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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

Chicago Microfinance Conference: Technology Innovations and the Future of Microfinance

By Cynthia Greenwood on May 10, 2011

At Friday’s Chicago Microfinance Conference at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, I had the opportunity to attend the morning breakout session, “Innovations in Microfinance.” In the past 40 years, the microfinance industry has grown to its current level whereby MFIs are operating in virtually every country. In this dynamic and rapidly growing Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Work, Technology
Tagged 2011 Chicago Microfinance Conference, ATMs, biometric technology, Booth School of Business, CARE, Cell phone banking, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Clients, hub-and-spoke model, Kenya, Malawi, MicroDreams, Microfinance, mobile banking vehicle, mobile phone banking, OIBM, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity Malawi, point-of-sale devices, POS devices, Poverty, Rural banking, Rural Outreach, Rwanda, Satellite bank branch, Savings account, Technology, University of Chicago, Women

“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

Ayekoo! Millennium Villages & Opportunity Expand Microfinance in Rural Ghana

By Diane Ferguson on February 7, 2011

Congratulations (Ayekoo) to the clients of Opportunity Ghana. A Millennium Villages Project (MVP) satellite branch has now opened in the small rural community of Datano. The Datano satellite branch is a small outlet located in Ghana’s western region, in the Amansie West District of Ashanti, west of Accra. The branch is staffed by three employees including Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Training, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged accra, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Clients, Community, Earth Institute, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Loan Officer, Loans, MDG, MDG's, MFI, Microfinance, Millennium Development Goals, Millennium Promise, Millennium Village, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Savings account, Training, Trust Groups, UN Development Programme, Un millennium development goals, UN Millennium Project, United Nations

Habari za Moshi Branch? Latest Update from the YAO Tanzania Reporter

By AJ Renold on January 14, 2011

Habari za Moshi Branch? is a Kiswahili phrase which translates into English as “How is Moshi Branch?” or “What’s the news at Moshi Branch?” The success of the Moshi branch has been a highlight for Opportunity Tanzania in 2010 and I’m excited to share the great news from Tanzania. I’d also like to introduce you Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Trust Groups, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Client Stories, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Jump for Opportunity, Loan Officer, Loans, local staff, MFI, Moshi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Swahili, Tanzania, Trust Group, Trust Groups, Women, Women's Philanthropy, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Servicing Rural Malawi with Expanded Microfinance Services

By Opportunity International on January 13, 2011

Opportunity Malawi is partnering with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to provide access to microfinance services, including agricultural loans, to over 25,000 people living in poverty through 2011. The $350,000 grant from IFAD’s Rural Livelihoods Support Program will help combat hunger and poverty in three rural districts in southern Malawi. In addition, IFAD has Read more…

Posted in Resources, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, agricultural loans, Agriculture, Aleksandr Kalanda, Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, IFAD, IFAD rural poverty report, Impact newsletter, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, OIBM, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Satellite bank branch, Smallholder farmer, Winter 2011 Impact

Opportunity Mozambique Is on a Roll with Three New Mobile Banking Vehicles

By Diane Ferguson on December 20, 2010

Last week, Doug Pond, head of operations for Opportunity Mozambique, announced the Mozambique Central Bank’s approval of our three newest mobile banking vehicles. Opportunity plans to deploy all three mobile banking vehicles in the coming weeks to significantly increase its outreach to families living in Mozambique’s rural villages. With the rollout of its agriculture finance Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Work, Savings, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, ATMs, banco oportunidade de mocambique, Bank Building, Banking on Africa, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, Mozambique, Opportunity International, opportunity mozambique, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Technology

Five Million People in Five Years: Bank-Building in Africa

By Guest Post on December 16, 2010

Last Wednesday, Opportunity staff and supporters gathered for the quarterly conference call hosted by the Board of Governors. The topic was “Bank-Building in Africa” and Opportunity’s Banking on Africa campaign, a discussion led by two of our experts in the International Business Development department: Dennis Ripley, SVP of programs, and Simona Haiduc, VP of program management. Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Board of Governors, Insight Trips, Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Leadership, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, ATMs, Bank Building, Banking on Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clients, Country champion team, Democratic Republic of Congo, Donations, DR Congo, Ending Poverty, Financial services, fundraisers, Fundraising, Gates Foundation, Ghana, Guest Post, Insight Trip, Kenya, Kiosk, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile phone banking, Mozambique, Online fundraising, Opportunity International, OptINnow, point-of-sale devices, POS devices, Poverty, Rwanda, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Smallholder farmer, South Africa, Tanzania, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Uganda, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

News from Africa: New Mobile Banks and Bank Branches for Microfinance Clients in Mozambique

By Opportunity International on September 16, 2010

Great news from Mozambique! Banco Oportunidade de Moçambique is proud to announce the August opening of the Chokwé branch and Chimoio mobile bank. Additionally, Opportunity Mozambique[/intlink] expanded in 2010 with two new hub branch offices, and received approval from both the municipal and Central Bank authorities to open its first container branch office in the Matendene Market. Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Loans, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, banco oportunidade de mocambique, Clients, Community, container banks, diane ferguson, Ending Poverty, Financial services, john deere, john deere foundation, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile branches, Mozambique, Opportunity International, opportunity mozambique, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Technology

#MifiMon: Agricultural Finance–Tapping Into an Untapped Market

By Opportunity International on September 16, 2010

Bimonthly, we hold the Mifi Monday Twitter discussion on a number of topics related to microfinance. Next time, on Monday, Sept. 27, 12-2 p.m. CDT (GMT -5), join our discussion on educational finance, including small-scale educational entrepreneurs, and the impact of educational opportunities on all people, especially women and girls. In last Monday’s #mifimon conversation, we delved into agricultural finance[/intlink], issues Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Technology, Training, Where We Work
Tagged #MifiMon, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, alternative energy, andrew koehler, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Conference, Daryl Skoog, Education, educational finance, electricity, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, local staff, local staffing, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Poverty, power, Satellite bank branch, Schools, solar panels, Students, Technology, the boy who harnessed the wind, Training, Women

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