Opportunity International is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
that is working to end global poverty by creating and sustaining jobs. Through a network of 47 program and support partners, Opportunity provides
small business
Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
loans
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
,
savings
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
,
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
and
training
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...
to more than 14 million people in the
developing world
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
. It has clients in more than 20 countries and works with fundraising partners in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. Opportunity International has
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
status as a tax-exempt charitable organization in the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
under the US
Internal Revenue Code
The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 ...
(Employer Identification Number: 54-0907624).
History
In 1971,
Al Whittaker
Al Whittaker (1918 – September 27, 2006) founded the non-profit organization Opportunity International and helped to popularize microcredit lending.
In 1971, Whittaker left his job as president of Bristol Myers to found the Institute for Inte ...
left his job as president of
Bristol Myers International Corporation in America to found the Institute for International Development Incorporated (IIDI), a micro-enterprise organization. Barry Harper, IIDI's first Executive Director, and development officer Dan Swanson together oversaw establishment of IDII offices in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
Australian philanthropist
David Bussau founded Maranatha Trust and began administering loans in Indonesia in 1977. In 1979, he joined IDII as the director of the Indonesia office and began expanding IDII's work in Asia.
In 1988, the two merged their efforts under the name Opportunity International. Since that time, the organization has continued to grow.
In 1991, a group of women supporting Opportunity International called the Women's Opportunity Network created a group-lending methodology called the Trust Group in which groups would be responsible for their peers and hold them accountable for repayment. Opportunity began testing this group lending and Trust Group method in the Philippines in 1992, and in the same year, they began to focus on serving entrepreneurs at even more extreme levels of poverty.
Realizing that no one group can tackle the issues of poverty alone, Opportunity began developing partners - independent, self-governing organizations with similar motivations - in countries and regions around the world. In 1998, Opportunity formalized these partnerships into the Opportunity International Network - a group of partners that now includes 47 entities in over 20 countries.
In 2000, Opportunity began building a series of permanent and mobile banks to reach more remote areas of countries and attempt to serve those that had previously lacked access to financial services. These formal financial institutions (FFIs) took the form of commercial banks, development banks or credit unions that could accept deposits, borrow money and/or accept investments.
In 2002, Opportunity International developed and founded
MicroEnsure, a microinsurance entity providing weather-indexed crop insurance, affordable health insurance, and protection against other risks. MicroEnsure was the world's first microinsurance intermediary and received a generous grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
in 2008. MicroEnsure spun off from Opportunity as its own company, and in 2013 it became a for-profit social enterprise.
On January 24, 2006, David Bussau gave the 10th Australia Day Address with the subject "A Giving Nation." And in January 2008, David Bussau was named Senior Australian of the Year 2008 for his work in the fight against global poverty.
Al Whittaker died in 2006.
Opportunity was founded as and remains a non-denominational
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
organization that serves all its clients regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender.
In 2017, Opportunity International's operation in Malawi was sold to southern African banking group
FMB Capital.
Annual report
How opportunity works
Trust groups
Like many microfinance organizations, Opportunity often lends to clients through group lending. At Opportunity, these lending groups are called Trust Groups and consist of 10 to 30
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
s who pledge to guarantee each other's loans. The groups meet regularly to share personal and business advice, receive financial training and vote on loan-related topics.
Trust Groups are designed to build a safety net by guaranteeing each other's
loans
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
- if one member defaults on a weekly payment, everyone else must cover the costs. The idea is that the group guarantee replaces the need for
collateral
Collateral may refer to:
Business and finance
* Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan
* Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Collate ...
, so that credit becomes available to those previously excluded from formal financial services.
Each week, as Trust Groups gather to repay their loans, Opportunity provides educational sessions to develop business skills and enhance personal growth.
The efficacy of group lending has been debated since it was first introduced by the
Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank ( bn, গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requi ...
in the 1970s. As MFIs have become more advanced and increased their scale, it has become less costly for them to monitor borrowers, allowing them to be less reliant on group lending and peer enforcement. According to
JPAL, there is little evidence on the relative impacts of individual lending versus group lending on household consumption, income and enterprise creation.
Local staffing
Today, Opportunity recruits and develops staff from the countries it serves. Its global team has grown to 23,000 employees, 99% of whom are nationals, with over 10,000 loan officers working directly with
microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
clients.
Technology
Over the last 10 years, Opportunity has invested more than $20 million in electronic and mobile technology to reduce transaction costs and bring services to the most marginalized and remote people. Satellite branches and mobile banks reach clients in previously unserved areas, like rural farming villages and sprawling urban markets.
