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Research as a catalyst to grow technology clusters in Africa
Africa’s poor standing mirrors an unfortunate reality that has seen research and development given less importance, both in building scalable products or an active technology community.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- Africa, innovation, research, technology
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Three Ways Entrepreneurs Can Tackle Climate Change (Hint: It’s Not Just About Scale)
There are ways entrepreneurs can make sizeable impacts on climate change without Facebook-like growth curves. Jean-Louis Racine says investors should follow the lead of the venture capital sector and support startups that won't grow or be profitable. Traditional impact metrics such as goods sold, customers served, revenues generated or jobs created no longer apply. The best way to catalyze a climate technology market is to help ensure that innovative high-risk, low-growth ventures don't fall through the cracks.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Financial Inclusion, Technology
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Illuminating the developing world’s “invisible” consumers
Texting-based surveys capture purchasing and behavior data from people living in remote areas.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Unitus fund’s latest StartHealth winners spotlight rise of medical tech innovation in India
Unitus Seed Fund, one of India's best-known impact venture funds that backs early-stage startups innovating for the masses, has named two winners of its StartHealth startup contest, which show medical tech innovation is taking off in India.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Malawi opens drone testing corridor for humanitarian efforts
The air corridor is a result of the partnership with the UN's children's agency and officials say it opens up the possibility for "potential humanitarian" drone use in the southeast African country.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- aid agencies, drones, humanitarian aid, Malawi, technology, UNICEF
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How Blockchains Could Revolutionize International Aid
It’s this sort of problem–a lack of traceability in aid–that encouraged Thompson to develop a system to transfer and track international development payments. AID:Tech is one of several startups working with blockchain technology, trying to ensure more funds go where they’re supposed to go. “Transparency is really needed in aid and welfare payments because there’s not a functioning system that works globally,” he says.
- Categories
- Financial Inclusion, Technology
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Bridging financial inclusion with technology is key
Sonny Singh, Senior VP and GM of Oracle's Financial Services Global Business Unit, tells Anup Jayaram how the company is helping facilitate digital banking in India.
- Categories
- Financial Inclusion, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Race to Solar-Power Africa
The spread of cell phones in the region has made it possible for residents to pay daily or weekly bills using mobile money, and now the hope is that, just as cell phones bypassed the network of telephone lines, solar panels will enable many rural consumers to bypass the electric grid. From Ghana, I travelled to Ivory Coast, and then to Tanzania, and along the way I encountered a variety of new solar ventures, most of them American-led. Some, such as Ghana’s Black Star Energy, which had electrified Daban, install solar microgrids, small-scale versions of the giant grid Americans are familiar with. Others, such as Off-Grid Electric, in Tanzania and Ivory Coast, market home-based solar systems that run on a panel installed on each individual house.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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