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Ex-network International Execs Raise $6.75 Million for Enza, an African Fintech Serving Banks
The fintech, which has raised $6 million in seed funding, is building infrastructure for banks and fintechs, offering a range of local payment solutions, from cards to wallets to real-time payments.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, infrastructure, MSMEs, scale, startups
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Fueling Change: The Multiple Impacts of Increasing Liquefied Petroleum Gas Usage in Rural India
To address the negative impacts of cooking with biomass fuel, the Indian government launched a program in 2018 that offers free access to a clean gas cookstove and a refillable cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). But as Shobhit Mishra and Vaishaly Shrimall at MSC explain, the program faced logistical challenges that limited uptake among rural households. They explore the barriers that hinder the adoption of gas cooking in rural India, and discuss the impact of an MSC program that leverages self-help groups to boost LPG uptake while creating entrepreneurship opportunities for local women.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Finance
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Analysis: AI’s Promise: A New Era for Financial Inclusion
Leveraged properly, this AI revolution holds immense promise for financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Global
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Viewpoint: Indian Microfinance Sector Must Transform Before It’s Too Late
Borrowers are juggling multiple loans—sometimes 6 or more—from MFIs, SHGs, local moneylenders, and even app-based lenders. Field staff are exhausted. Community ties that once held JLGs together are fraying. And loan officers are under pressure, leading to shortcuts, fraud, and rising stress levels.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Yango Ventures Launches USD 20 Million Fund to Boost Startups Across Emerging Markets
Dubai-based Yango Group launched a USD 20M venture fund to back early-stage startups in MENA, Pakistan, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Global
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Opinion: the US Aid Crisis Is an Opportunity for Outcome-Based Finance
"Outcome-based funding is a ready-made solution as the future of USAID and global development funding more broadly hangs in the balance."
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Global
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African Development Bank to Unlock $10 Billion for African Farmers With New $500 Million Facility
"The facility, designed to close the financing gap for smallholder farmers, will deploy innovative financial instruments. . . "
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, lending, scale, smallholder farmers
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The Emergence of Tokenisation in Microfinance: How this Blockchain-Based Technology is Driving Faster Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs In Emerging Markets
Tokenisation — the process of leveraging blockchain to create digital tokens that represent real-world assets — is gaining significant momentum, with some estimating that it could become a $3.8 trillion market by 2030. According to Michele Mattioda at Mikro Kapital, the microfinance industry — and the small and medium enterprises it supports — have a lot to gain from the tokenisation wave. He explores how tokenisation is gradually making inroads into the sector, and discusses Mikro Kapital's experience launching the market’s first tokenised bonds to raise proceeds for microfinance institutions.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology