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Disconnects Between Minigrid Policy Stakeholders Keep Sector’s Bankability at Bay
Minigrids have yet to scale on a trajectory reflective of their massive potential.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Apeel Gets More Cash To Fight Poverty and Food Insecurity in Emerging Markets With Its Food-Preserving Tech
In the first real test of the potentially transformative power of its food-preserving technology, Santa Barbara, California-based Apeel Sciences is bringing its innovative food treatment and supply chain management services to distribution centers in select markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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Press Release: WorldRemit Sees Remittances To Zimbabwe Double in Six Months and Introduces New Retail Partnership With Ok Zimbabwe
Earlier this year, the World Bank forecasted that in the wake of the Covid-19 economic crisis, remittance flows to Sub Saharan Africa would fall by 23.1%. However today, WorldRemit, the global online money transfer service has reported that the demand for their remittance services to Zimbabwe continues to grow at an accelerated rate and has doubled in the last six months for the company.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Startups and Venture Capital vs. COVID-19: How an INR 1 Billion Grant Program Is Boosting India’s Pandemic Response
India is home to many innovative startups that are leveraging technology to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. To support them, a group of prominent venture capital funds and founders recently launched ACT Grants, an INR 1 billion effort to fund scale-ready solutions to COVID-related challenges. NextBillion spoke with Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam Learning Foundation – a key partner in the initiative – about how it is helping India’s startups ramp up their battle against the virus.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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The Quest for Financial Inclusion in Sri Lanka
Financial Inclusion is essential for continuous and sustainable economic development, according to the IFC (International Finance Corporation). This is no exception for Sri Lanka despite showing strong numbers in bank penetration.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- financial inclusion, MSMEs
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African Money Transfer Firms Thrive as Pandemic Spurs Online Remittances
Having fled an economic implosion in his native Zimbabwe, Brighton Takawira was able to support his mother back home with modest earnings from a small perfume business he set up in South Africa. Then the pandemic struck. Borders closed. The buses he had used to send his cash stopped running.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Is COVID-19 Driving Growth in Digital Currencies?
With purchases and transactions increasingly moving away from cash and towards digital channels during the pandemic, both central banks and private institutions around the world are continuing to explore the potential of digital currencies.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments
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Fintech Startup TeamApt Now Operates Nigeria’s Largest Non-Bank Mobile Money Platform
Moniepoint, the mobile money platform launched last year by Nigerian fintech startup TeamApt, has become the largest non-bank mobile money service in the country, processing 13 million transactions monthly.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa