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A Hidden Driver of Financial Inclusion: Why Enabling Regulation is Essential to Fintech Success in Emerging Markets
Fintech innovation is jumpstarting financial inclusion around the world, driven in part by enabling regulation which allows providers to experiment with new approaches. But as Monica Brand Engel, Ganesh Rengaswamy and Jonathan Whittle at Quona Capital explain, it can be difficult for regulators to simultaneously fuel innovation, adapt to new technologies and government mandates, and protect customers. They explore what the fintech sector can learn from successful regulatory approaches in countries like Brazil and India.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Can Access to Smartphones Bridge the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Research shows that mobile phones can be a useful tool in the fight against poverty, increasing both household income and consumption. But according to Amani M’Bale at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Graham A.N. Wright at MicroSave (MSC), to reach that potential, it’s important that these phones are able to bridge the digital divide, becoming accessible to, and used by, the underserved people they can benefit the most. They share several factors that can increase — or limit — the usage of smartphones and other mobile devices in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
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The Benefits – And Downsides – of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’: Is it Enhancing or Hindering Financial Inclusion?
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes offer consumers immediate possession of goods, which they pay for over time via (usually interest-free) installments. According to Sarah Corley at the Alliance of Digital Finance Associations and Lotte Schou Zibell at the Asian Development Bank, BNPL can expand financial inclusion and access to consumer goods in emerging economies – but by offering easier access to credit, it also presents some pitfalls. They discuss the growth of BNPL, its benefits and risks, and some key practices that can maximize its positive impacts while avoiding potential downsides.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Safaricom Gets Approval to Launch M-Pesa in Ethiopia
M-Pesa, the Kenyan mobile money service success story that began in 2007, is continuing its expansion, this time into Ethiopia.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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South African Digital Identity Startup iiDENTIFii Raises Record $15 Million
Cybercrime within the financial sector is a growing threat to Africa. iiDENTIFii will use this investment to fund its expansion across the continent.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Wiocc Secures R540-Million Equity Investment for Expansion in Africa
This investment supports our goal of establishing an integrated, open-access, core-to-edge cloud ecosystem throughout the African continent.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Bringing Digital Innovation to the Global Art Market: An Innovative Platform Connects International Buyers to Emerging Markets Artists
Business models across all industries are rapidly embracing digital technology. But as Srikaran Masabathula at TapArt explains, the global art market remains stuck in its centuries-old, brick-and-mortar sales and distribution model – a model that perpetuates the age-old inequities in the art world, preventing talented artists from emerging economies from selling their artwork to global art buyers. He explores how TapArt is leveraging digital innovation to address these critical shortcomings and create a vibrant connection between art lovers and artists worldwide.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Analysis: Francophone Africa’s First Unicorn Is Disrupting the Region’s Mobile Money Market. But Can It Last?
Wave’s rise has burst open the mobile money landscape in the West African country by fueling competition with existing players.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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