MICROCAPITAL STORY: Opportunity International Australia Raises $30m to Supply One Million Indian Entrepreneurs with Microfinance

Opportunity International Australia, part of the global non-profit microfinance network Opportunity International, has raised USD 30 million from Australian donors in the last 12 months. The organization will use the funds to supply loans and business services to micro-entrepreneurs across India.

Opportunity Australia partners with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia, the Philippines and India. On average, small businesses receive loans between USD 100 and USD 200, according to Opportunity Australia CEO Paul Peters. The average loan distributed by the Opportunity International Network is USD 241.

Mr. Peters said, “With this initial tranche of money leveraged at a rate of up to six times by debt funding from the major Indian banks, we will be able to reach about one million small business owners.” The organization aims to fund five million micro-entrepreneurs in India over the next five years as part of their India Program.

The India Program is the largest initiative Opportunity Australia has ever undertaken. The organization plans to partner with existing microfinance institutions (MFIs) in southern India; establish a number of new MFIs in the poorest regions in the north and northeast; develop partnerships with other non-governmental organizations to offer enterprise development, health and educational services; and launch the Opportunity Micro Insurance Agency.

According to Mr. Peters, Opportunity Australia operates as commercially as a non-profit organization can. “We use all business, capitalistic approaches to fixing some labor and social problems.” Mr. Peters, a native of Canada, worked in the corporate world of mergers and acquisitions for 10 years before accepting the CEO position at Opportunity Australia in 2003.

The Opportunity International Network has 42 member organizations in 28 countries and support partners in six countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States. Opportunity International has provided microfinance in developing countries for 35 years and is currently one of the largest microfinance organizations in the world. As of June 2007, Opportunity International had 1,000,898 active clients globally and a loan portfolio of USD 450.2 million. As of December 2006, the organization had USD 31.7 million in total assets and USD 534,000 in total liabilities (pg 15).

Additional Resources:

The Age: “Aussies to help break Indian poverty.”

The Microfinance Gateway: “Opportunity International Australia to Support 1Mln Entrepreneurs in India.”

Opportunity International Australia

Opportunity International Australia: India: Our Vision

Opportunity International Australia: Who We Are: Management Team

Opportunity International Australia: Who We Are: About Us

Opportunity International Australia: Annual Review 2006

Opportunity International Network

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