Blog Archives

Check It Out! Credit Suisse Reports on the Impact of Microfinance & Technology in Malawi

By Opportunity International on January 18, 2012

We’re pleased to announce that Opportunity International is featured in this month’s Credit Suisse Bulletin. The four-page article, which was the result of Credit Suisse’s visit to Opportunity Malawi last year, is located on pages 42-45. Click here to see a complete copy of the Bulletin or read the story online. In addition, Credit Suisse has Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, ATMs, biometric fingerprint technology, biometric technology, Cell phone banking, Clients, Credit Suisse, Electronic wallet strategy, Financial literacy programs, financial literacy training, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile phone banking, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, regional manager, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology, Training, Trust Groups, Women

Opportunity Staff Interview on BBC Radio 2

By Opportunity International on August 29, 2011

Listen today! BBC Radio 2‘s Jeremy Vine interviews Nick Lea, development economist and an Opportunity trustee, and Lydia Baffour Awuah, head of Africa programs at Opportunity UK. Recording of interview is only available until 2:02 p.m. GMT+1 on Tuesday, Aug. 30th (9:02 a.m. EST in the United States). Listen to the 10-minute interview by clicking here. ** (The interview Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Leadership, Our Work, Resources, Savings, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, BBC, BBC Radio, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Loans, Lydia Baffour Awuah, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, Mothers, Nick Lee, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Opportunity UK, Poverty, Savings, Schools, staff, Students, Technology, Trust Groups, Women

Photo Blog: We’re Banking on Africa

By Opportunity International on August 10, 2011

This summer, Opportunity has launched the Banking on Africa Campaign. The campaign aims to bring millions of Sub-Saharan Africans closer to the day when they can safely deposit their savings, access loans to grow businesses, and purchase affordable insurance to protect their families—right in their own communities. Check out a photo tour below of some Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Our Leadership, Resources, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Banking on Africa, Banking on Africa Campaign, Children, Clients, Dikembe Mutombo, Education finance, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Kenya, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicles, Opportunity DRC, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Opportunity Malawi, opportunity mozambique, Opportunity South Africa, Opportunity Tanzania, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Rwanda, School Proprietor Loans, Schools, Students, Tanzania, Uganda

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

What We’re Reading: “Rural and Agricultural Finance in the Spotlight at Cracking the Nut Conference”

By Opportunity International on July 14, 2011

A few weeks ago, Shari Berenbach, Director of USAID’s Microenterprise Development Office, wrote a blog post on the USAID’s IMPACTblog reported on a conference held in Washington that directly addressed the problems that face agricultural microfinance, as 600 million smallholder farmers currently live on less than $2 a day. Speakers at the conference emphasized new Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, ATMs, biometric fingerprint technology, biometrics, branchless banking, Cell phone banking, Colombia, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Kenya, Latin America, Loans, M-banking, M-PESA, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile branches, mobile phone banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Rural banking, Rural Outreach, Technology, USAID, USAID Impact blog, what we're reading

MicroEnsure Wins Financial Times/International Finance Corporation Sustainable Finance Award

By Guest Post on June 20, 2011

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…

Posted in Events, Microinsurance, Our Work, Resources, Strategic Partners
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

YAO Member on Chicago Microfinance Conference & How Innovations Expand the Reach of Savings

By Guest Post on May 13, 2011

The following guest post was written by Lauren Dillon, a co-chair of the Chicago chapter of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) who works at Illinois-based nonprofit Oasis International. Innovation is at the heart of microfinance. It’s also the engine that propels it. Innovation is packed with chance, risk, fun, adventure! And, when coupled with microfinance, Read more…

Posted in Events, Microinsurance, Our Work, Savings, Technology, Training, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged 2011 Chicago Microfinance Conference, Africa, biometric technology, biometrics, CARE, Cell phone banking, Chicago, Chicago Microfinance Conference, DePaul University, Education, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, Financial services, Innovation, Malawi, MFI, MicroDreams, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile phone banking, Oasis International, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Savings, Simona Haiduc, Technology, Tuition savings accounts, YAO, YAO-Chicago, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, young entrepreneurs, Young Professionals

The Christian Science Monitor on Biometrics & Mobile Money at Opportunity Malawi

By Opportunity International on April 15, 2011

The Christian Science Monitor today posted an article entitled, “Villages Leapfrog the Grid with Biometrics and Mobile Money,” which lauds these technologies as a way for people at the bottom of the economic pyramid to access financial services and protect themselves in the case of drought and disasters. Today’s story is part of a series Read more…

Posted in Rural Outreach, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Crop insurance, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Fingerprint, funeral insurance, Gates Foundation, Kenya, life insurance, M-banking, M-PESA, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile phone banking, Mobile Phones, OIBM, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, South Africa, Technology, The Christian Science Monitor, what we're reading

Honor Opportunity’s Women Clients Today for International Women’s Day 2011

By Opportunity International on March 8, 2011

On this 100th anniversary, we celebrate the significant progress that has been achieved through determined advocacy, practical action and enlightened policy making. Yet, in too many countries and societies, women remain second-class citizens. [...] In the home and at school, in the workplace and in the community, being female too often means being vulnerable. -U.N. Read more…

Posted in Events, Insight Trips, OptINnow, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Technology, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Ban Ki-moon, Banking on Women, biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Children, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global change, International Women’s Day, Judith Godiah, Kenya, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile phone banking, Mobile Phones, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, OptINnow, point-of-sale devices, Poverty, Schools, Social Change, Students, Technology, UN Secretary-General, United Nations, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

“Banking on Women” with Access to Microsavings

By Opportunity International on March 7, 2011

The following piece, “Banking on Women,” was published in USA Today‘s special supplement “Investing in Women & Girls” on Friday, March 4. In Blantyre, Malawi, dozens of women sell potatoes in the marketplace. But Grace Msowoya and her business partner Betty Louhana stand out. Frustrated by their small profit margins, they became the first women to Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Resources, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, ATMs, Bill Morgenstern, Blantyre, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, CGAP, Children, claudia kennedy, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Grace Msowoya, International Women's Day, Investing in Women and Girls, lieutenant general claudia kennedy, Loans, M-PESA, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile phone banking, Mobile Phones, Mothers, Opportunity International, point-of-sale devices, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Schools, Students, Technology, USA Today, what we're reading, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

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