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Why mPesa will not be an instant hit in Nigeria
Having since expanded to 10 additional countries within and outside (Albania, Romania, Afghanistan and India) the African continent, mPesa has grown to a platform with over 29.5 million active customers and 287,400 agents. In 2016 alone, it processed about 6 billion transactions, at a peak rate of 529 transactions per second.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Payment Startups Lead Way In Africa’s Booming FinTech Scene
The report finds there has been a boom in the fintech space over the last two years, with more than half of the fintech startups currently operating launching after January 2015.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, remittances
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Post offices urged to develop financial inclusion strategies
Africa alone is believed to have more than 30 million migrants with over $65 billion in potential remittances and Minister Mandiwanzira challenged the post offices to sweat their expanisve network reaching out to even the very remote areas, as well as their ability to foster local and international business partnerships.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Foreign investors to pour nearly $1 trillion into emerging markets in 2017: IIF
The projection follows a strong first quarter for emerging market investment that saw the strongest portfolio inflows since 2014. The IIF's projection is $290 billion higher than its estimate just four months ago, shortly after Donald Trump took office as U.S. president and the organization listed possible American protectionism as its top threat to emerging market portfolio flow growth.
- Categories
- Investing
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Can a for-profit company bring connectivity to ultra-remote villages?
An additional 4 million people will soon be able to make and receive calls, send messages and access basic internet services as a result of the multi-million dollar investment in Africa Mobile Networks — a commercial company that builds solar-powered mobile network base stations in ultra-rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Demonitization May Lead To Equity Erosion For Microfinance Institutions, Says India Ratings
India Ratings had warned about a build up of risks in microfinance even before demonetization was announced in November last year. Since then, the cash shortage brought on by the currency exchange program and increased instances of farm loan waivers, have disrupted the market further.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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Android Pay now used for international P2P transfers, courtesy of WorldRemit
This is a first for Android Pay, which up to now has been used for in-app and contactless payments and to make P2P transfers to people in the same country, but never international P2P money transfers.
- Categories
- Technology
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Is Higher Ed the Next Big Frontier for Impact Investing? Some Funders Think So
Impact investing, with its promise of both financial returns and measurable social benefits, is one of the hottest trends in philanthropy. But as more legacy foundations look to harness the "other 95 percent" of their capital to their mission, and as newer business-minded donors flood into the field, plenty of questions remain about where and how impact investing is likely to be most useful or effective.
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- philanthropy