-
Making Tech Work: How Local Know-How Can Improve Digital Financial Inclusion Solutions in Challenging Markets
Technology can eliminate inefficiencies, collect valuable information and expand access to critical services. But technological solutions often replace indigenous, ad-hoc approaches which – though they may appear incomplete and messy – reflect the knowledge and relationships of the parties involved. Asa Nyaga at BFA explores how Farmerline, a Ghana-based tech company serving smallholders, aligned the product design of a new app with the ideas and understandings of its target users.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Technology
-
Technology cannot solve all of Africa’s problems, but it can help with many
That tech and innovation can play a big role in making some countries richer than others is not in question. About half the differences in GDP per person between countries are due to differences in productivity.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
How India Is Moving Toward a Digital-First Economy
On November 8, 2016, India’s government did something that no other government had attempted before at the same scale: It decided to remove 86% of the country’s currency notes by value from circulation. Over the months that followed, more than 1 billion people participated in a “reboot” of the country’s financial and monetary system. An active debate has since ensued as to how the transition unfolded.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
-
Viewpoint: Poor policy slowing Kenya’s ICT sector as neighbors take lead
Today, much of the traction witnessed in the last seven years has slowed to a crawl. Growth in Kenya’s ICT sector has petered out and the country is now struggling to attract fresh technology financing and prove its competitiveness amidst competition from new emerging markets such as Rwanda and Ethiopia. A recent report looking into startup financing in the region found that local e-health startups barely managed to take two per cent of Sh1.9 billion in funding that went to the sector in the last three years.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public policy
-
The Curious Case of Myanmar: Can the Country Leapfrog to Digital Financial Inclusion?
Fueled by years of repressed demand, cheap Chinese phones, softening regulations and an aggressive push by the country’s mobile network operators, Myanmar leapfrogged from practically zero phones to almost exclusively smartphones. Looking at this stark contrast, a natural question arises – can Myanmar leapfrog from financial exclusion to "digital" financial inclusion, just as it did in telecom?
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Making it Rain: Solar-Powered Irrigation and the ‘Household Productivity Ladder’
Solar energy can be put to many constructive uses in emerging market households, but SunCulture focuses on helping smallholder farmers move water. Why? Because it has the greatest impact on a key area: household productivity. Their CEO Samir Ibrahim shares the story of a SunCulture customer, whose experiences highlight the value of solar-powered irrigation to 2.5 billion farmers living on less than $2 a day.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Social Enterprise, Technology
-
Report: The African digital revolution is gaining pace
Consumers in Africa expect interactions with brands and businesses to be seamless, convenient and immediate and businesses across the continent are seeing the digital transformation as a way to develop new operational business models that can deliver on these demands.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Africa’s e-health start-ups rise, but not all are mobile-first based
Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are early hotspots for e-health entrepreneurs, but research shows a rise in start-ups with substantial communities of e-health innovators emerging in Uganda, Ghana, Egypt and Senegal.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- startups
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.