMs, awards, biometric technology, biometrics, capacity-building, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Clients, Colombia, Credit Suisse, Electronic wallet strategy, Financial services, Financial Times, Ghana, Insurance, International finance corporation, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, mobile banks, Opportunity International, POS devices, Rural Outreach, Savings, strategic partners, sustainable finance award, Technology, Temenos T24
What We’re Reading: The World Bank’s Africa Can… End Poverty Blog
The World Bank’s blogs cover a wide range of global economic issues. One blog titled Africa Can… End Poverty is run by Shanta Devarajan who is the Chief Economist for Africa at The World Bank. As continues to expand its work in Africa, including agricultural finance, mobile banking, and financial literacy training, I have highlighted three blog posts Read more…
Tagged Africa, Africa Can... End Poverty, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Blogs, cassava, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Chile, Clients, Deanna Giolas, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Indiana University, Mozambique, Opportunity International, Poverty, Smallholder farmer, subsistence farming, The New York Times, The World Bank, what we're reading
One-Year Anniversary of Grand Opening of Opportunity DRC
One year ago, celebrated the grand opening of its operations in the DR Congo with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the heart of Kinshasa’s Masina market. Three weeks ago, on Tuesday, May 22, 42 local and international staff, dignitaries and supporters gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary of this milestone at a special luncheon in Kinshasa Read more…
Tagged Africa, anniversary, ATMs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Caterpillar Foundation, Cell Phones, church, Clients, Colin McCormack, Democratic Republic of Congo, donor, DR Congo, DRC, DRC Grand Opening, Gilbert Lagaillarde, Harry Turner, Keith Flintham, Kinshasa, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nadine Pembele, Opportunity DRC, Opportunity International, point-of-sale devices, SAJE Foundation, Savings, Training, UNCDF, UNDP, Women
Technology & New Innovations at Chicago Microfinance Conference
At Friday’s Chicago Booth and Zell Center Microfinance Conference, several of my colleagues and members of heard from ‘s SVP of International Business Development, Dennis Ripley, who spoke as part of a panel called “New Products and Innovations in Microfinance,” along with Kate Cochran, COO at Vittana; Karl Muth, Consulting Economist at Grameen; and moderator Nina Read more…
Tagged 2012 Chicago Microfinance Conference, Africa, ATMs, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Clients, Colombia, Credit Suisse, Dennis Ripley, DePaul University, Ghana, Grameen, hub-and-spoke model, Kenya, Latin America, Loans, M-PESA, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, POS devices, Poverty, Richard Leftley, Savings, Smart Campaign, Students, Technology, Tigo, Uganda, Vittana, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Connecting in Rural Areas with Enterprise Open Sky (EOS) Technology
In remote areas of Mozambique, Ghana and Rwanda, far from the nearest brick-and-mortar bank branch, many Opportunity International clients, regardless of where they live or work, can make transactions in real time using Enterprise Open Sky (EOS). Built by Opportunity’s MIS Services, EOS is a set of computer programs that works seamlessly in conjunction with the core banking system, provided Read more…
Cell Phones Deliver Life Insurance
In October 2010, Opportunity International’s microinsurance subsidiary, MicroEnsure, launched a pilot test with the mobile network Tigo Ghana around a new product embedded into the subscriber’s airtime purchases. The more airtime Tigo customers purchase, the more free life insurance they earn for themselves and a second family member. For Tigo, this insurance has helped reduce client churn Read more…
MicroEnsure Wins Financial Times/International Finance Corporation Sustainable Finance Award
The following news announcement appeared on MicroEnsure’s website on Friday, June 17. MicroEnsure has won the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Award in the category Achievement in Financing at the Base of the Pyramid. The awards, organized by the Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, were announced on Thursday, Read more…
Tagged Cell Phones, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Financial Times, funeral insurance, Ghana, Global Poverty, Healthcare, Insurance, International finance corporation, life insurance, Loans, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Poverty, Richard Leftley, what we're reading, World Bank
