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South African Anti-Fraud Startup Orca Secures $2.35 Million Seed Round to Protect Emerging Market Payment Rails
As financial inclusion accelerates across Africa, largely driven by mobile money and e-wallets, cybercrime has followed suit. According to an Interpol report, South Africa was the most cyber-attacked country on the continent and the third most globally in 2021.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Pesalink and PAPSS Unlock Cross-Border Payments in Local Currencies in Kenya
The partnership enables instant 24/7 cross-border payments from PAPSS participants into banks and mobile money operators within the Pesalink network in Kenya, all settled in local currencies.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Airtel Money Gets $2.2 Billion Injection as It Takes on Jio Financial
Airtel Money, a “high-performance credit engine”, aims to narrow the credit gap, as millions of Indians are still without a traditional bank account.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Analysis: The Broken Narrative About Nonprofit Sustainability at Scale
The dominant narratives about sustainable financing at scale can leave nonprofits questioning many of their foundational decisions.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation, WASH
- Region
- Global
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NSIA, JICA Plan $50 Million Fund to Empower Startups in Nigeria
The fund will provide capital to pre-seed, seed, and early-stage start-ups, addressing critical social challenges in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, energy, waste and water management.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Finance, Health Care, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Creating a Local Means of Exchange for African Entrepreneurs: How a Blockchain-Based Community Currency Gained Traction in Tanzania
In African communities, the lack of disposable income often hinders economic growth, and many local entrepreneurs are excluded from centralized, formal finance. Malik El Bay at the Encointer Association and Alinagwe Mwaselela at Jukumu NGO explore how their organizations are addressing this issue by leveraging blockchain technology to enable community members in Dar es Salaam to independently create and manage their own local cryptocurrency. They explain how this community currency model can be leveraged to support economic growth and entrepreneurship across Africa and other emerging markets.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Press Release: SMFG and IFC Partner to Launch the World’s First Digital Inclusion Bond, Supporting Growth and Job Creation through MSMEs in Emerging Markets
This landmark transaction marks IFC’s first investment in a thematic bond focused on digital inclusion as well as its first investment in Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity (TLAC)-eligible instruments in the Asia Pacific region.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Analysis: BII’s Problem Isn’t Ambition, It’s Capital—and Here’s How to Fix It
The UK’s development budget is under sustained pressure, with planned reductions from £15.4 billion to £9.2 billion, a reduction of roughly £6.1 billion by 2027.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Global
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