Participants at the workshop
OPPORTUNITY
INTERNATIONAL (United Kingdom) recently held its annual stakeholders’ meeting
in Accra on “Economic Empowerment of Women in Ghana and Democratic
Republic of Congo through rural financing” supported by UK Aid Match.
The
maiden meeting was attended by all the project stakeholders, including
Opportunity International UK, Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans (SASL), Vision Fund
– Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Esoko, Participatory Development
Associates (PDA), Warehousing Consultants and Opportunity International Savings
and Loans (OISL).
The
overall objective of ‘The Economic Empowerment of Women Project’ is to help
increase the participation and empowerment of 12,000 women in the rural
economies of Ghana and the DRC in order to improve productivity, build assets
and increase household income.
Chief
Executive Officer of Opportunity International Savings and Loans, Kwame
Owusu-Boateng, in his opening remarks commended the stakeholders for exceeding
all the targets set for the first year of the project.
He
said “institutions that stood the test of time are those who are client centric
and also by empowering women, we will help to create a lasting impact in our
society.”
So
far, over 5,032 female smallholder farmers and agricultural business owners in
Ghana and DRC representing 42% of the total target of 12,000 have been served
with loans, savings, and training with total loan disbursement of over £700,000
to support their agri- businesses.
The
impact of ‘The Economic Empowerment of Women’ are already being seen as one
client’s daughter, Mahama Nimaku, indicated “before getting this loan my mother
was always torn between giving me my school fees and buying quality seeds and
fertiliser.”
It
is expected that, at the end of the three year period, 32,000 family members
will also benefit from better nutrition, health and education; 50,000 to
benefit from a community-wide financial literacy and gender campaign and 10,000
jobs will be created.
Opportunity
International is one of the world’s leading microfinance organisations. It
provides access to financial services (savings, small business loans, insurance
and training) to more than eight million people in more than 20 countries
across the globe.
