CASE STUDIES: OPPORTUNITY BANK SUCCESS STORIES
ANNA, NKHATA BAY DISTRICT
Anna’s daughter-in-law died just days after giving birth. The child was just seven days old. Anna collected the baby from the hospital but couldn’t find any money to buy milk. She turned to the Opportunity Bank for help. She took out a loan of MK 5,000 which meant that she could invest in growing cassava and was also able to purchase milk. The child is now nine months old and doing well.
Anna is now on her second loan of MK20,000 and has invested further in growing cassava which she sells (cassava is used to make the local staple, nsima). She also exchanges some maize for cassava and sells the maize. “Now I am able to find the money to buy sugar and tea,” she says. “As you can see, the baby is healthy and doing well.”
Her message for others? “Nothing comes on a silver platter,” she says. “You have to work hard. I didn’t sit idle. I worked hard and God helped me to provide for our needs. I recommend other women to come and do what I have done. See how the baby is growing healthily all because of Opportunity.”
BESTA,CHINTHECHE
Besta is living on less than 50p a day in Chintheche, on the shores of Lake Malawi. Though she couldn’t afford to finish school, she held fast to the dream of sending her children to school. She needed a safe and secure place to keep her savings, but there is no bank in her community. This means that she had to bury her savings or pay £5 – and sometimes more – in transportation costs alone, just to travel to Mzuzu to conduct basic transactions such as opening a savings account – in short, transactions that most bank customers in city centres take for granted. OIBM has changed all this for her.
JOSEPH, MKONDEZI
Joseph joined OIBM’s group lending programme earlier this year. A rice farmer and father of five, he has taken out two loans, the first of which was MK20,000. He is now repaying a loan of MK40,000. Joseph has invested the money in fertilisers and a bulk order of beans to sell at the local market. He was also able to employ labourers to help him bring in his harvest (his disabled leg makes this difficult for him) and has opened a savings account for the first time. “I don’t have a passport so there was no way I could open an account at another bank,” he explains.
Joseph is the chairman of the Chimwemwe (“Happiness”) Trust Group, which has seven members – men and women who live in Mkondezi in the Nkhata Bay District in Malawi’s northern region. “Opportunity has taught me how to take better care of my family, how to save and that we should always have a vision when doing business,” he says, proudly showing off his rice crop. “My vision is to have a house with a secure roof and electricity so that I can buy a fridge. With my disability, I might find it harder to walk and work as I get older. If I have a fridge, I will be able to sell cold drinks in the community.”
His message? “I tell my friends about the good things that Opportunity Bank is doing for people’s families and businesses. “Opportunity isn’t only interested in lending money but also provides transformational training to clients. They tell us how to borrow money, how we need to be responsible and make our repayments on the agreed date.”