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At Opportunity we aim to empower clients to make wise financial decisions as well as providing them with the services they need to carry them out.
We don’t hand out money to clients on our Trust Group group-lending programme and leave them to sink or swim. Through training, we equip people with the skills they need to give them the best chance of success: business skills, book-keeping and so on.
Now we are looking to extend financial education to other savings and loan clients.
A new pilot has been launched with clients at Opportunity International Bank of Malawi. As clients come into targeted branches and mobile banking units they can view our specially-made financial literacy videos (see photo above), and staff are on hand to answer questions.
Topics covered include the importance and challenges of saving, vision, budgeting, debt and HIV/AIDS awareness and provision.
You can watch an excerpt here.
Clients have been responding positively to the videos.
“I especially liked the piece on budgeting," said a woman queuing in our Lilongwe branch. "I have never done this before. From now on, I will start putting down all my income and expenditures to develop a budget for my household.”
Several customers asked the bank to continue showing videos on various subjects to help customers make proper decisions on financial issues.
In our Malangalanga branch (also in Lilongwe - photo above) one customer said: “I didn’t know that you offer insurance for small businesses. Our businesses are exposed to risks of fire mainly in flea markets yet we are not insured. This is great news to me.”
“The fact that you feature other women who have transformed their lives through this bank is very encouraging to us,” said a business woman. “We are confident that if we work hard, we can also be like them one day.”
Brown Dzatopetsa of Opportunity Malawi said, “I believe Malawi doesn’t need to be poor. Just imagine…if all of us were to have such vision to move our current economic status to a more self-reliant one.”
If successful, we will look to roll out the initiative across Opportunity partners throughout Africa.
Learn more here about how you can help more people in Malawi save, plan for their future and make their own dreams reality. All for just £3.50.
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