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Digital Lending To Small Business in India Set To Surge, Says BCG-Omidyar Report
As the number of digital lending platforms rise and the availability of data around small businesses improves, digital lending to the country’s micro small and medium enterprises could surge, said a report co-authored by consulting firm BCG and philanthropic investor Omidyar Network.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital finance
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Report: Sub-Saharan Africa 2nd worst region in mobile gender gap
"Mobile access and use has grown dramatically in LMICs [low- and middle-income countries] in recent years, but not equally. A gender gap in both mobile ownership and mobile Internet use persists across these markets, and is significantly wider in certain regions, particularly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa," the report says.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Power of Messaging: How WhatsApp is Becoming a Not-So-Secret Weapon Among Small Enterprises in Emerging Markets
Doing business in emerging markets requires significant and often remote communication – from managing inventory to keeping track of transactions and employees in the field. But though donor-funded digitization efforts often focus on building payments use cases, some of the most needed advancements are happening via existing communications channels like WhatsApp, says Strategic Impact Advisors VP Hamilton McNutt. He explores the innovative ways companies are using WhatsApp – and how messaging apps could better serve their needs.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Viewpoint: Can South Asia be a fintech leader?
The World Bank reckons 560 million people, including 180 million in Pakistan and Bangladesh, are detached from the financial system. Perfect, you would think, for nimble mobile money services or challenger banks.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech
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Ten big global challenges technology could solve
None is easy, but all are incredibly important.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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AgroStar raises $27M funding led by Bertelsmann India
"We intend to invest more in data science and strengthen our technology capabilities so that we can provide better real-time and relevant information to more farmers in the country" said CEO Shardul Sheth.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- agtech, data, smallholder farmers, startups
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Viewpoint: Digital colonialism is threatening the Global South
Similar to the technical architecture of classic colonialism, digital colonialism is rooted in the design of the tech ecosystem for the purposes of profit and plunder. If the railways and maritime trade routes were the "open veins" of the Global South back then, today, digital infrastructure takes on the same role: Big Tech corporations use proprietary software, corporate clouds, and centralised Internet services to spy on users, process their data, and spit back manufactured services to subjects of their data fiefdoms.
- Categories
- Technology
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Report: Mixed emotions in emerging economies on smartphones, social media
Most of these people say they personally benefit from the technology: more than nine in 10 say the devices have helped them stay in touch with loved ones, and nearly eight in 10 said they use them to get news and information about important issues.
- Categories
- Technology
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