Business Intelligence

With your help, Opportunity successfully deployed a full-scale Business Intelligence system at Opportunity Uganda in June 2015. The system includes customized dashboards that pull from the bank’s core banking system and financial system. Following a period of successful pilot launch and testing, the tool is operating successfully. The bank’s management team is implementing the Business Intelligence tool and has achieved positive results, including improved branch and loan officer accountability.

Full rollout in Uganda has successfully demonstrated the value of the dashboards and the potential for significant cost savings that will allow the banks to support the annual maintenance fees and reach sustainability after two years. A strategy for global rollout is being developed based on the learnings.

Tangible Benefits expected over the next five years:

• Growth in Loans
• Growth in Deposits
• Reduction of Risk
• Increase in Staff Efficiency

Expected Intangible Benefits:

• Build Performance Management Culture
• Assist Automated Regulatory Reporting
• Assist Internal Audit and Fraud Tracking
• Assist SPM Usage & Analysis

Field Data Capture

Field Data Capture through Mobile Enterprise OpenSky (mEOS) is one of the primary strategies Opportunity is adopting to improve operational efficiency and remain competitive with innovative delivery mechanisms. mEOS runs on an Android tablet device and offers an offline functions available in the core banking system. mEOS reduces the time and cost Opportunity clients incur by traveling to a branch to conduct financial transactions. Based upon a study conducted in partnership with Opportunity Serbia, Opportunity banks will achieve the following:

• Improved customer service with less paperwork, shorter processing times and faster loan review process
• Increased efficiency of loan officers, supervisors and back office staff, which provides time for more loan disbursements and improved portfolio quality
• Reduction in the cost of serving clients (lower stationary costs, reduced processing time)
• Reduction in potential for fraud due to biometric identification, less manual data entry and better accuracy of client information
• Improved client records, including the ability to collect social performance information to help track the impact of our mission on our clients

Opportunity initially launched mEOS in Ghana, where over 70 loan officers were using the system to collect client information and SPM data. The successful implementation in Ghana prompted a further development of version 2.0, which adds loan applications, additional client data capture and site visit monitoring capabilities. With your help, mEOS version 2.0 went live in Tanzania with over 50 loan officers in October 2015. Following successful implementation by Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity Rwanda and Uganda will implement in Q1 of 2016.

IT Shared Services & IT Academy

Two members of the IT Shared Services team are receiving executive leadership training through the Cranfield Academy’s Leadership Development Program. Paul Bukenya, IT Service Manager, completed the program in the first part of the year and Daniel Oneyi, Applications Support Manager, finished the first of the three sessions in September 2015. The training program equips IT staff with the knowledge, skills and tools to be an effective IT leader, teaching both strategic and operational management. The key objectives of the program are to enhance strategic leadership skills, enabling IT leaders to have a strong personal impact on the business, drive innovation, and ensure the optimization of value generated from IT investments within the organization.

The IT Academy hosted an Electronic Channels training session for nine IT staff in Accra, Ghana in August. The training was attended by staff from Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda and the IT Shares Services team. Opportunity’s global IT Academy has hosted four separate trainings with 40 IT staff trained from among five African Opportunity institutions.

Mobile Money

A technology revolution is underway in the developing world. Increasing numbers of people in Africa, Asia and Latin America are using basic mobile phones to conduct financial transactions that once required a day-long trip to the closest urban area. The global telecommunications operators have rolled out mobile money services. Opportunity is taking a quantum leap in the number of impoverished families we can reach with the transforming power of innovation by implementing cell phone banking across the globe.

Opportunity International has registered 362,547 mobile money customers across Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi and Tanzania. Opportunity Rwanda initiated a partnership with Tigo in April 2015 to provide Tigo customers with a high-yield savings account resulting in nearly 80,000 new accounts.

Opportunity Malawi now conducts three-quarters of its transactions through digital delivery channels, encouraging other Opportunity financial institutions to increase their percentage of transactions conducted through digital channels which has proven more efficient and cost effective than through traditional brick-and-mortar banking. Opportunity Tanzania uses Mobile Money for 100% of its loan disbursements and repayments for farmers situated in the country’s lush agriculture belt called the SAGCOT region.

In September, Opportunity held a Mobile Money conference in Kigali, Rwanda to share learnings and plan next steps regarding digital financial services and mobile banking.

