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NextBillion’s Most Influential Post of the Year Contest 2016
All our posts discuss important topics. Some, however, are so well-written and well-read that they change and even lead that discussion. Those are the ones that are included in our fifth annual Most Influential Post of the Year Contest. Please read or re-read the posts and then vote for your favorite(s). You may vote up to a dozen times. Voting ends Jan. 2, and we'll name the winner on Jan. 4.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Investing
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Nigeria planning to create 3 million new jobs by 2025 from digital financial inclusion
Nigeria is planning to create three million jobs by 2025 from digital financial inclusion according to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele. Emefiele said this would be achieved when there is increased adoption of digital financial services, adding that a 90% reduction in the cost of providing financial services is a further goal.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nigeria sets up a committee to study Bitcoin penetration
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC) have set up a committee to investigate the growing trend of bitcoin use, according to the government-owned broadcasting station, the Voice of Nigeria. The news was revealed on Friday by NDIC Managing Director Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim at the 2016 Workshop for Financial Correspondents in Kaduna.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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India adding 1 million new m-wallet users every day
India is adding about a million new mobile wallet users every day, according to industry sources. The rapid increase in new users comes on the back of the cash crunch, which has hit the country, following the government’s move to demonetise 500 and 1,000-rupee banknotes. The situation is likely to take more time to normalise.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
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The Mobile Trap: How Safaricom and Other MNOs Prey on the Poor
Safaricom and others are "using Premium Rate Services to fleece consumers," writes Wayan Vota. "The development community prides itself on being advocates for the poor, and digital development practitioners have the added responsibility to advocate for cyber-marginalized citizens. We should not be blindly driving women to own and use mobile phones, when those devices will only impoverish them further."
- Categories
- Technology
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Microfinance breakthrough: Dean Yang uses fingerprints to boost microlending in Malawi
Eight years ago, development economist Dean Yang spent a week in Malawi visiting microfinance institutions, the banks and credit unions that provide financial services to some of the world's most vulnerable citizens.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A New Fund Seeks Both Financial and Social Returns
“There is a lazy mindedness that we afford the do-gooders.” That was Bono, the musician turned activist turned investor, lamenting the pitfalls of what has become an increasingly fashionable form of financing: social impact investing.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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A Solution to the Drama of Digital Finance
There are advantages to being a digital financial services provider, but also risks surrounding questions such as: Which business model should I choose? Should I develop my own digital platform or leverage someone else’s? Do I want to deploy my own network of agents? Will I partner with an MNO? That's why UNCDF’s MicroLead program, PHB Development and The MasterCard Foundation are working together to provide toolkits for FSPs.
- Categories
- Technology