Opportunity Int’l to help break poverty cycle
Opportunity International Savings and Loans Limited (OISL) says it will continue to grow its footprints across the country to break the cycle of poverty in the society.
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At the opening of the refurbished and expanded branch of the company at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Opportunity International, Mr Samuel Afful, said the company which started with three branches in 2004 now had 44 outlets spread across the country.
He added that it was the company’s target to acquire one million customers by the year 2020 and thus help break the poverty cycle through the provision of products and services tailored to the needs of its clients
The deputy CEO said from its inception in December 2004, the company’s clientele was 9,400 with a gross loan portfolio of GH¢956,000 and total deposits of GH¢136,000, but that had grown significantly.
“As of December 2016, loan portfolio has grown to GH¢93.8 million (8,838 per cent growth), deposit balances of GH¢124.7 million (94,756 per cent rise) and total deposit clients of 472,329 (4,959 per cent growth),” he said.
Poverty cycle
Mr Afful noted that the improvement in the institution’s records indicated that the company was on the right track to achieving its 2020 target of acquiring one million customers.
Ghana's poverty level declined to about 24.2 per cent in 2014 from the 51 per cent recorded in 1991, according to the last Ghana Living Standard Survey 6 report conducted by the Ghana Statistical service (GSS).
The outcome meant that about 24.2 per cent of Ghanaians, measuring about 6.4 million, could not afford to spend GH¢4 on food a day.
The people below the poverty line were about seven million in 2005.
Berekum branch
Mr Afful disclosed that the Berekum branch alone served a client base of 6,556 as of February 2016. The branch had also disbursed a total of GH¢8.75 million in loans since its inception in June 2004 and accumulated a total of GH¢1.65 million in client savings at the branch.
Opportunity International has, therefore, refurbished and expanded its operational branch at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region in take advantage of brisk trading activities and agricultural productivity of the area.
The Brong Ahafo Region in general has become a hotbed for financial institutions, especially savings and loans companies, due to the growing level of business activities in both the formal and informal economy.
“We are very impressed with the records this company has achieved 13 years on after its establishment in Ghana,” the deputy CEO said.