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© 2025 Opportunity InternationalOpportunity International United Kingdom is registered as a charity in England and Wales (1107713) and in Scotland (SCO39692).

The Power of Savings Groups

by Pete Parisetti

Last week I attended the Power of Savings Groups SEEP Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.  There were an impressive 460 participants. A good 80% of them were non-Western, and, of them, at least 50% were women. This triggered the personal reflection of how far the pendulum of local ownership has swung. Perhaps it has always been like that in development, but up to a decade ago in emergency aid proportions were essentially reversed.  It was great to see. Two main themes cut across all the proceedings.…

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A Spirit of Opportunity in the DRC

by Opportunity International

Our 2013 Spirit of Opportunity Christmas appeal raised valuable funds for a four-year project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  The project, in partnership with the UK Government’s Department for International Development, set out to expand our reach to people living in one of the poorest countries in the world.  Only 12% of people own a bank account in the DRC.  It is a fragile country with a delicate political and financial infrastructure.  Despite these challenges the project…

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Empowering Communities

by Cliff Hampton

Empowerment is at the heart of Opportunity International. When a person is empowered a whole community can be lifted out of poverty.  It is a catalyst for change. Our clients are strong, hard-working and determined.  I saw that for myself on a recent trip to Ghana.  Here, I met ambitious women and men who are turning their lives around.  With a loan and training they were given the opportunity to take control and improve their livelihoods.  At an individual and community level they are now thriving…

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A week in the Pearl of Africa

by Hope Carpenter, Opportunity International UK Intern

At the end of March I was fortunate enough to visit Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. After 2 months of remote Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) support, I travelled to oversee the first week of a study assessing the impact of Opportunity International’s (OI) Education Finance Project, supporting 132 schools across the country. I experienced firsthand the challenges facing primary research in hard-to-reach communities. Churchill described the forests of Uganda as “more luxuriant than…

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Microfinance and Child Protection can – and do – work together!

by Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan is Opportunity International’s Child Protection expert. She joined Opportunity UK in 2015 after eight years with Save the Children in Laos. Sarah has been advising Opportunity EduFinance on best practice and policy for Child Protection; in particular, our Education Quality field operations teams, the schools they work with, and some of our MFI partners. Sarah shares her recent experience of running Child Protection training in Uganda: “Earlier this year I was excited to be working…

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Ensuring Inclusive and Quality Education for All through sustainable, high-quality private schools

by Allison Kooser

Following the announcement of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the debate continues regarding the role of public and private education in the developing world. With unquestioning agreement regarding the importance of education, scholars and practitioners are deliberating the minutiae of how to impact today’s young people – and how to do so cost-effectively, sustainably and well. It’s a debate that can immediately get complicated and lost in the weeds of policy and opinion. Within…

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Opportunity's Education programme creates new jobs too

by Opportunity International

Schools, parents, and children are not the only ones to benefit from Opportunity International’s education microfinance programmes, new research has confirmed. Opportunity EduFinance’s investments into affordable schooling also generate jobs, boost local economies, and slow the exodus of a community’s professionals to big cities somewhere else.  “We have always maintained that investment into education is one of the best routes out of poverty,” said Nathan Byrd, who manages Opportunity’s…

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A bumper harvest

by Opportunity International

Three years ago we launched a Seeds of Opportunity Appeal – highlighting both the huge needs and potential of farmers in Africa.   We were overwhelmed by your generosity.  In just three months, with the UK government’s match funding, we raised £6million! That money has been put to work and is changing lives.  YOUR generosity has provided much needed loans, savings accounts and training to thousands of women and men across Africa.  One of the projects funded by the appeal specifically supported…

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Impact Investors face $39bn Opportunity in Education Microfinance

by Faye Ruck-Nightingale

Education offers impact investors some of the best opportunities for financial and social returns, with the market for education microloans worth US$39 billion across 33 countries, according to recent analysis by Opportunity International's Education Finance (Opportunity EduFinance).  Building on studies with partner organisations, Opportunity EduFinance worked with a strategy consultant, using desktop research and the latest available data from UNESCO, the Economist, and Mix Market. “Education…

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Sharing big data so others can invest in Education

by Faye Ruck-Nightingale

Millions more children could end up getting an education, when Opportunity International's EduFinance Group shares its experience and data on education microfinance, enabling others to invest in education. With 263 million children out of school, banks and other financial institutions have been reluctant to lend into developing countries’ education because – in their view – of the small margins and high risks. But with backing from philanthropists, donors, and impact investors, Opportunity’s…

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