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Mauritius-based startup works on first Africa-developed blockchain
A Mauritius-based startup is working on the first highly-efficient mobile blockchain developed in Africa, which it says is set to see large-scale consumer adoption by 2021.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blockchain, fintech, startups
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SoftBank and Singtel are leading a pre-IPO $1.25 billion investment in Africa’s No.2 mobile phone company
Money raised from going public, alongside some of the new funding, will go towards cutting down the company’s existing $5 billion debt.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Creating a Culture of Innovation By Letting Employees Lead the Way
For nearly 30 years, Pro Mujer has been a regional leader in Latin America – not only in microfinance, but in women’s empowerment. But facing an evolving landscape with emerging technologies and new market participants, the organization realized that it needed to develop a more innovative approach. As it considered how to establish a culture of innovation, Pro Mujer turned to a surprising (yet intuitive) resource: its employees. Cassandra Salcedo, Associate Director of Strategy and Innovation at Pro Mujer, shares five key lessons the organization learned from the process.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Report: Ban on Aadhaar linking may crimp growth of financial players in India
Last month, the Supreme Court had declared the government's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Big Problem, Small Solution: Can Do-It-Yourself Processing Machines Help Combat Plastic Pollution?
From the viral video of a diver swimming in a sea of plastic, to National Geographic’s major focus on the topic this year, there’s growing public attention on the problem of plastic waste. So there was plenty of excitement when a Dutch engineer’s do-it-yourself plastic recycling machines started gaining traction around the world. Could the devices empower a global army of small entrepreneurs to turn plastic waste into revenue-generating products? The solution sounds appealing, but when Bali-based social enterprise Kopernik assessed its effectiveness, they came across one small problem.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Making AI Work for Africa: Why Google Must Go Local with its New Research Center in Ghana
In June, Google announced that it would open an Artificial Intelligence (AI) research center in Accra, Ghana later this year – one more sign of Africa’s vast untapped potential for AI innovation. But since developing countries will be hit hardest by manufacturing job losses caused by AI-fueled automation, Google must avoid “merely creating an African outpost for its pre-existing research efforts,” says Ghanaian entrepreneur Timothy Kotin. He explores the transformation impact that companies like Google could make if they invest in regional talent to develop locally relevant AI solutions.
- Categories
- Technology
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SEC launches a fintech hub called FinHub for Innovation and Financial Technology
The new portal will publish all the recent data from the SEC, and additionally, give a chance to start-ups to ask their very own inquiries and receive advice on the regulation of their venture.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- North America
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Africans Fear Trend Toward Taxes on Data, Mobile Money
The telecom companies say taxes on mobile payments introduced by a string of countries hurt their revenues and threaten much-needed investment in infrastructure.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa