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‘Our Only Competition Is Poverty’: How Avanti Finance Aims To Create a ‘Population-Scale’ Digital Microfinance Platform in India
India has long been a hotbed of digital financial innovation. Avanti Finance is an emerging innovator in the sector, with a digital lending platform that aims to bring affordable microfinance to even the poorest customers. NextBillion spoke with CEO Rahul Gupta to discuss Avanti’s unique model, and the challenges of serving low-income customers both efficiently and responsibly.
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- Finance, Technology
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Making Smartphones Relevant for the World’s Poorest Farmers: An Interview With AgUnity CEO David Davies
Extreme poverty is increasing in countries around the world, particularly in last-mile communities where most people work in agriculture. In this Q&A, AgUnity CEO David Davies discusses his company's efforts to leverage low-cost smartphones and other technologies to provide smallholder farmers with practical tools to connect with each other and work their way out of poverty.
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- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Can Africa Really ‘Build Back Better’? How Financial Inclusion Must Evolve To Enable a COVID-19 Recovery
Sub-Saharan Africa has long been one of the financial inclusion sector’s top success stories. But according to David Ferrand, the former director of FSD Kenya, the overall impact of that newfound financial access has been disappointing. In this Q&A, he discusses the current challenges and future outlook of sub-Saharan Africa’s financial sector – and how financial inclusion players can help the region emerge stronger after COVID-19 subsides.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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The Future of Microfinance: An Interview With Ira W. Lieberman
Though its profile is somewhat lower than in its heyday, microfinance remains a relevant player in the development sector, supporting some 200 million people worldwide. A new book, “The Future of Microfinance,” contemplates the industry's tumultuous evolution and future development. NextBillion spoke with Ira W. Lieberman, a co-editor of the book, to discuss its thought-provoking insights.
- Categories
- Finance, NextBillion Originals
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Moving Past Traditional Philanthropy: A Q&A with Enterprise Development Pioneer Frank Giustra
Earlier this year, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership announced that it was spinning off from the Clinton Foundation, where it had been an initiative since its founding in 2007. The independent organization, now called Acceso, works to build businesses and connect them to the broader marketplace – particularly in Latin America. Its founder, Frank Giustra, discusses its new focus and ongoing work in this Q&A.
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- Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Closing in on the SDG Home Stretch: A Q&A with Florian Kemmerich and Lucica Ditiu at SDG500
Six new funds comprise the new SDG500 initiative – a first-of-its-kind, $500 million investment platform aimed at accelerating progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Florian Kemmerich at Bamboo Capital Partners and Lucica Ditiu of the Stop TB Partnership spoke with NextBillion to share a behind-the-scenes look at how the initiative aims to reach its goals by 2030.
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Investing from the ‘Frontier of the Frontier’: Lessons from Ten Years as an Investment Advisor in Africa
With six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies, Africa is an attractive target for investors. But investing there doesn’t always come easy. Ten years ago, Andreas Zeller moved to Nairobi and co-founded Open Capital Advisors, which helps investors access African markets, and helps African businesses become investment-ready. In this interview, Zeller discusses how development and donor agencies can remove the barriers to investment throughout the continent.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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‘Failing to Win’ as a Social Entrepreneur: A Q&A with Zoona Co-Founder Mike Quinn
Mike Quinn had no savings when he co-founded Zoona in Zambia in 2009. He also had $50,000 in student debt. During an early cash crisis, he had to ask his retired parents to mortgage their house and wire him $100,000. Yet he and his co-founders built Zoona into one of Africa’s first fintech success stories before Quinn stepped away last year. In this Q&A – the first in our series “The Untold Stories of Social Entrepreneurs” – he discusses the lessons he learned from Zoona’s successes and failures.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, NextBillion Originals
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