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WorldCover Raises $6m Round for Emerging Markets’ Climate Insurance
WorldCover’s platform uses satellite imagery, on-ground sensors, mobile phones and data analytics to create insurance options for farmers whose crop yields are affected adversely by weather events — primarily lack of rain.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tech’s Raid on the Banks
The implications are profound because banks are not ordinary firms. It is one thing for Blockbuster Video to be wiped out by a technological shift, but quite another if the victim is Bank of America.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- fintech
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Can Superplatforms Transform Financial Inclusion in the Least Developed Countries? Emerging Insights from Nepal
Superplatforms like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Alibaba are at the forefront of technology in countries around the world. But can their model work down market? Using insights generated by homegrown superplatforms in Nepal, Keyzom Ngodup Massally and Audrey Misquith at UNCDF discuss their potential to build a new-generation financial sector in the least developed countries.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Everything Investors Need to Know About the War on Cash
Physical forms of currency -- cash and personal checks -- are losing favor among global consumers to alternative forms of payment, including debit and credit cards, digital wallets, mobile commerce platforms, and, in some circles, even cryptocurrencies.
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In a Kenyan Refugee Camp, Business Ideas but Little Access to Credit
Refugee camps like Kakuma are effectively large towns with their own mini-economies. Although remote, Kakuma has a population of more than 185,000 people. Refugees here come from many backgrounds, and money circulates as they take on casual odd jobs – from construction to washing clothes – or start small businesses.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: Can the Microcredit Model Be Improved?
Microcredit is frequently touted as an effective policy tool to fight global poverty. But studies suggest that the long-term impact on recipients’ lives is limited. Yale SOM’s Mushfiq Mobarak and the University of Chicago’s Vikas Dimble write that microcredit can help more people by modifying and extending its model.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Equity Bank, Safaricom in a New Financial Inclusion Union
“At Safaricom, we are continuously driven to explore new ways to provide our customers with the best possible experience on our network. As we continue on our journey to become a more widely accessible digital platform, symbiotic partnerships like this one will unlock new opportunities for our entire ecosystem to benefit from enriched innovation – all based on a socially conscious business model,” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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India Unseats China as Asia’s Top Fintech Funding Source
Like China, India’s enthusiasm for finance technology is in part a result of the country’s lack of financial infrastructure. Lending startups are gathering steam as they, like their Chinese counterparts, tailor services to the country’s large unbanked and underbanked consumers and enterprises.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, startups