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News Blog

Stand Up For Africa’s Farmers

by Opportunity International

When times are tough, it’s important to stay focused on what matters to you. At Opportunity, we remain focused on delivering microfinance services that make a real impact on our clients living in very difficult economic situations. In particular, our agricultural finance programs in Africa enable smallholder farmers to pay their bills throughout the growing season, helping them avoid short-selling crops for less than their value just to make ends meet until the harvest. Ways you can help:…

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SEEP Conference Breakfast Workshop, “E-Banking with Agent Networks”

by Opportunity International

The 25th Annual SEEP Conference ended Friday after five days of sessions for microenterprise practitioners to learn and connect on the challenges and opportunities faced by microfinance institutions and policymakers. The breakfast workshop co-hosted by Opportunity and the Omidyar Network. From left to right: Daryl Skoog (at podium), Diana Cazacu (seated), and Gino Picasso (seated right). A number of Opportunity staff were at the Arlington, Va. conference, including SVP of technology Daryl Skoog,…

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Does Microfinance Reduce Poverty? Grameen Hosts a Chicago Event

by Opportunity International

On Monday at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago, Grameen Foundation hosted a lunchtime discussion called, “Does microfinance reduce poverty? A dialogue on the social impact of microfinance as a development tool.” This event aimed to answer this challenge: microcredit has been successful in increasing access to capital by the poor but does it actually reduce poverty for the people it intends to help? Leading experts discussed the value of microcredit as a tool for poverty eradication and Grameen…

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SEEP Conference: “Panel Explores Tools to Help Manage Funding Risk in Current Economic Climate”

by Eric Meyer

The following post was published on the USAID‘s Microlinks blog today, Thursday, Nov. 4. It was written by Eric Meyer, Opportunity’s agricultural finance manager, who is guest blogging about the 2010 Annual SEEP Conference in Arlington, Va. this week for Microlinks. Click hereto see the original post. The 25th Annual SEEP Conference takes place this week, Monday, Nov. 1-Friday, Nov. 5, in Arlington, Va. When the global financial crisis hit in late 2008, manymicrofinance institutions (MFIs)…

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SEEP Conference: “Newspaper Headline Risk for MFIs-Transparency in Interest Rates and Returns”

by Opportunity International

The following post was published on the USAID‘s Microlinks blog on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010. It was written by Eric Meyer, Opportunity’s agricultural finance manager, who is guest blogging about the 2010 Annual SEEP Conference in Arlington, Va. this week for Microlinks. Click hereto see the original post. The microfinance industry in India has gotten some heat in the press lately. According to theWall Street Journal, in recent months local politicians in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh…

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What We're Reading and Discussing: Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo

by Opportunity International

Every Wednesday, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We feature works that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the piece we’ve highlighted. The following post by Allison Bearden, an Opportunity intern in our Resource Development department, reflects on Dambiso Moyo’s bookDead Aid. As Allison reveals, Moyo…

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SEEP Conference: “Our Best Thoughts Come from Others”

by Eric Meyer

The following post was originally published on the USAID‘s new Microlinks blog on Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. It was written by Eric Meyer, Opportunity’s agricultural finance manager, who is guest blogging about the 2010 Annual SEEP Conference in Arlington, Va. this week  forMicrolinks. Click here to see the original post. Ralph Waldo Emerson once quipped that “our best thoughts come from others.” Despite the fact that I have already committed a personal pet peeve by leading with a quote,…

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Event: Connecting and Inspiring Microfinance Professionals at the 25th Anniversary of the SEEP Conference

by Opportunity International

All this week, the 2010 SEEP Conference will be taking place in Arlington, Va. The annual conference is a forum for microenterprise development practitioners from around the globe to connect on the challenges and opportunities they face. Opportunity International is an associate partner at the conference, which is supported and attended by microenterprise practitioners, policy makers and funders working in the sector, such as USAID, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, CGAP, and more. A number of…

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Educational Entrepreneurs, Bringing Schools to the Underserved

by Janelle Lassonde

Education is one of the most vital development tools for individuals and countries. Through the Banking on Education initiative, we’ve disbursed over 450 loans to educational entrepreneurs operating private schools in underserved neighborhoods in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and India. As part of this initiative, Opportunity also partners with the IDP Foundation Rising Schools Program, which is pioneering a sustainable education model that combines financial and non-financial…

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CGAP Report: Mobile Phone Banking Effectively Reaches the Unbanked

by Opportunity International

CGAP Technology Blog posted a report yesterday on the effectiveness of “branchless banking” (mobile phone banking) in seven countries, with eight high profile m-banking providers, including M-PESA in Kenya and Tanzania. Among the highlights: 37% of active clients now in the formal financial system through mobile phone banking were previously unbanked… Mobile phone banking is scaling faster than MFIs. This means that mobile phones will be an integral part of the future of banking in the…

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