Alliance magazine

On 25 March Opportunity International in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation announced a $22.7 million project to promote access to loans, savings programmes and other critical financial products and services to help more than 7 million people in five African countries work their way out of poverty through 2018. The funds will be used to launch the Opportunity International Africa Growth and Innovations Initiative through its financial institutions in Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi and Tanzania.

‘The Africa Growth and Innovations Initiative will expand our unique delivery channels, with a focus on low cost branches and mobile banking, to drive increased savings outreach and expand financial services for smallholder farmers to increase crop yields, productivity, income and food security,’ said Vicki Escarra, CEO of Opportunity International.

The initiative builds on the successful partnership between the Foundation and Opportunity International’s US and Canadian offices over the last four years in the same five countries. The partnership focused on extending a full range of financial services to rural areas in Africa, including crop-specific agricultural loans to smallholder farmers, savings programs and alternative delivery channels such as mobile banking.

To read the full press release, click here>