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Transforming How Financial Service Providers and Fintechs Leverage Data: A New Free Tool Aims to Separate the Signal from the Noise
In today’s digital finance landscape, data is one of the most valuable assets. Yet as Sarah Corley at AllianceDFA and Mallory Sheff at DataKind explain, data remains siloed, fragmented and underutilized across the sector — and this challenge is particularly acute in emerging markets. They argue that this isn’t just a missed opportunity, but a structural barrier to inclusion and innovation, and share a free, open-access learning platform designed to help fintechs and other financial service providers turn data into action to fuel customer growth and retention.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Africa to Be Hit Hard as UK Foreign Aid Cuts Revealed
A Foreign Office report and impact assessment show the biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women's health and water sanitation with increased risks, it says, of disease and death.
- Categories
- Finance, Health Care, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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M-KOPA-Branded Smartphones Surpass 1 Million Sales in First Year in Kenya
Leading fintech company M-KOPA has achieved a remarkable milestone, surpassing 1 million sales of its branded smartphones within just 12 months of launch.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Swedfund Invests $10 Million to Support MSME Lending in East and Southern Africa
Swedfund, Sweden’s development finance institution, has signed a USD 10 million loan to Platcorp Holdings Limited to support lending to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Measuring Systems Change in Agricultural Finance in Africa: Practical Metrics and Guidance for Detecting and Tracking Real Change
Despite employing 65-70% of the region's population and contributing 20-40% of national GDPs, Africa's agriculture sector receives less than 3% of its overall commercial credit — and in some countries, that share hasn't changed for decades. But according to Carla Legros, a consultant and strategist in agricultural and inclusive finance, that doesn't necessarily mean that progress has stalled. She proposes a set of metrics for assessing whether systems change is actually happening in the continent's agricultural finance sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
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Brazil’s Neon Raises $129 Million in Series E Extension Round
Founded in 2016, Neon provides digital accounts, credit cards, personal loans, and investment products to customers in Brazil.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Ecobank Group and Google Cloud Announce Partnership to Accelerate Financial Inclusion and Innovation Across Africa
Google Cloud technologies aims to strengthen Ecobank’s platform for enhanced digital banking, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) support, and economic development on the continent.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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From COVID to Foreign Aid Cuts: How Community-Led Financial Access Can Help Women and Their Communities Weather Crises
The COVID pandemic had a substantial impact on women’s financial access in many emerging economies — an impact that persists to this day. Now, as Kathy Guis at Kiva explains, a new crisis is building, as foreign aid cuts and broader macroeconomic uncertainty reduce funding to financial service providers focused on women’s inclusion. She argues that despite the urgency of other global issues, access to financial services matters, and explores how Kiva hopes to grow its support for women and other vulnerable populations despite the challenging funding environment.
- Categories
- Finance
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