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Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and Others Invest $200 Million in African Fintech Wave at $1.7 Billion Valuation
Wave, a U.S. and Senegal-based mobile money provider has received the largest Series A in Africa by a long shot, and is geared toward taking on telecom-led mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Dear Big Tech Leaders: Instead of Harvesting Our Data and Launching Yourselves Into Space, How About Making Life Better on Earth?
As Big Tech's data practices come under greater scrutiny and its leaders indulge in an ego-driven space race, Steve Hollingworth of Grameen Foundation says it’s time to have a hard conversation with the industry. It can start with the question of why its core companies are focusing their talents and technologies on accumulating ever-greater amounts of money, while the world struggles with long-standing and quickly escalating challenges that could be greatly improved by the data and other resources the tech industry commands.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Tags
- corporations, data, NGOs
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Mobile Money Finally Comes to Ethiopia
Ethio Telecom, the – for now – monopoly telecommunications provider in Ethiopia, has announced the roll-out of a mobile money service.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Women Are Paying More for M-Pesa: A Gender Analysis of Mobile Money Fees in Kenya
The cost of using financial services is a key barrier to their adoption and use in low- and middle-income countries — and when it comes to mobile money transactions via M-Pesa in Kenya, those costs are greater for women, according to a recent study. Bryan Pon at Caribou Data shares details about the study's findings, and explains how understanding these gender differences could illuminate some of the obstacles women face when using digital financial services – and help inform policy or system design approaches that could address these challenges.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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‘Back in the U.S.S.D.’: Most Smartphone Owners—Especially Women—Don’t Use Apps for Financial Services
The global transition from basic mobile phones to smartphones has impacted nearly every sector, including financial services. Bryan Pon from Caribou Data considers whether this shift will help or hinder access to mobile money and digital finance for women in emerging markets — a group already less likely to be using these services. He shares the findings of a comprehensive study on how payment system design could impact gender bias in digital finance, and discusses the ongoing popularity — and under-recognized advantages — of old-fashioned USSD codes in mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion, fintech
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Boosting Financial Inclusion With Airtel Mobile Money
The recent investment of $200 million in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business by The Rise Fund will further enhance financial inclusion in Nigeria, since the country is one of the 14 African countries, where Airtel Africa currently operates, writes Emma Okonji.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Rise Fund to Invest $200 Million in Airtel Africa Mobile Money Business
The Transaction is the latest step in the Group's pursuit of strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities, and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Somalia Issues First License to Mobile Money Service
Somali officials on Saturday issued the country's first license to a mobile money service, bringing regulation to the widely used digital payment process for the first time.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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