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The Impact of COVID-19 as Seen in Solar Payment Data – and How One Off-Grid Energy Company is Responding
Since COVID-19 began, the energy company Bboxx has been monitoring payment trends among its 250,000+ pay-as-you-go solar customers in 12 emerging markets. Analysts at Bboxx assess the data from four African countries, exploring what it says about the pandemic's impact on solar electricity users – and about how to support these customers during the crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Africa’s COVID-19 Moment: How Youth Startups Are Addressing the Pandemic – And What They Need to Reach the Next Level
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a young and increasingly entrepreneurial population. As Ahunna Eziakonwa at UNDP and Eleni Gabre-Madhin at blueMoon explain, many youth-led African startups are repurposing their businesses or launching new operations to address COVID-19. They profile some of these young innovators, and lay out four ways the global development community can support them.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Viewpoint: The Importance of Digital Microfinance for Emerging Markets in a COVID-19 World
Digital products and features that speak directly to customer needs are most likely to have an impact, particularly during a time when we’re seeing a spike in digital inquiries as a result of the stresses and concerns prompted by the pandemic. Real-time advice and quick access to practical solutions that enable quick action are among the most direct routes to improved financial health during an increasingly challenging time.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Post-Pandemic Funding Solutions for Struggling Social Entrepreneurs
Small business owners across the United States are confronting the fact that financial help from the federal government, if it comes at all, may not be enough to weather the COVID-19 crisis. Economic fallout from the pandemic and the specter of a recession pose threats to every entrepreneur, especially to those in the business of creating social impact.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship
- Region
- North America
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Supporting Women-led Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa During COVID-19: Strategies to Survive and Thrive
Women-led businesses in Africa face many obstacles, from limited access to finance and networks, to social and legal constraints – and COVID-19 has only added to that burden. In response, Nathalie Gogue Ebo and Angela Kerubo at Open Capital argue that governments, financiers and other players need to apply a gender lens approach when designing COVID-19 support for these enterprises.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship
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Press Release: Vodacom M-Pesa Tanzania Goes Global
Hisham Hendi, Vodacom Tanzania CEO lauds the move as crucial support for the remittance ecosystem. The mobile Money services continues to drive economic growth in Africa.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Report: Financial Inclusion Can Help Curb Detrimental Effects of Inequality
An academic from Queen Mary University of London has published a research paper which shows that financial inclusion could be a tool to curb the rise in poverty in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Bandhan Bank, Small Finance Banks in India Emerge as Job Creators Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
These lenders are in the process of raising staff strength by 5-10% in the next three-four months, although several others in the sector might be more circumspect. The new workforce will largely be deployed for client servicing and to boost repayment, people familiar with the matter said.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Asia Pacific