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The Future of Digital Credit: A Recent Report Explores How to Make its Second Decade More Impactful Than its First
The first online lending platforms began emerging roughly two decades ago, and since then, the global digital credit market has grown to reach many formerly excluded customers. But according to Dan Cassara, previously at CEGA, this growth has raised concerns about over-indebtedness, exploitation and scams. As the market looks toward the coming decades, he shares a recent report that investigates digital credit — particularly Mobile Instant Credit and airtime loans — and explores approaches that can better protect consumers and support their financial health.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Inclusion Requires Interoperability: Why All Digital Financial Services Should be Interoperable
As of 2021, there were 1.4 billion financially excluded people globally — over 1 billion fewer than there were in 2011. As Briana Marbury at the Interledger Foundation explains, mobile money and other digital financial products and services have helped to drive this progress, reaching populations that have traditionally been excluded. But she argues that this momentum has highlighted an emerging issue that could limit the impact of the growth in financial inclusion: the lack of interoperability between digital systems.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Spatialedge, an AI Startup Based in South Africa, Secures $3.1 Million in Funding
Spatialedge, a South African startup providing data and applied artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, has raised ZAR60 million (US$3.1 million) to further its goal of revolutionising the retail sector.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Comparing Business Models for Scaling Access to Productive Use of Energy Appliances in Agriculture: The Advantages of Pay-Per-Use
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) appliances — including solar refrigerators, water pumps and more — can boost productivity, income and quality of life in vulnerable communities. But as Ankur Singh, Argha Ghose and Clementine Chambon at Oorja explain, challenges like high upfront costs, lack of financing and poor after-sales service hinder their adoption among these consumers. They explore several business and end-user financing models that can support PUE uptake in agriculture, and explain why the pay-per-use model is uniquely suitable for low-income consumers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Technology
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Rwanda Gets €100 Million from European Investment Bank For Sustainable Agriculture
This initiative aims to transform rural Rwandan agriculture by making credit more accessible to agritech startups and agribusinesses.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Fship Ties up With India Post for Last-Mile Delivery of E-commerce Products
The collaboration will benefit Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) startups as well as small and medium businesses across India by enhancing last-mile delivery services for e-commerce products, the company said.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Microsoft Announces US $2.2 Billion Investment to Fuel Malaysia’s Cloud and AI Transformation
Today, Microsoft announced it will invest US$2.2 billion over the next four years to support Malaysia’s digital transformation – the single largest investment in its 32-year history in the country.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Norrsken22 Invests $205 Million in Africa’s Growing Fintech Sector
Lexi Novitske expects a rebound beyond pre-2020 levels despite a dip in 2023.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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