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Five African tech trends to look out for in 2018
The BBC's Clare Spencer picks five African tech trends to look out for in 2018.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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This New Blockchain Protocol Wants To Create Accountability For Social Impact
The Ixo Foundation, based in South Africa, is developing a “proof of impact” protocol allowing data about projects–for example, that a child has been vaccinated or that a tree has been planted–to be recorded on a distributed ledger (a blockchain)
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya ops slam regulator for failing to curb Safaricom
Safaricom’s rival operators hit out at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for failing to deal with the market leader’s dominance, after it removed controversial recommendations to split the company from a competition report.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Alibaba’s browser is overtaking Google’s in some emerging markets
Chinese internet giant Alibaba is overtaking Google in the race to capture mindshare among internet users in some emerging markets thanks to the popularity of its mobile browser, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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China Tightens Regulation Over Mobile Payment Apps — What’s Next For Tencent and Ant Financial?
Now that digital wallets like Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent’s Ten Pay have become near ubiquitous in the country, where the market for mobile payment reached $5.5 trillion as people use them to pay for clothes, groceries, taxi fares and utility bills, the government wants to bring oversight up to speed by regulating them exactly like banks, said Oliver Rui, a professor of finance at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai (CEIBS).
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Alibaba’s payments affiliate apologises for opting in users for credit scoring system
The incident comes as Chinese users grow increasingly concerned about user privacy and how China’s tech giants are handling personal information. In China, laws require companies to store users’ data on servers in the country, and Chinese tech companies reportedly pass on data when the Chinese government makes a request.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- credit scoring, data, fintech
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What was the Most Influential NextBillion Post of 2017? Vote for Your Favorite
“Fast away the old year passes.” That lyric from “Deck the Halls” always hits home this time of year – and in 2017, it resonates particularly strongly. Across the social sectors, the year often felt like a race against time (or against competing societal forces) and many of our most popular posts reflect that sense of urgency. Here are the most influential posts from the last twelve months, one from each month, in our sixth annual holiday contest. Vote early, vote often.
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Beyond ‘Send Money Home’: The Complex Gender Dynamics Behind Mobile Money Usage
In Kenya, gender doesn’t factor as strongly in accessing mobile money accounts as it does for formal sector accounts. This is surprising because in Africa women are less digitally connected than men. However, the networked nature of mobile money explains why more women adopt the technology. Susan Johnson writes that financial inclusion analysis and policy must factor in how women use their money, how it connects them to family and how financial services can facilitate this.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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