The clients we visited had compelling stories: a local woman who made fried dumplings (mandazi) in her home and brought them to market to sell. The money she made from selling these delicious morsels helped her feed her children and pay for their school fees and uniforms. Another sold traditional medicines, hundreds of herbs and other medicines that earned him $100 per month after accounting for expenses, which earns him a bit more than $3 per day, putting him just above the poverty line ($2.70 per day).

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Oikocredit’s 2011 Summer meetings ahead of its Annual General Meeting begin today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. To mark the occasion, Oikocredit is launching the newest addition to our blog, Tour Around the World with Oikocredit. Poverty looks different in every country, every community. With partners in 71 different countries worldwide, Oikocredit has an opportunity to share important information about poverty in the countries in which we work. This week ... Read More »

Oikocredit USA, a member of Netherlands-based cooperative financial institution Oikocredit, is launching its second Summer of Microfinance campaign on June 3, 2011. The national kick-off event will take place on Friday, June 3 at 6pm and feature Terry Provance of Oikocredit USA and Leigh Carter of Fonkoze USA. (You’re invited! RSVP for the event here.) Ms. Carter was in Haiti during the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country.  She will ... Read More »

Violence, unrest, and conflict continue to plague the Ivory Coast, especially the nation’s largest city of Abidjan and surrounding Abobo suburbs. Following the November 2010 election in which President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to his opponent Alassane Ouattara, recognized by the U.N. and international community as the winner of the election, peaceful protests were met by violent government backlash that continues to escalate. Oikocredit is particularly concerned for ... Read More »

Today marks 100 years since we first celebrated International Women’s Day. Remarkably, 100 years later, the world’s most prominent political and economic leaders are still calling for equitable investment in poor women around the world.  The UN Secretary General today said, “Only through women’s full and equal participation in all areas of public and private life can we hope to achieve the sustainable, peaceful and just society,” and has in ... Read More »

Press release Amersfoort, 2 March 2011 – In 2010, concerns have accompanied successes in the development finance sector. For Oikocredit – one of the world’s largest private microfinance financiers – the year was one of solid social and financial performance and further innovations in the field of social performance management. In its 35th year, Oikocredit’s total assets grew 19% to € 640 million by year end. In addition, the development ... Read More »

As Oikocredit gears up for our upcoming event in Washington, DC this Friday, I find myself getting really excited. My anticipation has been mounting for a while, and not just because it’s going to be a great party (and everyone loves a party!). Considering all the press  surrounding microfinance lately, I’m particularly looking forward to this Awareness Party as an opportunity to engage in discussion at a much-needed time. At ... Read More »

Some take years before they invest in Oikocredit. Others get started early. But no one has ever acted as quickly as Leah Marie Ellerbee – she was just four days old when she became an Oikocredit member! When she was born, her German grandmother, an Oikocredit member for the past 30 years, wanted to mark the occasion: “In America, it’s common to create some kind of fund for very young ... Read More »

It’s hard to imagine life without credit – we use it every day to buy homes, pay for education, and make ends meet. But in many parts of the world, credit isn’t available at all. In those places, access to a small loan is often all that stands between a poor person and starting the small business that would provide them the income to break the cycle of poverty. Oikocredit ... Read More »

Just a few years ago, Agusta had lost everything she owned due to the disastrous effects of El Niño and the bankruptcy of her local bank. Fortunately she ran into a former neighbor who had become a credit officer for one of our partner MFIs. Augusta asked for $250 to start a food stand on the street. Soon she was soon able to move from the streets to a house. ... Read More »