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Weekly Roundup: Romanticizing Castro, Bridge’s Troubled Waters and the Benefits of Cash
NB's Weekly Roundup makes the call on whether Cuba's high quality of health care justified Castro’s means of achieving it; ponders the future of a private education company under attack from public sector foes; helps debunk the assumption that poor people, when given cash, will squander it on cigarettes and alcohol; and brings up the possibility that data, as it relates to public health, is a business opportunity.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Technology
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Financial Inclusion Forum: The Technology Revolution
Technology was a recurring theme during the recent Financial Inclusion Forum. Eugene Amusin, chairman of the event, points out that while fintech is an enabler – it can decrease costs, providing new entrants with a competitive edge over incumbents who have legacy systems – there is a risk of new technology looking for problems to solve vs. creating technology to address identified obstacles.
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- Uncategorized
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How Catalyst Fund Helped PayGo Energy Build a Foundation for Growth
As startups move past a proof of concept and start to scale, they require whole new sets of systems, operational processes and skills that will allow them to grow and expand. A well-thought-out backend system can help make the transition, but building it requires a team with the technical expertise to implement the right changes.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- fintech, microfinance
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Technology Meets Impact: New Online Marketplace Aims to Expand the Reach of Impact Investing
ImpactUs aims to simplify the process of impact investing through an online platform that allows investors to identify and invest in products that provide social impact. In this email Q&A, Reginald Stanley, president and CEO of ImpactUs, explains how the platform works – and why it's needed.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
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An Opportunity for Small Businesses Expanding Affordable Internet Access: Grant Applications Open
New Sun Road designed, built and operated the first 24/7 metered electricity service on an off-grid island chain in the southern part of Uganda. It's exactly the type of small business – providing a critical service, creating jobs – that Microsoft aims to support with its Affordable Access Initiative. Applications are open for a new round of grants through the initiative, and will be accepted through Jan. 31.
- Categories
- Technology
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New Pathways to Financial Inclusion for Low-Income Women
Developing countries have made great strides on financial inclusion in recent years, but a gender gap remains. A new report analyzes women’s stories and their detailed cash flows over time from financial diaries data collected in Kenya, India and Mexico, offering insight into why women in emerging economies don’t use formal financial services to the same extent as men.
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- Uncategorized
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An MVP for Africa: Adapting Poverty Solutions to New Continents and Contexts
Fundación Capital has had success fighting extreme poverty in Latin America, using the Graduation model. Now it's transporting the model to new cultures and contexts on the other side of the Atlantic, starting in Tanzania and Mozambique. Fundación discusses the challenges it has faced in adapting its model to new languages and cultures, and the lessons it has learned in the process.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
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Breathing Life Into Oxygen Access: How New Partnerships are Saving Lives
Oxygen is a precious and rare commodity in health facilities in developing countries, and thousands of babies die for lack of it every year specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, where oxygen is seldom available and is very expensive. Partnerships such as Hewa Tele have made a dent in the global crisis, but the problem requires a concerted effort to scale solutions around delivery, knowledge and policy.
- Categories
- Health Care
