Inspire Malawians Out of Poverty

Malawi is one of the least developed and most impoverished countries on earth. Nearly 53 percent of its 15 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Opportunity Malawi was granted a full commercial banking license in 2002 and opened its first branch in Lilongwe in 2003. The bank targets the economically active but marginalized Malawians living in underserved areas, including semi-urban and rural areas.

In Malawi, 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Our goals in Malawi and throughout most of Africa are to reach these remote communities. Opportunity International uses mobile bank vehicles, ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) devices in local businesses. This allows people to access services right in their own villages, saving them the time and cost of travel. Opportunity International also offers biometric fingerprint identification on an ID card, keeping a client’s savings secure.

Becuase of your support, we have been able to offer 11 customized savings products, including youth savings accounts in Malawi. We have also invested heavilty in farmers. This initiative serves rural farmers in Malawi and other African nations with agriculture-centric loans, training and support. 

Thank you for all of your support for the thousands of impoverished Malawians. The problem is larger than just one country. 24 out of 25 of the world's poorest countries are in Africa. In order to have the largest impact on this region, we would like to combine this project into a broader "Banking on Africa, 7660" project. This project spans multiple countries including - Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Uganda. This project has the same mission and vision of #6647 which is to provide access to financial solutions empowering people living in poverty to transform their lives, their children’s futures and their communities.