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Leveraging Big Data to Improve Mental Health After COVID-19: An Innovative Research Method Reveals Unmet Needs and Untapped Opportunities in Nigeria
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a marked impact on the state of global mental health, particularly in emerging regions like Africa. According to Ravi Sreenath and Amy Nguyen at Ripple Research, this has generated a significant need – and a market opportunity – for digital health tools, as well as a need for better data. They assess the state of mental health in Nigeria, analyzing data from millions of conversations across news sites, blogs and social media platforms – and explore how this data reveals new opportunities for social enterprises and investors.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- COVID-19, data, social enterprise
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The Path Toward Commercialization: How Research Can Generate Business Opportunities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Research universities and labs are important engines of innovation that play a vital role in global business development – and commercializing these innovations can deliver real-world impact. But according to Dana Gorodetsky and Sachin Nijhawan at the William Davidson Institute, there's a lack of expertise and resources related to the commercialization of research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They explore the benefits of commercialization for researchers, institutions and entrepreneurs, and offer four key lessons for commercializing research in LMICs.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
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Announcing Our New Series: NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles
NextBillion runs our "Most Influential Articles" contest at the end of each year, in which we select 12 of our most-read articles from the previous year and invite readers to vote for their favorites. Since 2021 marked the 10th year of the contest, we're commemorating a full decade of thought-provoking analysis and opinion from entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and others in the emerging markets business and social enterprise sectors with a new series highlighting all of NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles from 2012 to today.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Savings-Led Digital Finance: The Dawn of a New Era?
The digital lending market surpassed $300 billion in 2020, with significant growth among emerging markets customers who access “instant loans” from their mobile phones. But according to Philip Acton and Finn Tiedemann at DreamStart Labs Inc., there are growing concerns about the risky practices used by some of these digital lenders. They argue that one solution may come from a new generation of “savings-led” digital finance apps that use clients' savings capacity as a proxy for their ability to repay loans – a development they describe as an important milestone in digital finance.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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From People to Packages: How a Nigerian Ride-Hailing Business Weathered the Pandemic by Shifting to Last-Mile Delivery
The effects of COVID-19 have impacted business around the world, and consumer-focused sectors in Africa have faced particular challenges. As Nikhil Goel at Gokada explains, the crisis has exposed the urgent need for digital-first approaches to work, shopping and other aspects of daily life – and opened new opportunities for nimble enterprises that can tap into this growing demand. He explores how Gokada has successfully navigated the pandemic by shifting its business model from ride-sharing to last-mile delivery.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology, Transportation
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Vote for NextBillion’s Most Influential Article of 2021
As an open forum for emerging markets business, NextBillion publishes around 150 original, guest-written articles per year, covering enterprises, innovations, challenges and opportunities across multiple sectors and geographies. Each December we select the 12 most-read articles of the past year to include in our "Most Influential Article of the Year" contest. We invite you to vote for the article that impacted you the most in 2021. You can vote up to one time per hour during the two-week voting period, which runs from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Impact Assessment, Investing, Technology
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Accelerating Digital Transformation: Why Technology is the Key to Eliminating the MSME Finance Gap in Emerging Markets
According to the IFC, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets face a finance gap of $5.2 trillion every year. Since MSMEs are responsible for 70% of job opportunities in these countries, this gap must be addressed. According to Brian Pallas at Opportunity Network, that’s where digital technologies can offer a solution. He explores how emerging innovations offer alternative, tech-enabled means of financing for MSMEs, and how business leaders and policymakers can support these enterprises' digital transformation.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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India’s Unconventional COVID-19 Recovery: How Platformization and Digitalisation Can Build an Inclusive Post-Pandemic Economy
Most of India's labour force is employed in the informal sector, and these workers have faced unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: Over 78% of them lost their livelihoods in the initial lockdown, and many remain unemployed or underemployed. But Chhavi Banswal at Ola Mobility Institute highlights a silver lining behind these dark clouds – accelerated digitalisation and platformization. She explores how gig/platform workers have become a key part of the country's economy, and discusses a recent report showing how digital platforms can expand employment opportunities for all.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology