OPEN WORLD EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION (NGO-MFI)

The people at the rural communities especially-WOMEN are at the bottom of the pyramid of every socioeconomic strata of the global-society.They are economically active but very-poor, and are faced with the challenges of accessing credit-facilities to support their businesses and other means of livelihood. This is mainly due to their inability to provide adequate records-cash flow statements, collateral and securities that are always required by commercial-banks and other financial-institutions. More so, interest-rates, and bureaucracy in the loan-processes are too high for them to cope with the loan applications and repayment. The Elevate Prize funding and support program will have a multiplier-effect in scaling-up the global-impact of cheap and affordable financial-inclusion services(GIOCAFIS) offered to the group of active-poor women in the rural communities by OPEN-WORLD thereby amplifying the growth of grass root Micro-businesses of the economically active-poor in Nigeria and other global-spaces in a sustainable-basis, using efficient and cost- effective group-lending methodology to replace physical collateral. This will adequately  scale-up  our humanitarian financial-solutions program(HFSP) to the entrepreneurial-poor that have little or no access to conventional-finance or economic-assets, more also effectively address extreme material-poverty, physical-deprivation of goods/services and unemployment. The fund will enable OPEN-WORLD to create atmosphere that will enhance Micro-economic solution-possibilities.

FESTUS UKAEGBU holds B.s.c, Banking and Finance from Anambra State University. He has 13 years work experience in the Nigerian banks(Rural Banking). He belongs to professional bodies in Nigeria. He founded OPEN-WORLD EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION(A Non-Bank financial Institution) in 2018, registered with the CAC Nigeria to address the poverty problems of the  poor people(WOMEN) in the rural-communities and also the absence of financial-services to the  economically active poor people (Women) engaged in small-trading and micro-productive activities in the rural communities. It is a pro-poor financial-institution committed to the social-economic empowerment of low-income households through the provision of access to financial-solutions program (FSP) on a sustainable basis. 

Our vision  is to build a robust system of economic-empowerment services organization focused at providing possible solutions to the general economic problems of the active-micro people for poverty alleviation and self-reliance  of women and youth in a developing-Society.

Our purpose is to provide and promote means of livelihood, bridging the gaps amongst the active poor women in the rural communities towards financial and economic empowerment.

Our goal is to be the preferred institution for economic poverty alleviation programs at the global communities, while driving and scaling-up the economic-impact of  financial-inclusion of women at the  grass-roots.

Financial exclusion: (46.3% of the Nigerian & 1.7 billion global-population are financially excluded): Women at the rural-communities are mostly affected. Nearly one of every three or 1.1 billion women in the world is excluded from the formal financial system. We offer poor Women access to cheap and affordable financial-services such as microloans, savings, micro insurance and Mobile-money services to their door-steps. We offer Micro-financial services(Group Lending- using social groups as a mechanism to substitute physical-collateral). people come together to borrow jointly and severally, cross-guarantee themselves to secure Micro-credit to support their businesses.

Poverty Reduction (40%-83 million people in Nigeria and 9.4% globally is poor) : Poor-people need a diverse-range of financial-services to run their business, build assets, smooth consumption, and manage risks. OPEN-WORLD offers small collateral–free loans to group of women who otherwise would not have access to capital to begin small or to support their existing-business.

•High Lending rate (11.23% in Nigeria): We provide Humanitarian-financial services to active poor women using Group-lending methodology. Financial-sector in low-income countries (like Nigeria) has failed to serve the poor-Women. With respect to Nigerian banks, financial-institutions generally require significant collateral, have a preference for high-income, high loan clients, lengthy and bureaucratic application procedures.

COST EFFECTIVE METHODOLOGY -USE OF SOCIAL-ECONOMIC GROUPS AS SECURITIES FOR REPAYMENT:

•The Quality of OPEN WORLD is their group-lending model of finance. It is the use of social-groups rather than material-collateral to access affordable loans. Its cost-effective to the organization, cheap and affordable to the members.

• Our Loans are made to small-groups and peer-pressure is used for ensuring that repayments are made.

•70% of women are the primary beneficiaries of  OPEN WORLD Humanitarian-Financial programmes-(HFP)—not necessarily out of a feminist impulse but because there is evidence that women are more sensitive to peer-pressure and so are more reliable debtors.

• In the absence of material-collateral, credit-rating systems, the group-lending model of OPEN WORLD makes use of information ‘impacted’ in the village about who is a reliable-borrower, and villagers reveal such information by using their judgement to select fellow debtors for the small-groups.

• In this way, our group-based lending model uses and builds upon the social capital of its borrowers. Its efficient and effective, with low transaction costs.

Extra income earned through participation can be spent on what the members see as their highest-priority; so, the intervention can be viewed as less paternalistic and more enabling than other development interventions.

Our basic credit-union is composed of a group of women or people having a ‘common-bond’, resident in the same neighborhood, trading in the same
environment, religious or ethnic-groups. The principal reason for our 
emphasis is that the social-pressure of the group is considered as
security for loans. It is a form of collateral which is not available in
conventional-finance. They form a group for the purpose of borrowing jointly and severally under a joint-liability agreement.

OPEN WORLD understood the ways in which finance contributes to economic-growth and poverty-reduction. Our group-credit empowers the poor to engage in productive-economic activities.

 This methodology is our effort to improve the access to loans and to savings services for poor people in the rural-villages. Currently, is being promoted as a key development strategy for promoting poverty reduction and economic empowerment. It has the potential to effectively address material poverty, the physical deprivation of goods, Assets, services and the income to attain them by granting financial-services to households who are financially excluded.

Our Model is an effective development-tool, promoting entrepreneurship and poverty reduction. It enables the vulnerable to take advantage of economic-opportunities, build assets, and reduce their vulnerability to external-shocks that adversely affect their living standards.