NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

How the Blockchain Brings Social Benefits to Emerging Economies

The technology promises to speed up and reduce the cost of transactions, and boost financial inclusion by providing more opportunities to farmers.

Source

Knowledge@Wharton (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Tags

blockchain, emerging economies, emerging markets, financial inclusion, social impact, technology

Mobile Industry Reports Increasing Impact Across all SDGs

The ‘2018 Mobile Industry Impact Report: Sustainable Development Goals’ from GSMA Intelligence finds that more than two-thirds of the global population are now connected to mobile technology.

Source

IISD SDGs (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Tags

fintech, global development, mobile money, mobile technology, SDGs

Josien Sluijs

A Roadmap to Food Security: Linking Geodata with Financial Inclusion to Support Smallholders

Smallholder farmers produce a staggering 70 percent of the world’s food, making them essential to food security. Geodata applications have been shown to improve these farmers’ yields and even boost their financial access – one of the main obstacles to increasing production. To help tap into these benefits, NpM’s Innovator’s Challenge brought together 17 tech companies with geodata-based solutions for smallholder financial inclusion. NpM director Josien Sluijs discusses the winning companies, and the broader potential of geodata-based innovation.

Categories

Agriculture, Finance, Technology

Tags

agriculture, agtech, events and competitions, financial access, financial inclusion, financial services, food security, global development, SDGs, smallholder farmers, social business, social enterprise, social innovation, value chains

Emerging Economies ‘More Open’ To AI For Business Management

The research study implied that although 84% of respondents think AI will make their job more interesting and effective, less than half that amount would trust its advice in business decisions.

Source

Forbes (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Tags

artificial intelligence, business, emerging economies, employment, jobs, technology

How Facebook uses ‘WhatsApp phones’ to tap next emerging market

Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent, and India’s richest man, who started Reliance Jio, are teaming up to draw hordes of customers with cheap phones, rock-bottom rates and handy messaging services.

Source

Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Region

South Asia

Tags

mobile phones, social media

Google Impact Challenge Kenya Finalists Unveiled

Google has announced the 12 finalists for the first Google Impact Challenge in Kenya, which sought to identify and fund the most innovative social enterprises using technology to improve society on a local or national scale.

Source

Capital FM Kenya (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Entrepreneurship, Technology

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Tags

emerging markets, social business, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social impact, social innovation

Gamblers’ paradise: Kenyans’ love for betting and thirst for quick cash

Kenyan gamblers' gold mine booms as the number of registered betting firms in the country rise to 36, four of them in the last seven months.

Source

Nairobi News (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Viewpoint: The Technology Space Is Rapidly Evolving in Africa, and It’s Not All Good News

The lack of technology policy and its poor implementation can lead to economic and political instability, and the effects of this are magnified in African countries with weak rule of law.

Source

Fair Observer (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Technology

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Tags

data, digital payments, emerging economies, emerging markets, fintech, global development, technology