Biometric technology provides convenient and secure access to finances, even for those who are illiterate or lack formal identification. Convenient
ATMs and
point-of-sale
The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoic ...
(POS) devices offer the only safe method for transactions in many markets and allow clients to make transactions near home, thereby reducing transportation costs, improving their productivity and increasing the safety of their savings deposits. Over half of the developing world's population uses cell phones. Opportunity's banking programs enable clients to repay loans or transfer funds in Opportunity savings accounts from their mobile device. Cell phone technology gives clients in remote locations access to their accounts.
Opportunity's investment in mobile technology parallels a larger trend in the industry to utilize technology to improve microfinance and development initiatives. Mobile money, in particular, is transforming microfinance and banking around the world. In 2013, the total value of transactions made by mobile phones in Kenya was $24 billion - more than half the country's GDP.
Challenges of mobile money include security concerns and questions around regulation. As The Guardian notes, cooperation between the technology, policy and NGO communities will be critical moving forward.
Investing in women
According to UN Women, women make up 60% of the chronically hungry, more than two thirds of the world's illiterate population and receive lower wages for the same work. Opportunity focuses its services, including loans, savings accounts, insurance, training and financial access, on women - providing 95 of their loans to women. Research shows that women are far more likely to reinvest their earnings in their homes and families, extending the benefit of these services to the entire family. Studies suggest that women reinvest 90% of their income back into their families.
Initiatives
Education finance
Opportunity EduFinance is a global program partner of Opportunity International, launched in 2007 and based in London UK.
More than 124 million children and adolescents around the world, half of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa, have never started school or have already dropped out.
Opportunity invests in parents and educators to help children go to school and receive a high quality education. Opportunity's EduFinance tools include:
* School Improvement Loans - loans to school proprietors to help them build classrooms, install running water or bathrooms, or make other structural, resource or staff improvements to their facilities.
* School Fee Loans - loans to parents to help them pay school fees for their children on time that they can then pay back over the course of the semester.
* EduSave Insurance - a program that covers children's school fees in the event of a death or illness of a child's guardian.
Alongside financial tools, Opportunity supports educators with other tools and programs including:
* Education clusters - groups of leaders from up to a dozen schools that facilitate collaboration, group problem-solving and sharing of best practices.
* School Assessments - helping school proprietors understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as determining a clearly defined roadmap for improvements.
* OPENeducator - a web-based resource center offering educators around the world training tools and a global community of support.
Opportunity has reached 1.7 million children and distributed $69M in education loans since 2009.
In October 2016, Opportunity announced that it received a $1 million grant to expand EduFinance from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In November 2016, Opportunity International won the Civil Society Achievement Honor at the Children and Youth Finance International Global Inclusion Awards 2016.
Agriculture finance
One in four Africans - about 260 million people - suffer from hunger. Many of them are farmers operating at just 40 percent of their capacity. Farmers in the developing world face many challenges including: limited access to financial resources, high-quality farm inputs, markets and technical assistance and practicing side-selling to cover seasonal cash flows.
To address these and other challenges, Opportunity International has introduced the following programs, tools and initiatives:
* Agricultural loans - using high-tech, low-cost banking solutions to deliver financial resources to rural farming communities.
* Access to better resources - linking farmers to suppliers with high-quality seeds and fertilizers, and negotiating competitive pricing for farmers.
* Agricultural Training - partnering with agricultural experts to deliver crop-specific training and assistance in good farming practices.
* Savings accounts - empowering farmers to open savings accounts during harvest season to save profits for financial protection in between harvests, so they have money to meet basic needs.
* Access to better crop markets - linking farmers to the best crop buyers where they can take advantage of better market prices.
Agricultural lending is unique from traditional microfinance because the needs of farmers are unique. Research shows that client-centric, responsive approaches have enabled some MFIs to adapt to the needs of farm households and seasonal agricultures. Branchless banking and mobile money have also aided in advancing agricultural finance in rural communities.
Partnership model
Opportunity works through local program partners to better understand and meet the needs of families they serve.
