News Blog
Opportunity Co-Hosts Financial Literacy Conference in Kenya
This week in Nairobi, Opportunity International and The Financial Education Fund (FEF)–which is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID)–are co-sponsoring a Financial Literacy Conference to explore how access to financial services can be facilitated and enhanced through financial education initiatives. The Financial Literacy Conference opened with remarks from Professor Njuguna S. Ndunu’u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, who emphasized that financial literacy not…
Read MoreOur Prayers for the Millions Affected by the Drought in East Africa
For the past two years, a drought has affected East Africa and has placed more than 10 million people at risk. The lack of rain, especially in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, has caused crops to fail, food prices to rise, and cattle to perish, reducing food sources and food security for the people. Unfortunately, there is no immediate end in sight, as rains are not expected in the near future and the harvest season will not occur for several months. In Kenya, it is estimated that 3.5 million people…
Read MoreUpdate: Opportunity DRC in Kinshasa Grows, Expanding Microfinance to More People of the Congo
Opportunity Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) celebrated its grand opening on May 19th in the capital city of Kinshasa. Since Opportunity International‘s arrival in the DRC, we’ve seen marked changes in the lives of the Congolese people. Opportunity DRC is extending much-needed microfinance products in a country where only 1% of the population has access to basic financial services. To date, over 690 Opportunity DRC clients have already received loans to grow their businesses. Two-thirds of…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading: “Rural and Agricultural Finance in the Spotlight at Cracking the Nut Conference”
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 technology as a way to overcome previous obstacles and create opportunities for these populations. Dr. William Jack of Georgetown…
Read MoreStudents of the World (SOW): Ghanaian Agricultural Finance Client Beatrice is a “Lady of the Land”
The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team has just returned from a month-long trip to Ghana to visit Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and document their experiences in dozens of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Facebook page for updates from their trip. The following post, “Lady of the Land,” was published on Wednesday, June 18 about Ghanaian agricultural client Beatrice…
Read MoreCelebrating Independence Day around the World
On Independence Day, Americans celebrate with fireworks, barbeques, and joyous gatherings. We celebrate our “Americanness” whole-heartedly today and believe our national identity is a representation of the freedom that we gained in 1776. With that being said, none of us were alive in 1776! In fact, the majority of us don’t have relatives that were in this country during independence. Yet, our desire to celebrate our love for this country manifests within us because of the freedoms it brought…
Read MoreSpotlight on Educational Microfinance & IDP Rising Schools: Students of the World (SOW) Meets Students & Educators in Ghana
The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team is in Ghana all this month visiting Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and documenting their experiences in a diverse array of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Facebook page for updates from their trip. The following post was co-written by SOW with their Assistant Filmmaker Sarah Stein Lubrano. After arriving in a very lush Kumasi by bus,…
Read MoreDay 4: “Dream Big” – Opportunity Colombia Empowers Young Entrepreneurs, Mothers, Trust Groups & More through Microfinance
The following travel post was written by Jeannette Stewart, a member of the Opportunity International Board of Governors living in Maryland. This week, Jeannette is traveling with her son on the Opportunity Family Week Insight Trip to Colombia. Other Colombia travelers have written posts this week too, catch up on all their adventures by reading their posts here. Teaching Cartagena’s Youth to Dream Big “Dream Big!” hailed Alejandra Sayas as she shared with us her greatest challenges and hopes…
Read MoreDay 3: Striving to Have Enough — Opportunities for Colombian People Through Savings
The following travel post was written by David Gardner, a member of the Opportunity International Board of Governors and co-founder of The Motley Fool, a multimedia financial services company, living in Washington, D.C. with his wife Margaret and their teenage children. The Gardners are traveling right now on the Opportunity Family Week Insight Trip to Colombia. Margaret and daughter Katherine have each also written posts about the trip this week, which you can read here. Vanguard founder Jack Bogle’s…
Read MoreDay 2: Tales of Transformation in a Bogotá Trust Group
The following travel post was written by Margaret Gardner, a member of the Opportunity International Board of Governors living in Washington, D.C. Margaret is currently traveling on the Opportunity Family Week Insight Trip to Colombia with her husband David and their children. Her daughter Katherine wrote a blog post from Day 1 of the trip, which you can read here. The second day of our Colombia Insight Trip we visited the Opportunity offices in Bogotá. There we met the dedicated staff that supports…
Read MoreFilters
-
Categories
- 12 Days of Opportunity
- 50for50
- Africa
- Agricultural finance
- Agriculture
- Announcements and News
- Board of Governors
- Book discussion
- Children
- Clients
- Colombia
- Community
- Education
- Education finance
- Ending Poverty
- Entrepreneurs
- Events
- Financial services
- Ghana
- Global Poverty
- Governors
- Insight Trip
- Insight Trips
- Kenya
- Leadership
- Loans
- MFI
- Malawi
- Microfinance
- Microinsurance
- OIC2011
- Opportunity International
- Opportunity International Microfinance Conference
- OptINnow
- Our Mission and Vision
- Our Work
- Poverty
- Rural Outreach
- Rwanda
- Savings
- Tanzania
- Technology
- Training
- Trust Groups
- Uganda
- Women
- Women's Opportunity Network
- YAO
- Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
- book club
-
Archives
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009