Africa

Liesel, over the years, you have shown a tremendous heart for impoverished African entrepreneurs. Your lifetime impact on the continent is staggering. Now in its second year, Opportunity’s Africa Growth and Innovations Initiative aims to provide poor rural families and communities in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania with access to high-impact financial services. The initiative is:

• Driving increased savings outreach via low-cost micro branches and mobile banking
• Expanding financial services to smallholder farmers and their communities in high potential crops to increase productivity, income and food security
• Innovating a mobile banking model to serve farmers in Tanzania
• Providing education finance to increase access to quality education in the poorest communities
• Delivering wider, more convenient access to financial services through MIS and training

Key milestones for the select African banks, as of September 30, 2015, include:

• Number of savings accounts: 1.75 million, 852,100 of which are rural
• Number of loans outstanding: 188,938, of which 91,549 are to rural families
• Number of School Improvement loans disbursed YTD 455
• Number of School Fee loans disbursed YTD: 11,828
• Cumulative number of microbranches: 487
• Number of registered mobile money customers: 362,547

2015 has been a year of risk mitigation and tempered growth for Opportunity’s Africa institutions. The banks have achieved significant progress toward developing more robust risk management which will have long-term benefit as we strengthen the institutions for quality growth. The past year was also focused on technology systems as we worked to bring the banks to model bank status. The adoption of model bank is a stepping stone for launching integrated services that will help the institutions reach clients in more cost-effective, secure and reliable ways, and to measure business performance on a daily basis using robust business intelligence systems. Opportunity banks continue to strengthen their systems while they return their focus to outreach and portfolio growth to drive operational sustainability.

Agriculture Finance

Agriculture finance continues to be a core strength of Opportunity banks, with continual product innovations to meet market demands. By the end of Q3 2015, Opportunity disbursed 91,549 agriculture loans this year. Rwanda’s agriculture portfolio continues to grow and the team plans to expand to new regions. In Ghana, OISL is diversifying its portfolio beyond cocoa and Malawi’s agriculture portfolio has matured with significant improvement over the prior season.

Education Finance in Africa and Beyond

SINCE 2007, OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL HAS IMPACTED 1.44 MILLION KIDS ACROSS THE GLOBE!

NATHAN BYRD, HEAD OF EDUCATION FINANCE: Scaling for massive impact

Liesel, let me express my deep gratitude for your support. Our vision is all about scale. We currently operate the initiative in ten countries where we have learned a great deal about what it takes for the affordable private school sector to scale up and truly make an impactful and lasting difference to children’s lives across the globe. We know how to lend well in the education space and we know how to gain and keep the trust of school owners.

Today, our rigorously tested and replicable model delivers financially sustainable products and services that schools demand, and moving forward, we will utilize that channel to encourage, incent, and monitor participative innovation, mutual accountability, and change-embracing leadership at developing schools who need it most.

Now it’s time for scale. Massive scale for massive impact in outreach, development and quality. The path is broad and it will take time, but together, we will achieve large-scale progress:

• Data into packaged knowledge and strategy: Data is available on an unprecedented scale and yet most developing countries lack the ability to track and analyze learnings accurately. When schools can’t access good information and use it effectively it creates a gap and hampers decision-making. Our school assessment process, based in best-practice framework from world-leading educationalists, will enhance schools' decision-making ability and target prioritized growth and development.
• New market expansion, combining social impact capital with our history of success, will bring new lending partners to bear while allowing us to expand to new markets. With donor support for technical assistance and entry into these new markets, the donor investment that it takes to open new markets will allow us to scale larger and deeper than ever before.
• Packaged best-in-class services to support school growth and quality development include: school assessment, leadership-driven proprietor training, teacher networking to encourage innovation in structured groups through which training can be consistently delivered and digitally-integrated best practice discussions through a communities-of-practice approach.
• Partnerships: Education is everybody’s issue and requires all hands on deck. We have no desire to be jack-of-all-trades, and instead will focus on growing our core expertise and using this magnet and our existing channel to attract world-class partners within their core competency areas to multiply our impact.

School Improvement loans: Funding entrepreneurs who achieve community-wide impact.

Redefining Education in the Developing World

School Improvement loans: Funding entrepreneurs who achieve community-wide impact

Opportunity’s School Improvement loans, combined with training, have cumulatively empowered 2,875 school proprietors to positively impact 718,750 kids, up 19% over the past six months.

When schools like Kasubi School of Kampala, Uganda grow they create ripples of opportunity for students, families, school staff and entire communities through quality education and job creation.

• Tanzania & Rwanda achieved marked growth in outreach to new schools since early in 2015, growing 53% and 36% respectively in the number of current schools that are investing School Improvement loans
• One year ago, we welcomed Opportunity Tanzania into the program and launched the program in Colombia, laying the groundwork for increased outreach in the future.

We are equipping proprietors and teachers to step up the fight against poverty.

Since the launch of the Education Finance Initiative, 2,202 proprietors have been trained. Opportunity also works to help teachers improve education quality.

Teacher training curriculum also covered the critical roles of teachers to:

• Act as role models, especially to girl students.
• Support formation and sustainability of social enterprises in their schools.
• Mobilize parents for awareness meetings about getting and keeping girls in school.

“I pledge to send my daughter to school!”

