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Digital Access Matters: The Benefits of Bringing High-Speed Internet To Low-Income Communities During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led people around the world to work and shop from home – but as Dirk-Jan Koeman and Kara Ing at Poa Internet point out, this is easier for some than others. For instance, in densely-populated urban areas in Kenya, the lack of high-speed internet makes working from home almost impossible. They discuss how Poa is bringing these households online, and share research on how these newly connected customers are using the internet.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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A Phone Can Only Do So Much: Why Mobile Access Isn’t Leading To Digital Financial Service Usage Among Women in India
India has made significant progress in financial inclusion in recent years. However low-income working women are not benefiting from this momentum, even when they receive their wages digitally. To better understand why, BSR’s HERproject and MSC have researched the financial behaviors of female garment workers in India. Akhand Tiwari at MSC and James Steady at BSR explore the results, and discuss how the financial inclusion sector should respond.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Telecommunications
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Cameroon’s Plan To Make Users Pay Import Duties on Mobile Devices Has Sparked Outrage
A new automated system for the collection of customs duties and taxes on imported phones and other electronic devices in Cameroon is not being welcomed.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Uganda Posts Growth in Mobile Money Accounts During Pandemic, Mobile Subscribers Shrink
The growth to 25.9 million accounts was, however, smaller than what had been seen in the first quarter.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: Zimbabwe’s Restrictions on Mobile Money Transfers Are a Blow To Financial Inclusion
Mobile financial services are, in most African countries, born out of crises.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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MTN and Airtel Uganda Suspend Mobile Money Services After Massive Hack
Telecom giants, MTN and Airtel Uganda have temporarily suspended all mobile money service transactions between their networks after unidentified hackers compromised their systems.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Making Smartphones Relevant for the World’s Poorest Farmers: An Interview With AgUnity CEO David Davies
Extreme poverty is increasing in countries around the world, particularly in last-mile communities where most people work in agriculture. In this Q&A, AgUnity CEO David Davies discusses his company's efforts to leverage low-cost smartphones and other technologies to provide smallholder farmers with practical tools to connect with each other and work their way out of poverty.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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An Unlikely Mobile Money Success Story: How Somalia’s Civil War Laid the Foundation for a Cashless Society
Somalia has been ravaged by civil war, and the repercussions of the conflict continue to this day. Yet out of this violence and economic turmoil, a thriving mobile money ecosystem has emerged. According to Ahmed Muhamud Yuusuf at Hormuud Telecoms, the country has become the world’s first truly cashless economy. He explores the many positive impacts this accomplishment has had.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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