Blog Archives

Year-end Update from MicroEnsure, Providing a Powerful Safety Net for the World’s Most Vulnerable People

By Diane Ferguson on December 27, 2011

As we approach the end of year, we’re celebrating a big 2011 full of growth for MicroEnsure, Opportunity International‘s microinsurance subsidiary. Here are a few highlights from the year in review… • During 2011, MicroEnsure grew ten-fold in Africa to cover more than one million people in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Within two years, the Read more…

Posted in Microinsurance, Our Work, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Cell Phones, Client Stories, Clients, disability insurance, floods, Ghana, Health insurance, Kenya, Kilimanjaro, life insurance, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Phones, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, property insurance, Tanzania, Technology, Tigo

Building Access to Savings and Financial Services

By Opportunity International on October 5, 2011

Despite a desire to save and plan for the future, impoverished people are often excluded from commercial banks. In fact, fewer than 10% of people living on less than $2 a day have access to savings accounts. In the last 40 years, Opportunity International has become a global leader in building regulated banks that provide Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Loans, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Resources, Rural Outreach, Savings, Where We Work
Tagged 40th anniversary, Africa, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Conference, Daryl Collins, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Loans, Microfinance, mobile banking vehicle, mobile banks, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Savings, Women

What We’re Reading: The Huffington Post on a Microfinance Client in Bogotá

By Guest Post on September 19, 2011

The following post, “Turning Bogota’s Red Light Green: The Miracle of Microfinance,” by Elmira Bayrasli, was published on The Huffington Post on Monday, Sept. 12. It explores the impact of Opportunity’s microfinance work in Colombia, including loans, savings and training, on one Bogotá client. The original post on huffingtonpost.com can be found by clicking here. Bogotá’s Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Savings, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Blog, Bogotá, Client Stories, Clients, Colombia, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Huffington Post, Latin America, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Training, Women

Retrospective on Opportunity’s 40 Years: Spotlight on the 1990s

By Opportunity International on September 9, 2011

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
Tagged 40th anniversary, 40th anniversary year-end campaign 2011, Africa, Bank Building, Client Stories, Clients, Eastern Europe, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Women

My First Trust Group Experience, a Traveler’s Report from Uganda

By Guest Post on August 24, 2011

We rose early today and split into two groups with ours visiting a Trust Group in Kampala, which is the bustling capital of Uganda. We meandered down the shopping district, winding our way through an orderly confusion of shops, street vendors and a sea of humanity. It was hot and dry and the red dust Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Our Work, Resources, Trust Groups
Tagged Africa, Banking on Africa, Banking on Africa Campaign, Banking on Africa Insight Trip 2011, boda boda, Client Stories, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Insight Trip, Kampala, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Trust Groups, Uganda

Unlocking Potential Through the Power of Education

By Opportunity International on August 19, 2011

Opportunity’s financial products, educational programs and business training help impoverished families, especially women, develop their capacity to the fullest. Where poverty is the way of life, people’s potential is often overshadowed by the struggle to survive. But when equipped with the right tools, even the most vulnerable are able to change their own world and create a better future for their Read more…

Posted in Local Staffing, Our Work, Resources, Strategic Partners, Training, Where We Work
Tagged 2010 Annual Report, Africa, Banking on Education, Children, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Education, Education finance, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, IDP Foundation Rising Schools Program, Loans, Malawi, Microfinance, School Proprietor Loans, Schools, Uganda

Tanzania Reporter Meets Emilia P. Mtei of the Chapakazi Trust Group

By Guest Post on August 2, 2011

She is part of the Trust Group called Chapakazi (translation: Hard-Working) based in Moshi, Tanzania. Her passion is working at her small grocery store where she sells fish, avocados and various other vegetables. Emilia looks over at her loan officer Levina and laughs aloud as we YAO members ask her questions about her loan success Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Trust Groups, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged 2011 YAO Insight Trip, Africa, Banking on Women, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, guest blog, Insight Trip, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Moshi, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Poverty, small business loans, Tanzania, Trust Groups, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

My Inspirational Meeting in Malawi with Microfinance Client Mary Jackson

By Cynthia Greenwood on August 2, 2011

Recently, Opportunity International staff members traveled to Malawi, seeing firsthand how technology enables us to deliver microfinance services to rural people living in extreme poverty. They met with Opportunity Malawi clients and local staff to capture the stories of entrepreneurs who are working hard to break the cycle of poverty. Below, read staff member Cynthia’s account of her meeting with Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Training, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Blantyre, Children, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Community development, Credit Suisse, Education, Electronic wallet strategy, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Female entrepreneurs, Financial services, Global Poverty, Loans, Malawi, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile branches, Mozambique, Mulanje, OIBM, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, staff, success story, Technology, Training, videos, Women

Students of the World (SOW): Ghanaian Agricultural Finance Client Beatrice is a “Lady of the Land”

By Guest Post on July 5, 2011

The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team has just returned from a month-long trip to Ghana to visit Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and document their experiences in dozens of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Our Work, Resources, Rural Outreach, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Blog, Blogging, bonsaaso, Client Stories, Clients, cocoa, cocoa farmer, crops, Education, Ending Poverty, Facebook, Farmer, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, guest blog, Kumasi, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Students of the World, Trust Groups, Women

Day 4: “Dream Big” – Opportunity Colombia Empowers Young Entrepreneurs, Mothers, Trust Groups & More through Microfinance

By Guest Post on June 25, 2011

The following travel post was written by Jeannette Stewart, a member of the Opportunity International Board of Governors living in Maryland. This week, Jeannette is traveling with her son on the Opportunity Family Week Insight Trip to Colombia. Other Colombia travelers have written posts this week too, catch up on all their adventures by reading Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Our Work, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Board of Governors, Cartagena, Client Stories, Clients, Colombia, Colombia Family Week Trip 2011, displaced persons, Education, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, family week trip, Financial services, Global Poverty, individual loan client, Insight Trip, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, Poverty, roof and floor program, small business loans, Trust Groups, Women, Youth, Youth Entrepreneur Program

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