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Spotlight on Agricultural Finance: An Interview with an Agriculture Finance Officer
“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…
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
The Potential of Cell Phone Banking
Wondering if cell phone banking can reach the unreachable? CGAP Technology Blog has published the results of a discussion with Daryl Collins (co-author of Portfolios of the Poor) and Olga Morawczynski (of Grameen Foundation) from June’s Mobile Money Summit, an examination that highlights some of the keys to effective cell phone banking. Blog author Mark Read more…
Tagged biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, CGAP, cgap technology blog, Grameen, Grameen Foundation, Insurance, Kenya, Loans, M-banking, M-PESA, Malawi, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Opportunity Malawi, Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Professional training, Savings, Technology, Training
What YAO is reading: Portfolios of the Poor
Last night, at Noble Tree cafe in Lincoln Park, YAO-Chicago held a book discussion for Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day. If you missed it, never fear. There will be more book discussions in YAO‘s future. In fact, we may have a followup to the discussion of Portfolios, a Read more…
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…
A Closer Look: Opportunity’s Work in Colombia
Opportunity International’s very first loan was made in Colombia in 1975. Since then, Opportunity Colombia has been working to provide stable financial systems to reduce unemployment, social unrest and violence in the country. And it’s working to become a national-scale bank offering loans, savings, insurance and training to Colombians living in poverty. Opportunity Colombia’s current initiatives: • Launching Read more…
Tagged Clients, Colombia, Entreprenuership, Financial Access, Financial services, Insight Trip, Insurance, Loans, Microfinance, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Technology, Training
Is access to financial services a human right?
Opportunity International’s April DuBois opened her presentation today at the 7th International Human Rights Forum in Lucerne, Switzerland, with this question. She and Opportunity’s Daryl Skoog partnered with Fabian Huwyler of Credit Suisse to present a special workshop on “Electronic Wallets – Reaching More of the World’s Poor with Financial Access.” And back in the States, Read more…
Tagged Africa, April DuBois, Children, Credit Suisse, Daryl Skoog, Education, Electronic transactions, Electronic wallet strategy, Financial Access, Human Rights, Insurance, International Human Rights Forum, Loans, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Muhammad Yunus, Obstacles, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Technology, Training
An armchair tour of Tanzania at Opportunity’s Spring Conference
The following is a guest post by Ed Kashmarek Opportunity’s Spring Conference, hosted last weekend by the Board of Governors in Scottsdale, Ariz., included a breakout session on Tanzania. Attendees were immediately transported to the country by a giant image of majestic Mount Kilimanjaro towering over bright yellow giraffes, accompanied by the soulful, seductive sounds of Tanzanian music. Read more…
Tagged $2 a day, Banking, Board of Governors, Clients, Conference, Independence, Insurance, Liesel Pritzker, Loans, Mount Kilimanjaro, Poverty, spring 2010 microfinance conference, spring microfinance conference, Tanzania, Training, Trust Groups, Unity, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Young Ambassador Reporting from Tanzania
On Sunday, Feb. 21, I flew from Chicago, Ill., to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After almost two days of travel, I stepped out of the Julius Nyerere International Airport into humid, 90 degree weather. I knew I was in Tanzania. Thankfully, my luggage arrived with me and I went on to the Opportunity Tanzania head office. Over Read more…
Gaining Insight into Women Worldwide
An important component of celebrating International Women’s Day is being aware of and recognizing the difficulties and challenges women still face daily around the world. Opportunity International believes you can even take the common cliché “think globally, act locally” and apply it to this day. We plan on doing this for our in-office International Women’s Read more…
Tagged Business Loan, Clients, Education, Ending Poverty, Female entrepreneurs, Global Opportunity Quilt, Insight Trip, Insurance, International Women’s Day, Loan Officer, Savings, Training, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Voices of the Poor – Parmila Das
The landmark Voices of the Poor study, published by the World Bank in 2000, sought the opinions and testimony of 60,000 of the world’s poor through information gathered in small discussion groups. Parmila Das was one participant profiled in the study. She lived in India and was a widow with two young children. She struggled Read more…
