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Weekly Roundup: Romanticizing Castro, Bridge’s Troubled Waters and the Benefits of Cash
NB's Weekly Roundup makes the call on whether Cuba's high quality of health care justified Castro’s means of achieving it; ponders the future of a private education company under attack from public sector foes; helps debunk the assumption that poor people, when given cash, will squander it on cigarettes and alcohol; and brings up the possibility that data, as it relates to public health, is a business opportunity.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Technology
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Cash Still Trumps Mobile Payments and Bitcoin in Africa
According to the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion Index, Africa has the highest mobile money adoption rate in the world. Worldwide, only 2 percent of the population possesses a mobile money account; in Africa, 12 percent of the population uses mobile money.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Telcos to bankroll Zimbabwe’s Health Fund
Zimbabwe telecommunications companies are in for another fiscal whammy - a new 5 cents levy on every US$1 worth of airtime and data top ups which will go into a Health Fund to resource the country's ailing health delivery sector.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile wallet firms see positive impact from new authentication rule in India
The removal of two-factor authentication for card transactions below Rs2,000 has made it easier for credit and debit card users, but digital wallets do not have much to worry from the change, industry executives and analysts said.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Stellar Partners ICICI Bank, Enables Blockchain Money Transfers in India, Africa and Philippines
Stellar, the open blockchain platform and non-profit payment protocol has unveiled a slew of new partners including, notably, India’s largest private bank by consolidated assets ICICI, to bring low-cost, near instantaneous remittance solutions in India, the Philippines, Africa and Europe.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- blockchain, fintech, remittances
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Cash transactions surge at Indian microfinance firms after note ban
Restrictions on cash withdrawals have had the perverse effect of boosting cash transactions in microfinance companies. Microlenders are hoarding cash received in repayments and then disbursing it to customers directly rather than depositing it into bank accounts, officials of at least three firms said.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Paytm to merge its mobile wallet service with its payments bank in India
One 97 Communications, the parent company of digital payments provider Paytm is preparing to merge its wallet service with the eponymous payments bank-- the licence for which is owned by its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma— once it receives regulatory approval.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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How Catalyst Fund Helped PayGo Energy Build a Foundation for Growth
As startups move past a proof of concept and start to scale, they require whole new sets of systems, operational processes and skills that will allow them to grow and expand. A well-thought-out backend system can help make the transition, but building it requires a team with the technical expertise to implement the right changes.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- fintech, microfinance
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