News Blog

Carlos Moreno-The Success of Opportunity’s First Microfinance Client

Carlos Moreno was a small business owner selling spices in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, but he knew he needed additional funding in order to grow his business. In 1971, Carlos became Opportunity International’s very first loan client. Today, Carlos says, “My loan helped me expand my business so I could sell 52 different spices, teas and medicinal herbs.” With the loan, he was able to purchase spice dryers and grinders to expand his small factory, and increase his spice crop yields on his farm.…

Meet Ugandan Staff Member Frida Mungoma, Education Finance Manager

This past Monday, just after arriving in the United States, Opportunity Uganda‘s Education Finance Manager Wakhasa Frida Mungoma–known as Frida–sat down with me at the Opportunity-US offices in Oak Brook, Ill. for a discussion of her work, the challenges she faces and the most rewarding aspects of her job. Below, see brief excerpts of my conversation with the soft-spoken, dynamic education finance loan officer. This was just the first stop on Frida’s U.S. visit, which will take her all around…

What We’re Watching: Top 3 Conference Videos on Technology

Check out our top 3 videos on technology from our fall conference in San Francisco–click on the speakers’ names to watch. 1. Steven LevySenior writer at Wired; Author of In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our LivesSteven Levy: “The most prominent leaders in the technology world today believe that the first step in doing the impossible is freeing yourself from the constraint that something can’t be done. What if we thought of ending poverty in that way? When I wrote In the Plex,…

Growing Rural Economies through Agricultural Finance in Africa

In the last decade, Opportunity International embarked on an agricultural finance and rural savings program to spur economic activity and provide enduring resources for smallholder farmers and other rural clients in five African countries, including Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda. Opportunity’s approach is to help farmers move from subsistence growing to cash crop production with agriculture-specific loans, savings accounts, crop insurance, effective fertilizers, drought-resistant…

MicroEnsure’s Richard Leftley Named in Top 40 Under 40 by Devex

Richard Leftley, President & CEO of MicroEnsure, has been named one of London’s top 40 development leaders under 40 by Devex, a social enterprise that offers recruiting and business information services to professionals in international development. Leftley, an expert in microinsurance who has helmed Opportunity’s insurance subsidiary MicroEnsure since 2002, was interviewed by Devex Senior Editorial Associate Eliza Villarino. In “3 Questions for… Richard Leftley: A Microinsurance Visionary,”…

A Call for Sustainable Development on Oct. 17, United Nations Poverty Eradication Day

Today, October 17, is the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and this year’s theme is “From Poverty to Sustainability: People at the Centre of Inclusive Development.” First commemorated in 1987, the IDEP is “an annual opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of people living in poverty and to have their voices heard, recognizing that poor people are at the forefront of the fight against poverty and are critical partners for achieving sustainable development.”…

Breakout Session: Microinsurance: A Powerful Safety Net

Opportunity’s MicroEnsure, the world’s first microinsurance intermediary, provides protection against the many risks faced by those living in poverty. Today, more than 3.2 million clients can fall back on our crop, loan, health, life and property insurance products in times of hardship or disaster. Who’d have thought that getting up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning to listen to someone speak about microinsurance would have been so interesting? In this session, Richard Leftley talked about how…

Conference LiveBlog: Geoffrey Thige, COO of Opportunity Kenya

Geoffrey Thige, the dynamic chief operating officer of Opportunity International Kenya, shares from the conference mainstage all about the work and progress Opportunity Kenya has made, utilizing solutions that include mobile phone banking, microinsurance, financial literacy training and more to help clients build a better life. Highlights from Geoff Thige In Kenya, we have 39 million people, yet only 4 million people have bank accounts. There would need to be 500,000 jobs created to accommdate all…

Breakout Session: Developing the Next Generation of Microfinance Bankers

Breakout Session: Doing Business for the Greater Good

Social entrepreneurs are individuals who bring innovative solutions to the most challenging social issues, offering both ideas and capital in support of wide-scale change. In this breakout session, I got the opportunity to hear from young entrepreneurs whose visionary business models reflect not just the bottom line, but their philanthropic commitment as global citizens to sustainable development. Facilitator: Liesel Pritzker, Founder and Board chair, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity Panelists:Amanda…