Local partners must share Opportunity's values and objectives. Their stated requirements for partners are:
* A primary objective of helping people out of poverty
* Work in the poorest, largely unserved regions wherever possible
* Operate within a market that exhibits a relevant gap, with conditions that are favorable for microfinance
* Sound strategies that show their continued intent to help people out of poverty
* A demonstrated commitment to meeting people's needs and having an impact
They also look for partners with:
* Excellent, inspiring leadership
* Strong risk management and governance
* A solid operating platform and capable staff
* Good financial performance and an ability to manage significant growth
* Comprehensive business plans and projections underpinning a sound future
* A history of financial self-sufficiency of, for start-ups, a forecast to be so within two years
Where opportunity works
About the Opportunity Network
The Opportunity Network is made up of 47 organizations, 39 of which are
microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
institutions (program partners) operating in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia and Latin America. These program partners provide loans and other support directly to families in need. Funds to support the work of program partners are raised through support partners operating in various countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the USA. These funds are provided to program partners as either equity, loans or grants. While program and support partners have close relationships, each operates as an independent legal entity. No program or support partner acts as agent for any other program or support partner, nor has authority to bind any other program or support partner. Opportunity International was the first organization to approach microfinance using a microfinance network.
List of partner countries
Africa
Opportunity serves clients in the following countries in Africa:
*
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
*
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
*
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
*
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
*
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
*
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
*
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...](_blank)
*
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
*
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
Asia
Opportunity serves clients in the following countries in Asia:
*
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
*
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
*
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
*
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
*
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
*
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
Eastern Europe
Opportunity serves clients in the following countries in Eastern Europe:
*
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
*
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
*
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
Latin America
Opportunity serves clients in the following countries in Latin America:
*
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
*
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
*
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
*
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
*
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
List of Support Countries
Opportunity partners raise support in the following countries:
United States
In 2016,
Atul Tandon
Atul Tandon (born 1 October 1959) is a nonprofit executive, entrepreneur, humanitarian and author.
From the Daryaganj to Wall Street
Tandon moved to the United States in 1992. He played a role in turning around Citi's West Coast busines ...
joined Opportunity International as the US CEO. Global CEO
Vicki Escarra joined Opportunity in 2012 and served as US CEO before becoming Global CEO.
[''Vicki Escarra Named CEO of Opportunity International''](_blank)
PR News Wire (July 16, 2012)
Australia
Opportunity International Australia Limited is a part of the global Opportunity International Network. Opportunity International Australia Limited was registered as a charity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission in January 1989.
Opportunity International Australia also provides support services to its loan recipients such as business training, financial literacy training and community development initiatives. It currently works in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
by funding and supporting local microfinance institutions. These services include
loans
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
,
savings
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
, fund transfers and
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
. Opportunity International Australia has a repayment rate of 97%. Opportunity International is a signatory to
ACFID The Australian Council For International Development (ACFID) is an independent national association of Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the field of international aid and development. ACFID was founded in 1965, with Syd Ein ...
.
In 2008, Opportunity International Australia's founder
David Bussau was recognized for his long-standing contribution to poverty alleviation by being named Senior
Australian of the Year
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...
2008.
Macro For Micro was a campaign in 2010 to raise funds and awareness for microfinance development. It consisted of a team of Canadian cyclists (Geoff Dittrich, Stu McCrory, Vivian Leung and Isabella Borowiec) that travelled over 5,600 km from Sydney, Australia to Perth, Australia along the southern coast. The campaign aimed to raise A$50,000 for Opportunity Australia to fight poverty. The team stopped at universities, high schools and sponsored venues along the way to share the story of microfinance. They departed Sydney on March 8 (
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...
), 2010 and arrived in Perth on 29 May 2010.
Canada
Opportunity International Canada is one of five Opportunity International Support Member countries, along with the USA, Australia, the UK and Germany.
Opportunity International Canada was founded in 1998 by David Stiller, who worked with a dedicated group of entrepreneurial Canadian business people to launch it as a registered charity in Canada.
The current President and CEO of Opportunity International Canada is Dan Murray, who has served in this role since November 2018.
A small office is located in Waterloo, Ontario, with most of the small staff team located across Canada and working from home. Staff are currently in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and BC.
Opportunity International Canada is the lead Support Member in Honduras, Nicaragua and the DR, and collaborates with other Support Members on microfinance projects in Colombia, Haiti and India. Opportunity International Canada is also running a significant project in Ghana, supported by Global Affairs Canada.
Germany
Opportunity International Germany was founded in 1996 by Karl Schock, a businessman, as an independent
foundation. Opportunity International Deutschland raises funds and awareness for microfinance services in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. The current CEO is Mark Ankerstein.
