Help Expand Financial Services in Mozambique

Opportunity International's Mozambique’s operations began in 2005 when two existing microfinance institutions joined together in partnership with Opportunity International. With a focus on rural expansion, Opportunity Mozambique serves clients via 7 hub, 6 satellite and one container branch plus one ATM and 6 mobile bank vans with 26 stops.  

In 2012, Opportunity Mozambique achieved considerable footprint expansion, with highlights including the following 

• Installation of Opportunity Mozambique's first ATM in Maputo
• Opening of the Gurue branch in July
• Providing transformative financial literacy training
• Increasing agriculture loan clients by over 65%
• 12,553 loan clients served in 2012 with an average loan size of $164 USD. 

In 2013, Opportunity Mozambique plans to launch a container branch in Nhamatanda, increase its mobile bank fleet from six to seven, and install three new ATMs. Additionally, plans are underway to introduce cell phone banking (mobile money) by 2014. 

Thank you for being a part of our continued expansion and success in Mozambique so that Opportunity International can reach more clients and provide more financial services to those in need. Your support allows our clients to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. 

Thanks for your support that helps make this possible! 

Links:

• http://www.opportunity.org

Many of our clients in Mozambique are small farmers, some of the poorest people in the world. John Magnay talks about the importance of targeting agricultural loans in the future. 

“With 70% of Africans directly involved in agriculture, if you do not target them you will miss some of the very poorest people in the world. With your help we are optimizing the utilization of microfinance by helping farmers adopt good agriculture practices, links to buyers and extension service providers and access to input to help them achieve optimum output. The close of 2011 marked the end of the pilot phase of Opportunity’s Agriculture Finance initiative. Having refined the model and accumulated a wealth of knowledge during the pilot phase we are eager to kick off a period of high impact and growth. We have grand expectations for achieving scalability in 2012 and beyond. In the next phase we hope to bring services closer to clients using the mobile phone to give clients access to their funds from their own rural village, and using GPS to capture household data and to locate farms. These will be piloted in 2012-13. Best Regards, John”

Links:

• www.opportunity.org

Rural Expansion Program: Banking on Mozambique's Farmers

Approximately 70% of Africans work in agriculture and these households are some of the poorest in the world. Opportunity found that farmers in Africa are producing at only 40% of their potential because they cannot access the needed best-practice information, financing and markets. With your help we work with small-scale farmers in , Mozambique to adopt more productive agriculture practices, link up with buyers and extension service providers, and access inputs to grow more food.

Opportunity spent 2010 and 2011 working with small-scale farmers and learning from them which financial tools and services they need to succeed. In 2012, Opportunity’s Agriculture Finance team aims to bring services closer to clients using mobile phone banking. This gives clients access to their funds from their own rural village, and uses GPS to capture household data and map out farm plots that show how to get the best return from their land.   

Highlights from Mozambique

• In 2011 Opportunity grew the number of loans in Mozambique by over 50% to 13,962 loan clients.
• Crops funded in Mozambique now include: sugar, soya bean, sesame, cabbage, maize, groundnut, pigeon pea, cashews, chili, poultry, goats.
• Savings are very important for farming families who must make their harvest income last all year. At year-end, 52,427 clients had savings accounts, up from 37,218 in 2010.

Your support of entrepreneurs in Mozambique helps change the agricultural landscape, and give the farmers a chance to create a future for their families.

In the Chokwé district of Mozambique many women are farmers, but Regina Salomão Mondlane, a single 33-year-old who lives in a house made of mud and covered in zinc sheets, sells new clothes to people of all ages and genders. Regina has operated this clothing business since 1996, and she travels from Chokwé to Maputo (a six hour drive round-trip) at least twice a month to acquire the goods and supplies she needs for her business.

When Regina was introduced to BOM, Opportunity’s partner bank in Mozambique, she took out her very first loan, worth $300, and invested it all in her business. With the extra money this loan provided, she expanded her business from one boutique to two in the same market. She uses the extra income from her growing business to purchase food, education and transportation for schoolchildren and to build herself an improved house.

Regina saves $9 each day in the savings account she opened with BOM, and she encourages her friends to save money by collecting their income and adding it to a separate BOM savings account at the end of each month. Regina is now on her second loan cycle with BOM, and she plans to use the money to extend her business to a more populated market. Regina says her dream is to “see everyone wearing new clothes, especially those living in the remote areas, because it enhances a person’s dignity and self-esteem.”

When clients, like Regina, build businesses with Opportunity loans, they often set into motion monumental changes. Family income rises. Children are well fed and go to school. Homes are improved. Women gain status. For clients around the globe, these transformations take place every day–beginning with loans as small as $160.

Links:

• Where we work: Mozambique