Gates and MasterCard Foundations Partner with Opportunity International to Provide Financial Access to 1.4 Million of the Rural Poor in Africa

$16 million program focuses on smallholder farmers

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Opportunity International has announced a $16 million program co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The MasterCard Foundation to provide access to savings accounts and agricultural loans in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 10 percent of people have access to comprehensive financial services.

To read the full press release, visit the Opportunity International web site.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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