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‘Opportunity Zones’ Fall Short on Helping Low-Income Communities, Study Finds
“Opportunity zones,” a cornerstone of the White House plan to combat racial inequality, have mainly helped large real estate projects while many low-income communities have yet to benefit, according to a new study.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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Intelligence Brief: How Is COVID-19 Affecting Emerging Markets?
The Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and resulting widespread shift in working patterns and increased demand for home entertainment has thrust communications and the resiliency of telecoms networks to the fore. The outbreak has, and will continue to have, sweeping effects on all aspects of the global economy. As social distancing and travel disruption continue to impact supply and demand, a reduction of global GDP growth by 4.5 percentage points is expected in 2020, with a direct knock-on effect to the telecoms sector among others.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Impact Assessment, Uncategorized
- Tags
- e-commerce
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Viewpoint: Why Tech Didn’t Save Us From COVID-19
America's paralysis reveals a deep and fundamental flaw in how the nation thinks about innovation.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Health Care, Technology
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Press Release: Investing in Africa’s People Yields Impact, Strengthens Efforts to Beat Pandemic
'Investing in women and girls is essential to deliver on the promise of development. It's that simple,' said Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa. 'That's why we have helped our clients with over $2.2 billion of new World Bank-financed projects investing in women's health, education, and job opportunities.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, WASH
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Cash Transfers in the U.S. are Exploding: Here’s How to Make them Effective, During COVID-19 and Beyond
The U.S., like over 130 countries around the world, has deployed direct cash transfers to mitigate the hardships of COVID-19. But as Sheida Isabel Elmi and Rachel Black at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program point out, many U.S. households were financially insecure even before the pandemic began. They argue that cash transfers should be an ongoing response to these vulnerabilities, and share research on how to leverage these programs for the fullest benefit.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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African Payment Startup Chipper Cash Raises USD $13.8M
African cross-border fintech startup Chipper Cash has closed a $13.8 million Series A funding round led by Deciens Capital and plans to hire 30 new staff globally.
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Rural Fintech Startup Jai Kisan Raises USD$3.9 million From Nabard-Back Fund, Others
Jai Kisan, a Mumbai-based fintech platform, on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 30 crore funding from Arkam Ventures with participation of a fund backed by NABARD.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- fintech, rural development, startups
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Bangladesh Faces a Crisis in Remittances Amid COVID-19
The economic importance of the more than 10 million migrants from Bangladesh who sent close to $18 billion in 2019 cannot be overstated. International remittances normally represent around 7% of Bangladesh’s GDP. But the COVID-19 pandemic is having an acute effect on Bangladeshi migrants abroad, who are largely concentrated in countries with strict lockdown measures. Considering the large volume of Bangladeshi migrants in the Middle East, secondary economic impacts through depressed demand and falling oil prices will also likely add strain to the flow of remittances.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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