Micro credit support can transform lives

Story: Matilda Attram
Micro credit support can transform lives
OPPORTUNITY International, a savings and loans financial institution, has identified micro finance support and quality financial advice as the keys to increase income and transform the lives of individuals and communities.
"For Opportunity, micro-finance is an engine of poverty alleviation to sustain and transform the unbanked and under-banked sectors with respect, integrity and stewardship."
Ms Teresa Efia Cooke, Head of Human Resource of Opportunity International, stated this at the end of an internship programme organised by the company for 40 tertiary students on micro-finance in Accra.
The ceremony was aimed at providing opportunities for the students and for them also to share their experiences with the public during their stay with the company.
It was also aimed at explaining to the public, what the company had in offer for its customers.
Ms Cooke said the institution was committed to serving medium and small-scale entrepreneurs with loans, and other financial services to transform their businesses.
“It is believed that exposing students to these at the heart of commercial micro-finance would not only assist them in choosing a career but also equip them with tools which would enable them to impact on society what they had learnt,” she stated, and added that that was Opportunity International’s contribution to human resource development in Ghana.
Ms Cooke stated that the company had been working with its partners and donors to ensure that internship and National Service programmes continued in the coming years with exposure in other business and cultural environments to equip students with the global perspective of the industry.
“We endeavour to continue to provide this support to hundreds of tertiary students in the coming years and help bring the dream of economic transformation of the active poor in the country into reality,” she stated.
The Head of Credit Operations, Mr Dave Kofi Yeboah, cautioned the students to engage in productive activities that would contribute to the development of the country.
He also urged them to be committed in whatever profession they found themselves.
“I hope this experience has exposed you to the nature of the job market,” he said, and urged them to allow themselves to be used as vessels to transform others and their communities.
Certificates were presented to all the participants.