Accra, Feb. 29, GNA – Opportunity International Savings and Loans Limited (OISL) has launched its 20th Anniversary celebration on the theme “20 years of transforming lives”.
The event took place last week in Kumasi with attendance by Board and Management as well as some past and present staff of the Company, clients and traditional rulers.
Key activities to characterise the anniversary celebration include, customer service week, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) clinics and client forums, sharing of client success stories of impact, health walk, and donations.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Katey Assem, the Board Chairman of OISL, said the Company had lived through the past two decades by upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct, transparency, and accountability.
That, together with good corporate governance, Mr Assem said, had positioned OISL as a trusted financial services provider in the country.
He expressed appreciation to the Bank of Ghana, shareholders, Board members, and the dedicated staff of the financial institution for their continuous support.
Mr Kwame Owusu-Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, recounted their growth from three to 38 branches in their two decades of existence.
He also stated that the Company’s blend of both financial and non-financial services has made it reach some 655,000 depositors, 62 per cent of them being women borrowers.
With a focus on the Agriculture, Education, and Services sector, he disclosed that OISL would in the next five years extend its operations from the current 10 to all 16 regions of the country.
Mr Owusu-Boateng expressed his gratitude to both past and present Management and staff for their loyalty, hard work, creativity, and passion, and their clients, for reposing their trust in the Company over the past two decades.
Mr Ismail Adams, Deputy Director, Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana, reiterated the importance of institutions like OISL in advancing financial inclusion in the country.
He advised players in the savings and loans sub-sector to be guided by the Central Bank’s regulatory standards to preserve the stability of the operations of companies operating in the financial sector.
Nana Oheneba Boachie-Adjei Woahene II, who represented Lady Julia Osei Tutu as the guest of honour, congratulated OISL for the milestones it had achieved in the past two decades.
He commended it for the flagship “Kayayei” programme, which provides vocational skills to transform the lives of street porters (Kayayei), an initiative he said was helpful in making them live dignified life free from poverty.
The OISL was licensed in 2004 by the Bank of Ghana as a savings and loans Company, and provides innovative financial products and services to bring clients at the base of the pyramid into the mainstream financial system.
It is a subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global organisation with its Head Office in Chicago, USA.
The Institution delivers services and programmes to clients in 30 countries across the globe, serving over 20 million customers with Micro Banking, Micro Insurance, Agriculture, Education Finance, and Innovative Non-Financial Services.
GNA