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NexThought Monday – The Cash Paradox: Is cash the poor’s best friend – or secret enemy?
Advocates for the poor often argue that cash is the most trustworthy payment instrument - especially for the unbanked. And a cash economy would appear to offer them advantages in inclusiveness and convenience. But as Bhaskar Chakravorti describes it, the poor also pay a heavy price for the usage of cash, both in the U.S. and in emerging economies.
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- Uncategorized
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Weekly Roundup – 6/28/14: “A New Day” for Impact Investing?
On June 25, the Obama White House hosted a roundtable on impact investing, at which over 20 corporations, banks, foundations, and individuals committed to invest more than $1.5 billion in new capital into companies and funds focused on social impact. Some hailed it as a turning point for the sector - but will it be enough? We discuss these developments in this week’s Roundup.
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- Investing
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ANDE’s State of the SGB Sector: The annual report shifts from making the case for SGBs to digging deeper on progress, challenges
Since 2009, the sector has raised $3 billion in committed capital. And last year, 22 SGB-inclined investment vehicles were launched, with the median target fund size reaching $66.5 million, up 33 percent from 2012.
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- impact investing, research
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Dispatches from the Mobile Money Revolution: Mondato Summit Africa highlights the dynamism (and tensions) behind the continent’s embrace of mobile finance
Africa is widely seen as ground zero in the mobile money revolution that’s sweeping the developing world. The Mondato Summit Africa brought some of the continent’s key mobile financial services players together for a lively, at times controversial discussion of the challenges and opportunities they face.
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- Uncategorized
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Community-based Health Care Delivery in China: Le-Nest’s membership fee model could translate to low-income populations
Le-Nest is addressing the gap in preventive health care and health management by bringing appropriate care and skills to its patients through existing community networks in Shanghai. It’s a model that could potentially be translated to lower-income populations.
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- Education, Environment, Health Care
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- scale
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Trouble Brewing in Microfinance?: Peru and Mexico’s microcredit sectors appear to be in danger of collapsing – and the market-driven model is to blame
In spite of its well-publicized struggles, the market-driven microcredit model remains a revered concept, linked to the belief that free markets and business solutions are the best solutions to poverty. But according to Milford Bateman, flaws in the market-driven model itself are responsible for grave challenges facing Peru and Mexico’s celebrated microcredit sectors.
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- Impact Assessment
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Mobilizing TB Lab Services: Portalabs offer high-quality diagnostic capacity at less cost than traditional facilities
TB laboratories are expensive to build, staff and maintain. New portable facilities address these problems and might offer scalable lab services in low- and middle-income countries.
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- Health Care
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Proliferation, Dominance, Evolution & Impact: Helix report examines the status of mobile money agents in Kenya
Kenya is the world leader in mobile money services, and these services depend largely on the strength of their agent networks. The Helix Institute of Digital Finance explores that topic in its third Agent Network Accelerator country report. It focuses on the proliferation of agents in the country, the effect of Safaricom’s dominance, how the agent network is evolving, and the impact it is having on financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Education
