“The microfinance industry — bankers to the poor — faces a paradox of scale, growing large in some ways but remaining small in others,” says the New York Times.
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PRESS RELEASE: Africa: Compassion International to Provide $5m to Expand African Microfinance Partnership With Opportunity International
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Not Just Treasure in Heaven, Alliance for Christians in Development (ACID) to Grant Micro Loans to Benefit Ugandan Schoolchildren
The Alliance for Christians in Development (ACID) Trust, a non-governmental development organization based in Uganda which, among other projects, provides microfinance services to rural women and youth, will be extending micro loans to parents who cannot afford to pay their children’s school fees. Typically, fees cost about USD 35 per term. A September 2006 report (pg 4) by Save the Children indicated that 1.1 million primary-aged children in Uganda are out of school, the majority because they cannot afford uniforms, books, and basic supplies. Under ACID Trust’s program, the plan is that parents will borrow from the trust interest-free, invest the money to make a profit, pay back the loan and save the remainder to put toward their children’s education. Funds are not only available to parents, but to children–specifically the large population of orphans in the country.
The Gates Foundation distributes 15.4 million to Opportunity International
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will distribute a grant of USD 5.4 mm and a loan of USD 10 mm to Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance organizations. The USD 15.4 mm of capital will fund start-up microfinance banks to serve the poor in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in addition to an expansion of its banking operations in Ghana.
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The Gates Foundations Grants $6.7 Million to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and $2 Million to WOCCU’s Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted $6.7 million to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and $2 million to WOCCU’s Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions. WOCCU will use the money to implement a Credit Union Growth Program in Africa and