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Mobile Money Amplified: Mondato Summit Africa to discuss the continent’s digital future in Johannesburg on June 2 – 3
A second generation of mobile financial tools and providers looks set to transform Africa’s economies. But while the outlines of Africa’s digital future may be faintly discernible, the substance is far from clear. Mondato Summit Africa, on June 2 - 3 in Johannesburg, South Africa, will seek to identify the key issues that will shape the evolution of African mobile commerce & finance in the years ahead.
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The Art of Saving – Look to the Giraffe, the Ant and the Zebra: A parable informs financial inclusion training in Ethiopia
My Amharic skills are basic at best, but I have managed to learn the names of a few animals, including “gundan,” which means ant. In the middle of a recent savings and credit training session we conducted with farmers in northern Ethiopia, one trainer used the word "gundan." "What does an ant have to do with savings?" I asked.
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- Agriculture
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Going Digital Sustainably: How microfinance providers can balance business needs, technology constraints and the customer value proposition
A strong digital financial services model can reduce distribution costs and increase revenue for financial institutions that serve the poor. But the transition to digital requires an understanding of the full implications of the new service, and a strategy to encourage customer behaviors that will yield a successful investment. Grameen Foundation offers tips in the latest post in their series on what it takes for MFIs to go digital.
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- microfinance
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NCDs Threatening Health Insurance: Innovations, partnerships offer ways to mitigate the impact
Non-communicable diseases have become the leading cause of death and disability worldwide?, carrying immense implications for insurance programs. However, ?there are opportunities? for public and private insurers to create and expand disease detection and management systems to mitigate the incidence and effect of NCDs.
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- Health Care
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NexThought Monday: Is Faster Necessarily Better?: As India’s financial inclusion initiatives race forward, questions linger about its microfinance-focused MUDRA
The pace of recent financial inclusion initiatives in India has been supersonic. Since August of last year, banks have opened 147 million new accounts, thanks largely to government programs. But while this progress is exciting, there are a number of unanswered questions about the real impact of these initiatives, including the new microfinance refinancer/regulator MUDRA.
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Twitter Top 10
What do magic, humor, banking and libraries have in common? Not much, unless you’re talking about NextBillion’s weekly Top 10 tweets.
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- Health Care
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- product design
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Weekly Roundup – the Social Enterprise: Solution to the Migrant Crisis
The San Francisco-based Not For Sale is a nonprofit that works with the victims of human trafficking, providing them with job training, counseling and other resources that help them enter a legitimate work environment. NSF’s work, and that of its business incubator, might be a model to emulate considering this week’s tragedy in the Mediterranean, which claimed the lives of hundreds of migrant workers.
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- Social Enterprise
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‘A Mark of Pride, Not Shame’: Momentum and challenges in the ethical supply chain movement, two years after the Rana Plaza tragedy
The Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed two years ago today, killing over 1,130 workers. The tragedy has added new urgency to the movement to force major brands to consider the ethical practices of their sourcing. Aarong, one of Bangladesh’s largest fashion retail chains, discusses signs of momentum for the movement, and the challenges of monitoring compliance to ethical sourcing principles.
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- Environment
