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Africa’s Tech Edge
How the continent's many obstacles, from widespread poverty to failed states, allowed African entrepreneurs to beat the West at reinventing money for the mobile age.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- digital payments
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DataWind Rolls Out an Affordable Bridge to Education
DataWind, a leading developer of wireless web access and products, and the manufacturer of the world’s lowest cost android tablet PC, announced that it has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA).
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- Technology
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Opinion: Can science eliminate extreme poverty?
There is always hope that scientific innovations will help solve global problems. So can scientists help solve the globe’s ultimate problem: eliminate extreme poverty?
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- Technology
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Google Acquires Titan Aerospace, the Drone Company Pursued by Facebook
Google has acquired Titan Aerospace, the drone startup that makes high-flying robots which was previously scoped by Facebook as a potential acquisition target (as first reported by TechCrunch), the WSJ reports. The details of the purchase weren’t disclosed, but the deal comes after Facebook disclosed its own purchase of a Titan Aerospace competitor in U.K.-based Ascenta for its globe-spanning Internet plans.
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- Technology
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Weekly Roundup – The Indispensable Platform: The growing importance of mobile access to businesses that serve the poor
With over 50 percent of people in the developing world having access to a cell phone, mobile access has become an indispensable platform for businesses and services focused on the BoP. We discuss its impact and potential in this week’s Roundup.
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- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Impact Assessment, Technology, Telecommunications
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Cashless Education: How mobile money helps Bridge International Academies deliver quality for-profit education for $6 a month – Part 5 in our Digital Finance Plus series
Bridge International Academies has integrated mobile money fully into its business. All of the school’s 300+ branches accept no cash, using mobile money for school fees, student lunch purchases, payments to staff and vendors, and expense reimbursements. In part 5 of our Digital Finance Plus series, Marie Leznicki explains how going cashless helps Bridge maintain its customer focus.
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- Education, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Leveraging Loyalty: How m.Paani is mobilizing BoP consumer behavior for social good – Part 4 of our Digital Finance Plus series
Whether they’re frequent flyer miles or credit card rewards points, loyalty programs are a mutually beneficial way for companies to build relationships with customers. m.Paani is using digital finance tools to take that model in a new direction, by connecting BoP households’ commercial and social behaviors to points that can be redeemed for socially beneficial rewards.
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- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology
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The Social Network for Smallholder Farmers : From fertilizer tips to the best seeds, connecting farmers to accurate info
LISA is a mobile social network platform for registered farmers to ask agriculture experts and other farmers questions through SMS (text) messages. It was created by Mercy Corps’ partner 8Villages as part of the aid agency’s Agri-Fin Mobile program.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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