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IFC and We-Fi Help Tackle Gender Financing Gap Through IFC ScaleX
To help tackle the financing gap that women entrepreneurs still face, particularly in emerging markets, IFC and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) launched today a new call for applications for IFC ScaleX.
- Region
- Global
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Making Financial Health a Global Reality: Four Strategic Directions for Increasing Customer-Centricity and Business Growth
Financial service providers that focus on improving their customer experience report growing revenue and greater profits. Yet as Pallavi Dhakal, Ankita Singh and Neha Kumar at UNCDF’s Centre for Financial Health point out, despite some notable progress, the financial services sector still has far to go to achieve customer-centricity – particularly in emerging markets. They share in-depth research that explores how providers in these markets can become more customer-centric by prioritizing financial health in their business strategy.
- Categories
- Finance
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Revenue-Based Financing Platform a55 Receives USD$16.3 Million Series B Investment Led by Movile to Accelerate Growth
a55, a leading revenue-based financing platform in Latin America, has received USD$16.3 million Series B investment led by Movile, a long-term investor and accelerator for LatAm tech companies.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- blockchain, data, financial inclusion, fintech
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Savings-Led Digital Finance: The Dawn of a New Era?
The digital lending market surpassed $300 billion in 2020, with significant growth among emerging markets customers who access “instant loans” from their mobile phones. But according to Philip Acton and Finn Tiedemann at DreamStart Labs Inc., there are growing concerns about the risky practices used by some of these digital lenders. They argue that one solution may come from a new generation of “savings-led” digital finance apps that use clients' savings capacity as a proxy for their ability to repay loans – a development they describe as an important milestone in digital finance.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Linking the Needs of Customers and Providers: A Framework for Effective Financial Health Measurement
Many financial service providers (FSPs) want to improve the financial health of their low-income users, but they often struggle to measure it. According to Nishant Kumar and Sonal Agrawal at Lakshya, one key challenge is that many FSPs don't see the business benefits of investing in financial health measurement. They share three principles that can help providers understand the distinct needs of different user groups, and develop a measurement methodology that links customers with interventions that impact their financial health – while boosting the FSPs' bottom line.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Tugende Raises $17 Million in Debt to Expand Vehicle, Equipment Financing for MSMEs in Kenya, Uganda
Tugende, a financial technology (fintech) firm specializing in vehicle finance in Uganda and Kenya, recently raised USD 17 million in debt funding.
- Categories
- Finance, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenyan Fintech Startup Paylend Raises $2 Million Seed Funding
Kenyan fintech startup Paylend has raised US$2 million in seed funding to expand operations at home and launch in Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- financial inclusion, fintech, MSMEs
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Nigerian Mobility-Tech Startup MAX Bags $31 Million in Series B Round, Set To Expand Across Africa, Build EV Infrastructure
Nigerian mobility tech startup Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX) is planning to enter more markets across Africa as it races toward formalizing the continent’s transportation sector after securing $31 million in Series B funding.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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