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The Missing Link in Africa’s Tech Eco-System: From idea to biz plans, we need more pre-incubation – and this is how
There are now more 100 tech hubs across Africa. While we have been successful in creating spaces for innovators, the next task ahead of us as an ecosystem is to develop services that help young innovators to better define the problem they want to solve and develop a truly convincing value proposition that can scale.
- Categories
- Technology
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Indian E-Commerce Giant Snapdeal Buys Bill Payment Service FreeCharge
Snapdeal, the SoftBank- and eBay-backed online commerce company in India, has completed what it called “one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the internet industry in India” after it announced the acquisition of online transaction serviceFreeCharge.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending
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M-PESA Foundation Opens New Academy
The M-PESA Foundation has announced that it is constructing a state of the art, mixed boarding high school that will seek to provide a first class, unique education to gifted but economically disadvantaged children from all counties of Kenya.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Indian Mobile Wallet Leader MobiKwik Raises Close to $25 Million in Funding, Targets Another $100 Million By End of 2015
Mobile wallet company, MobiKwik, which has over 15 million users and 25,000 merchants, has announced that it raised close to $25 million in a Series B round led by Tree Line Asia. Cisco Investments, American Express and the existing investor, Sequoia Capital were part of the fund raising drive.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Social Media Network Saving Lives, No Internet Needed
At one of India’s most prestigious tech universities, IIT Delhi, assistant professor in technology for development Aaditeshwar Seth has been spearheading a social media network for the country’s rural and largely poor population—no Internet required.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Driving Financial Inclusion at 4G Speed
Base-of-the-pyramid financial services providers in emerging markets are increasingly using data analytics to pioneer new products for reaching the unbanked. Alifinance in China is using the underlying transaction data of vendors on the giant online platform Alibaba to underwrite small business loans. M-Shwari in Kenya leverages M-Pesa's mobile money data for short-term, unsecured credit. Cignifi analyzes cell phone usage to provide credit as well as savings propensity scores. Lenddo uses online social network data for credit risk assessment. Similarly, a number of companies including Tiaxa and MODE use cell phone data to extend immediate nano-credits to prepaid customers who run out of airtime balances.
- Categories
- Technology
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MIT Alum Hopes to Spread Tech-Boom Excitement in Young, Increasingly Connected Middle East
Some of the Middle East’s most promising entrepreneurs and deep-pocketed investors gathered at the Habtoor Grand Hotel here last month for the sixth edition of the ArabNet Digital Summit, one of the largest forums for the Middle East’s burgeoning startup industry.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- impact investing
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Obgyn Training in Sub-Saharan Africa Bolstered By New Collections Shared Both Online and Offline
U-M’s 1000+ OBGYN Project provides free access to educational materials to support ob-gyn training in Africa for improved maternal, newborn care.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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