Opportunity Uganda conducted 14 awareness meetings this summer in Wakiso and Jinja where Opportunity funds 14 schools. The meetings were attended by 802 parents who learned about the factors that affect girl child education within their communities. Each meeting closed with the parents unanimously agreeing to sign a commitment in the Parents Handbook, pledging to enroll their daughters in school and encourage their attendance and graduation.

High Impact Education Finance Products: Savings and insurance ensure a bright future

• Opportunity innovates to protect children’s futures through EduSave – a free, incentive-based school fee insurance linked to savings accounts. At the end of August, 128,035 clients qualified for EduSave, protecting the future education of 397,620 kids across Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Colombia, representing a 9% growth from February. As savings balances grow, insurance value grows, enabling kids to stay in school in case of parental death or disability.
• Opportunity Ghana, Rwanda, Philippines and Colombia offer Tertiary tuition loans to provide financial pathways for college- and trade-school-bound youth. At the end of August, 2,563 youth were using Tertiary loans to equip themselves for improved future employability and higher earnings potential.
• Children living in generational poverty need more than academic knowledge to break free from the relentless cycle. Since February 2015, Opportunity more than doubled the number of students participating in a Youth Financial Literacy program to 15,900 across 266 schools. Curriculum includes practical skills, problem solving and teamwork.

Education Success Story: Christine Margret Ajulo - “Girls are the country’s hope!”

On asking George about barriers to girls’ education, he expressed that public schools mix mature girls with younger girls studying at the same grade level, making the older girls feel ashamed to stay in school. According to George, “I advise parents to use School Fee loans to enroll their children in schools where girls can board or stay for meals, ensuring their nutrition, safety and focus. When the distance from home is long, these schools safely transport them. This will keep our daughters in school.” Christine says, “I advise my friends and their parents to educate their daughters because they are the country’s hope!”

You helped us increase our reach to 13 million people!
As of 6/30/2015, 13 million unique clients spanning 28 countries are using an Opportunity loan, savings account and/or insurance policy to improve their lives and protect their futures.

8.9 million people have peace of mind through the protection of insurance
via insurance partners at Opportunity institutions or through MicroEnsure, covering 12.4 million lives as of 6/30/2015.

You empowered women and families — 94% of Opportunity’s loans are made to women!
As of 6/30/2015, 3.45 million women are focused on improving life quality for their families and driving economic growth within their communities through job creation.

• In the first half of 2015, 30,000 new Trust Groups formed to provide new hope in poor communities.
• 2.6 million African families living in rural areas received loans to boost agricultural-based businesses, including farms.

You helped 4.5 million marginalized families build safety nets for the future with savings accounts. In the first half of 2015, Opportunity increased its overall number of clients using savings accounts by 9% to 4.5 million.

• Opportunity DR Congo doubled its outreach to 7,669 savers, up from 3,534 at the end of 2014.
• In Ghana, rural families hold 232,666 savings accounts, representing 40% of the bank’s 581,665 clients with savings as of 06/30/2015.
• 2.45 million Indian entrepreneurs like snack shop owner Babita, pictured above, are saving via loan officers who facilitate deposits through local bank partnerships, a 13% growth since 2014 year-end.
• Additional institutions that increased their savings outreach in double-digit percentages include: Opportunity Uganda, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Serbia and Indonesia.

You are creating jobs for 13.8 million marginalized people!

20 million jobs by 2020. Together, with our supporters, Opportunity International aims to help create and sustain 20 million jobs by 2020. Opportunity International is on track to meet the goal with 13.8 million jobs created and sustained since our inception in 1971.

Business growth = jobs created. When entrepreneurs like Francisco and Fidel Aleman of Nicaragua, pictured left, use loans to expand their business, the result is the need for more labor. Since partnering with Opportunity to grow their wood crafts operation, they have hired three neighbors, and the brothers say, “This is just the start.”

Measurable impact. Opportunity International’s Social Performance Management program collects data on the number of jobs that our clients create for other people in the community. Job creation is not just a sign of success for the client; jobs created mean improved livelihoods for the whole community, which is an indicator of growth and transformation.

You are innovating to transform lives, sustainably & creatively

Opportunity revolutionized our delivery of financial services. Capital alone will not help our clients flourish. In more than four decades of serving marginalized entrerpeneurs, our innovative spirit has driven us to meet the unique needs of our clients. A few highlights include:

• A technology revolution is underway in the developing world where 300,000 Opportunity clients are accessing their accounts via basic cellphones — saving costly travel to the closest urban branch.
• We partner with Healing Fields to deliver healthcare to our clients in India. Today, 3,000 women have qualified as Community Health Leaders and have, in-turn, trained 290,920 families in preventive healthcare. We just launched the pilot in Indonesia.
• In Indonesia, we contributed to 7,000 water supply systems, installed 10,130 toilets and rehabilitated 125 wells, reducing serious illnesses through improved water quality and sanitation.
• Opportunity Philippines partners with Twothirds Water Inc. to provide 2,000 clients with filters and training to ensure safe drinking water for their families.