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South Africa Fintech Bridgement Raises $20 Million as Banks Back AI-Powered Business Lending
The RMB and Standard Bank funding enables Bridgement to expand its direct lending to SMEs and strengthen its position as a leading online business lender in South Africa.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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ADB, HDBank Sign $100 Million Loan to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs, Women-Owned Businesses in Viet Nam
The financing will support HDBank’s medium- to long-term lending, with at least 40% of ADB’s financing directed to WMSMEs to provide more opportunities for women business owners. Proceeds will be on-lent to eligible MSMEs in line with HDBank’s sustainable finance framework, expanding support for underserved segments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Airtel Africa Reduces Diesel Dependence
According to the World Broadband Association, the sector accounts for about 2% of global carbon emissions, while operators also have opportunities to reduce emissions through more efficient networks and lower-carbon energy sources.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Designing Credit Systems for Informal Economies: Why More Data Alone Is Not Enough
The global financing gap for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is estimated in the trillions. As Ayokunmi Sodamola argues, the reason for this gap is not that these enterprises exhibit poor financial behaviors — or even that there’s a lack of data that can be used to establish their creditworthiness. It's that standard credit assessment systems aren't designed to capture and interpret the data generated by their informal financial activities. He explores how lenders can build a more integrated approach that treats data, identity, trust, risk and incentives as interconnected layers of a single credit system.
- Categories
- Finance
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Report: South Africa Went Cashless – Except for the Millions Who Didn’t
A new industry report argues that the sector mistook innovation for inclusion and left informal markets behind.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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WhatsApp Gets New Chief as Meta Taps India’s CRED Founder Kunal Shah and Invests $900 Million in Startup
India has emerged as a key battleground for Meta’s ambitions in business messaging and digital payments, areas seen as critical to WhatsApp’s next phase of growth.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Report: Buy-Now-Pay-Later Reshapes South Africa Credit Landscape
A recent report reveals that BNPL is evolving beyond a simple payment tool and is increasingly serving as an entry point into the formal credit system for millions of consumers.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, e-commerce, fintech, lending, research
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MTN Targets Nigeria’s $236 Billion Credit Gap as its $500 Billion MoMo Business Pushes into Lending
MTN Group is moving to turn its African mobile-money empire into something much bigger than a payments business, as the telecoms giant prepares to separate its fintech operations in Nigeria and Uganda, bring in strategic investors, and push into lending across some of the continent’s most underbanked markets.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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