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Empowering Rwandan Women in Microfinance
By Jeffrey Lee, CEO of Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) of Rwanda In Rwanda, gender equality is real. For example, more than 50% of the Rwandan senators are women. The chief justice is a woman. Approximately 40% of the state ministers are women, including the ministers of agriculture, of trade, of foreign affairs. Indeed, women are Read more…
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, alice gasatura, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, Kenya, Kigali, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nairobi, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Urwego Opportunity Bank, Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda, Women, Women Leaders, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Microfinance Loan Officers Go Green with Electronic Bikes
Opportunity International’s loan officers are going green. They are traveling to loan client locations with the assistance of electric bicycles. If electric cars are the epitome of a culture that is constantly trying to reduce its carbon footprint, then electric bicycles (e-bikes) rank in the same category. That’s why Daryl Skoog, Opportunity International’s SVP of Read more…
Tagged Africa, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, India, Kenya, Loan Officer, MFI, Microfinance, Mozambique, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity India, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, opportunity mozambique, Opportunity Rwanda, Opportunity Tanzania, Opportunity Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Technology, Uganda
News from ONE: Rwanda gives $1 million to the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria
The following is a blog post published on the ONE Campaign’s blog yesterday, Nov. 10, written by Malaka Gharib. Here’s some really cool news–we just caught wind that Rwanda is donating $1 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. According to a press release, Rwanda is the fourth African country to contribute Read more…
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, AIDS, alice gasatura, Clients, Conference, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, Global Fund, Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS prevention, Loan Officer, Loans, Malaria, MFI, Microfinance, Millennium Development Goals, ONE, ONE blog, ONE Campaign, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Poverty, Rwanda, Tuberculosis, UN Millennium Campaign, Un millennium development goals, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Conference Breakout: Investing in Half the Sky
The panelists at the breakout session, Investing in Half the Sky. From left to right: Diana Negroponte, Alice Gasatura, Julie Hindmarsh and Ruth-Anne Renaud. The following post by YAO member and Opportunity supporter Sonja Egeland Kelly is one of the many blog posts we published from the 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference. Click here to read all Read more…
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 10k Women, 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, alice gasatura, Board of Advisors, Board of Directors, Board of Governors Conference, Children, Community, Conference, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, Ghana, Goldman Sachs, Half the Sky, Insight Trip, Julie Hindmarsh, Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka, Kenya, LEAD Campaign, LEAD Initiative, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Mozambique, Nicholas D. Kristof, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, OptINnow, Poverty, Professional training, Ruth-Anne Renaud, Rwanda, Schools, Sheryl WuDunn, Students, Tanzania, Training, Transformational Training, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
LiveBlog: Plenary Session III: Will Ball, Knight Kiplinger and more
This Friday evening plenary session features Opportunity CEO, Bill Morgenstern; chair of the Opportunity Board of Governors, Mary Lynn Staley; director of credit support at Opportunity Rwanda, Alice Gasatura; vice president of the Caterpillar Foundation, Will Ball; economic journalist and editor-in-chief of The Kiplinger Letter, Knight Kiplinger; and Dale Hanson Bourke, president of the CIDRZ Read more…
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, alice gasatura, Bill Morgenstern, Board of Governors, Cargill, Caterpillar Foundation, CIDRZ Foundation, Clients, Dale Hanson Bourke, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS prevention, knight kiplinger, Loans, mary lynn staley, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Will Ball, William Ball
3 Things to Learn about Microfinance at our Fall Conference
If you would like to learn more about microfinance and global development, Opportunity’s microfinance conference is the event to attend. Join us for our 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference this weekend (Friday, Oct. 8-Saturday, Oct. 9) in Washington, D.C. Register here.[/intlink] Here are 3 exciting topics to learn about at our fall conference[/intlink]: Microinsurance Our breakout Read more…
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, alice gasatura, biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Clients, Conference, Daryl Skoog, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, Half the Sky, internet, Julie Hindmarsh, Loans, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Ruth-Anne Renaud, Rwanda, satellite communications, Sheryl WuDunn, Technology, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Agricultural Advisor John Magnay Talks Food Security in Africa, and How Agricultural Finance Can Feed a Continent
“Africa is capable of sustaining its food needs,” said John Magnay, Opportunity’s senior agricultural advisor. “[But] if you look at [crop] yields in Africa, it is at 40% of what it should be.” Magnay, a British-born, 33-year veteran of the agricultural development sector in Africa, has worked with several African governments to develop agricultural advancements, and Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Clients, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, food, Food security, Food Sustainability, Ghana, Hunger, John Magnay, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mozambique, northwestern university, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Opportunity Rwanda, Opportunity Uganda, Rwanda, Technology, Uganda, UN
Rwandan Women are Crucial to Economy — A Story on CNN.com
Check out CNN.com where Lisa Desai wrote a piece, accompanied by a video, that highlights the integral role that women play in the growing economy of Rwanda since the genocide in 1994. Today, women outnumber men in and, according to the piece, “there are more women in Rwanda’s parliament than any other country in the world. Read more…
Tagged 10000 women initiative, Africa, clementine uzabakiriho, CNN, CNN.com, Community, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Gahaya Links, Goldman Sachs, Kigali, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Savings, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Chicago Microfinance Conference: Can Technology Innovations Transform Microfinance?
At the 6th Annual Chicago Microfinance Conference on Friday, a panel of experts explored the possibilities and pitfalls of ever-changing technology in the microfinance industry. Moderator Preeth Gowdar, Kellogg School of Management, led the session entitled “Getting ‘Techy:’ Can Technology Innovations Transform Microfinance?” Gowdar started out with a story about when he was working in Read more…
Tagged Cell phone banking, CGAP, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Cloud technology, Conference, Expert, George Conrad, Grameen, Grameen Foundation, Intern, John McMahon, Kiva, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity Rwanda, Rural banking, SalesForce, Sarah Rotman, Scott Bellows, Technology