United Kingdom
Opportunity International UK is part of the global Opportunity International Network. Opportunity UK is currently serving more than 1.2 million African's by raising funds to help develop microfinance in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana. They also support projects in Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and South Africa.
Other
Opportunity also raises support in:
*
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
*
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
*
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
Measuring impact
Social performance management
In 2012, The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) launched the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management. These standards incorporate the
Smart Campaign's Client Protection Principles and set standards on: defining and monitoring social goals, governance, treatment of clients, development of products and services, treatment of employees, and balancing financial and social performance.
Opportunity's Social Performance Management (SPM) program is used in India, the Philippines and an expanding number of countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
The Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI) scorecard is a tool that helps monitor the effects of microfinance on income levels. The scorecard includes simple questions related to the client's income level, such as:
* What are the outer walls of your house made of?
* What kind of toilet facility does your family have?
* What is your main source of drinking water?
* What is the main source of lighting for your home?
By assessing the answers to questions such as these, it is possible to gauge the relative income level and poverty status of a family and help ensure they are receiving benefits from interventions in various areas of their life.
Opportunity has also piloted the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology in both India and the Philippines. SROI is a framework for measuring and accounting for the value added to the lives of families served, looking at social, environmental and economic benefits of microfinance and then quantifying the amount of change that has taken place.
Challenges of measuring impact
There is no evidence presented in Opportunity International (OI) publications of summary-level improvements in household income or jobs created by OI's borrowers. This is not surprising, since scientific testing of the impact of microcredit is surprisingly difficult. Dozens of studies have looked at the experience of people who received microloans. The challenge has been to identify a control group for comparison: it is difficult and expensive to find a group of people who are like the loan recipients in all relevant ways except for not having gotten a loan. Two studies looked at standard microcredit clients over a short period (12–18 months) using randomized controlled trials found no evidence of improvements in household income or consumption. For now, it seems an honest summary of the evidence to say that we simply do not know yet whether microcredit or other forms of microfinance are helping to lift millions out of poverty.
Further, one of the least remarked-on problems facing the world's poor living on two dollars a day is that they do not literally get that amount each day. In other words, economic poverty is not just a matter of low incomes, but also of irregular and uncertain incomes. To put food on the table every day and meet other basic consumption needs, poor households have to save and borrow constantly. One research team presented results of year-long financial diaries collected about twice a month from hundreds of rural and urban households in India, Bangladesh, and South Africa. They consistently found the poor use credit and savings to
smooth consumption, to deal with emergencies like health problems and to accumulate the larger sums they need to seize opportunities—occasionally business opportunities—and pay for big-ticket expenses like education, weddings and funerals. Over the year, the average diary household used 8 to 10 different types of financial instruments; most types were used multiple times. The notion that microcredit brings loans to people who previously had no access to them is widespread but mistaken, as is the notion that the strong majority of microloans are used for business purposes.
Finally, it seems unlikely that a year of microlending helps poor people as much as a year of girls' primary education, for example. The true advantage of microfinance is not that each "dose" is more powerful, but rather that each dose costs much less than subsidies. Social programs like primary education and health care usually require large continuing subsidies, using up scarce tax dollars year after year. Microfinancing is different: when it is done right, relatively small up-front subsidies lead to permanent institutions that can continue providing services year after year with no further subsidy needed, and can expand those services to reach many millions of low-income clients.
Awards and achievements
Opportunity earned the acclaimed Civil Society Achievement Honor at the Children and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Global Inclusion Awards of 2016, held November 28, 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Opportunity International received a $1 million grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
to expand its Education Finance initiatives in Uganda and Beyond. The grant was announced October 11, 2016.
Opportunity International earned a 4-star rating from
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
for the second consecutive year on June 2, 2016.
In July 2015, Opportunity announced a partnership with
MetLife
MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...
Foundation to promote access to financial services in rural China.
Opportunity CEO
Vicki Escarra was recognized with a Womenetics 2014 POW! Award.
In December 2014, Opportunity announced a partnership with
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
to help educate more than 530,000 children in Colombia, Tanzania, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, India and the Philippines.
In March 2014, Opportunity announced a partnership with
MasterCard Foundation to launch a $22.7 million growth and innovations initiative in Africa.
In June 2013, Opportunity announced a partnership with
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
Foundation in the form of a $19.2 million grant to help provide financial products and services to 16.7 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
See also
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Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank ( bn, গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requi ...
*
List of non-governmental organizations in the People's Republic of China
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Microfinance organizations
Development charities based in the United States
Religious charities based in the United States