by Joyce Owusu Dabo
Not many people get to thoroughly enjoy their work whilst positively impacting lives and putting smiles on the faces of entrepreneurs living in poverty. I have worked for almost 16 years at Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans (SASL), one of Opportunity’s microfinance partners. My passion is to see and feel the positive effect my work and company is having on the lives of those living on the fringe of society. I started at SASL as a loan officer, which afforded me the great honor of interacting with many…
Read More
by Opportunity International
Stockholm-based Ceremonies recognize enterprises that demonstrate innovation in financial, social and livelihoods education, inclusion and entrepreneurial support for children and youth worldwide. Opportunity International proudly announces earning the acclaimed Civil Society Achievement Honor at the Children and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Global Inclusion Awards of 2016, held November 28 in Stockholm, Sweden. The CYFI Awards were attended by more than 150 representatives from 45 countries,…
Read More
by Opportunity International
The organisers of the European Microfinance Award have announced that Opportunity Bank of Uganda (OBUL) is among its three finalists for the award, which highlights the work of Microfinance Institutions in enabling access to education for children and/or skill-training for youth and adults to enhance their employment and self-employment opportunities. The Selection Committee for the 7th European Microfinance Award, composed of members of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, European Microfinance…
Read More
by By Nathan Byrd, Head of Education Finance
The following post was originally posted on Edufinance.org and can be found here. In a new third-party analysis of 94 Ugandan schools accessing Opportunity EduFinance loans, the resulting school growth created an average of 18.6 additional jobs within the community. How Schools Expand When a school builds new classrooms, dormitories and other infrastructure, the school requires more staff to manage these facilities including teachers, dorm monitors, security guards, and cooks among others. When a…
Read More
by Opportunity International
In December 2014, Adjoa Andoh presented our Radio 4 appeal as part of our three-month Seeds of Opportunity appeal. An appeal which raised, with gift aid and the UK government match, an amazing £6 million! A year on since the appeal closed – projects in Mozambique and Ghana have been set up to support farming communities with training and loans so that they can move from subsistence to commercial farming. In March this year, Adjoa travelled to the remote communities of Northern Ghana to meet the…
Read More
by Adjoa Andoh
I flew up from the capital Accra, where my father lives, to Tamale in the north on the 6.30am flight. The last time I made this journey was forty years ago, so I was excited. As we stepped down from the plane 45 minutes later the wonderful dry earth smell of the northern Savannah hit me and I knew I was somewhere else now. I was met by the wonderful Isaac Kodjo Gyesi, Head of Agribusiness for Opportunity International Ghana, and George Owusu Ansah, Tamale Branch manager and their drivers. Driving…
Read More
by Terry Watson
I am continually amazed by our clients’ unstoppable energy and resourcefulness. They are determined to give their children a better future than their own, despite many social and economic challenges. Our clients are fuelled by a tenacious ambition to work hard and lift themselves out of poverty. Thanks to you, their ambitions are being realised. In 2015, we provided loans, savings and training to more entrepreneurs and communities than ever before. We expanded into more rural communities and tailored…
Read More
by Opportunity International
Did you hear us on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show yesterday? Nathan Byrd, our Head of Education Finance, and two of our school proprietors’ from Ghana, Comfort and Priscilla Appiah, spoke with Jeremy about the transformative work of our education programme. They discussed how our financial products are improving access to, and quality of, education for many communities living in poverty. Comfort shared her inspiring story – how she has grown her school from three students to over 800 thanks…
Read More
by Opportunity International
More than 70% of people in Africa live in rural areas and rely on the land to provide for their family. The challenge for many is not just to provide a daily meal for their family but to take it a step further and move from subsistence to commercial farming. Our Seeds of Opportunity Appeal sought to highlight this need and raise money to do something about it. By enabling farmers to run more efficient farms and produce a variety of crops, they can then start to sell commercially and begin planning…
Read More
by Helen Plummer
The walls of Martha’s small, cramped living room are covered with graduation photos. Martha, a 57-year-old widow who lives in Bukesa, a poor suburb of Uganda’s capital Kampala, has put eight children through school. She’s also possibly one of Opportunity’s longest serving clients. Through the open door we can hear the combined noise of some 600 chickens in a pen – one of Martha’s two businesses. The second, a small tailoring outfit, is located just along the track outside. For 20 years,…
Read More