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Analysis: A Defining Moment for African Economic Transformation
For the first time, the world’s largest economies gathered on the continent to examine the unfair cost of capital, the inefficiencies that block domestic investment, and the reforms needed to support Africa’s trajectory toward a more prosperous, equitable future.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Zazu Raises $1 Million Pre-Seed Round to Reinvent SME Banking Across Africa
With more than 50 SMEs already in beta and over 1,000 businesses on its waitlist, Zazu aims to serve Africa’s 50 million underserved SMEs.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, MSMEs, startups
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Mastercard Unveils SME Card With Built-in Cybersecurity Solutions to Help Small and Medium Businesses Thrive in the Digital Economy
The innovative features, including my cyber risk and identity theft protection, help protect SMEs from growing cyber threats while supporting their digital transformation.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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BHub Raises $10 Million to Bring AI to Brazil’s Accounting Market
BHub, a Brazilian financial back-office solution for SMEs in Latam, raised a $10M extension round, bringing its total funding to $55M.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Analysis: How Wise’s Entry Into South Africa Could Transform International Money Transfers
This marks Wise’s first fully licensed operation on the African continent, a milestone with big implications.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African Development Group Group Grants $100 Million Loan to EAAIF to Support Sustainable Infrastructure
The financing, approved by the Board of Directors, will help the Fund attract private investment and support projects in renewable energy, digital connectivity, transport and other key sectors that promote inclusive growth and climate resilience.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Global
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Financing Off-Grid Solar: A Pioneering Provider in Honduras Shows the Impact of Diversified Funding
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and many of its most remote regions remain unserved by the electricity grid. Richenda Van Leeuwen at Hummingbird Green Solutions and Richard Stuebi and Jesse Colman at Boston University explore how Soluz Honduras is bringing freezers and other solar products to these markets by leveraging a variety of different financing models — an approach that shows how diversified funding can enable businesses to serve even the hardest-to-reach areas and the poorest of customers. (In celebration of our 20th anniversary, NextBillion is highlighting key articles from our decades of coverage of different sectors on our homepage below, with a current focus on energy.)
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Pay-As-You-Go Solar Kit Sales Surge 54% in Sub-Saharan Africa in H1 2025
The report shows that PAYGo sales, where customers purchase solar kits in installments, surpassed cash sales for the first time since 2018.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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