Blog Archives

LiveBlog: Chicago Microfinance Conference-A Closing “Fireside” Chat with Premal Shah of Kiva

By Opportunity International on May 6, 2011

In closing at today’s Chicago Microfinance Conference, Premal Shah, president of Kiva, sits down for a Q & A keynote with Marc J. Lane, founder & president of Marc J. Lane Wealth Group. Shah shares the story of how he moved from PayPal to help grow the nascent Kiva with Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley, and discussedthe growth, Read more…

LiveBlog: Chicago Microfinance Conference-”Does Microfinance Really Work? – Measuring Social Performance of MFIs”

By Opportunity International on May 6, 2011

At this first breakout session of today’s conference, moderator Kathleen Odell, assistant professor of economics at the Dominican University Brennan School of Business, leads a panel of academics and microfinance professionals to explore and debate the benefits of microfinance to effectively help people escape poverty. The panel discusses the actual impact of microfinance–and whether such Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Resources, Savings
Tagged 2011 Chicago Microfinance Conference, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Dominican University, Economics, Ending Poverty, Financial services, FINCA, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, northwestern university, Poverty, Savings, Twitter, UCLA, World Bank

The MasterCard Foundation on Opportunity Ghana’s Agricultural Microfinance Initiatives and Diversification for Smallholder Farmers

By Guest Post on April 21, 2011

The following post was written by Reeta Roy, President & CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, and was published on The MasterCard Foundation blog on Wednesday, April 13, entitled “Financial Services and Diversification for Small-Holder Farmers.” Roy traveled to Ghana with Rewa Misra, Program Manager of Microfinance for The MasterCard Foundation, and Jannalee Anderson, National Director Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, What We're Reading
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clients, cocoa, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Gates Foundation, Ghana, Global Poverty, Guest Post, Jump for Opportunity, Loans, MasterCard Foundation, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity Canada, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings, Smallholder farmer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, Trust Groups

What We’re Reading: “How Small Loans Are Pulling Kenyans Out of Poverty Trap”

By Opportunity International on April 6, 2011

Kenya’s Daily Nation posted a piece this weekend that applauded microfinance institutions for offering financial solutions that reach more Kenyan people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. The article praises microfinance for helping to alleviate poverty in the developing world. The microfinance model has proved to be ”a potent tool for increasing access to finance, expanding production and opening Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology, Training, Trust Groups, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, ATMs, Banking, Cell phone banking, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial Access, Financial services, Global Poverty, Kenya, Loans, M-PESA, MFI, Microfinance, mobile phone banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, point-of-sale devices, Poverty, Rural banking, Savings, Technology, Training, Trust Groups

What We’re Watching: Meet Alice Norah Lajwa, Emerging Leader from Opportunity Uganda

By Opportunity International on April 2, 2011

Banking on Women: Alice Norah Lajwa from Opportunity International on Vimeo. Alice Norah Lajwa of Opportunity Uganda is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Emerging Leaders Program. Alice says, “What I’ve learned in this program will help me transform the lives of my women clients. [...] I try to encourage women to save. Read more…

Posted in Local Staffing, Strategic Partners, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 10k Women, Africa, Banking on Women, Clients, Community, create change, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, Loan Officer, local staff, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Professional training, Savings, Training, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Half the World’s LDCs Can Emerge from Poverty, Says a New UN Report

By Opportunity International on March 31, 2011

On Tuesday, March 29, the United Nations issued a report, summarized at un.org under the title “Half of world’s poorest countries can escape poverty by 2020.” According to the report, which was produced by the Group of Eminent Persons appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, half the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs) can “graduate” out of Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Our Mission and Vision
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Ban Ki-moon, Children, Clients, Conference, Economic development, Education, Ending Poverty, Events, Financial services, Istanbul, LDC, LDC Conference, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, School fee loans, School Proprietor Loans, Schools, small business loans, Turkey, UN, UN Report, UN Secretary-General, UNDP, United Nations, United Nations Development Programme

What We’re Reading: Portfolios of the Poor

By Emily Riemer on March 23, 2011

Always eager to read and discuss the most interesting inspirations and challenges around microfinance, staff members at Opportunity-US held a book discussion last week on Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day (Princeton University Press, 2009) by Collins, Morduch, Rutherford and Ruthven. The book is a detailed study of financial diaries collected Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Resources, What We're Reading
Tagged Bangladesh, Book discussion, Client Stories, Clients, Daryl Collins, Ending Poverty, Financial Access, Financial services, India, Loans, merry-go-rounds, MFI, Microfinance, microsavings, Opportunity International, Opportunity-US, Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Poverty, ROSCAs, Ruth-Anne Renaud, Savings, Savings account, South Africa, what we're reading

“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

Caterpillar Foundation Extends Corporate Giving Challenge, New $1M Match in 2011 to Reach More with Microfinance

By Opportunity International on February 19, 2011

This week, Opportunity International and the Caterpillar Foundation, the charitable arm of global equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., announced the successful culmination of its 2010 Corporate Giving Challenge raising $2 million in total donations. The Foundation also announced a new pledge to match an additional $1 million in new business and corporate donations to Opportunity in 2011. These Read more…

Posted in Events, Strategic Partners
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, Banking on Africa, Caterpillar Foundation, Caterpillar Inc., Caterpillar match, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Savings, strategic partners, Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda, Will Ball

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

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