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The New Face of Poverty: Why Unemployment isn’t the Issue – And How Financial Inclusion Can Help
When you think about poverty, what does it look like? Many people might picture an undernourished African child, or an elderly beggar sitting in the street. But as Oakam CEO Frederic Nze explains, the reality can be far different. Poverty today often involves the struggles of the working poor, and it’s defined less by extreme deprivation and more by lack of access – to clean water, to power, to basic education, and increasingly to the internet. Nze explores the implications of this shift for the financial inclusion and development sectors.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
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MTN is planning to launch its mobile money service in Nigeria next year
The company will apply for a mobile banking license in Nigeria and plans a launch of its mobile money service in Africa’s largest economy in the second quarter of next year, its CEO said at a trade show in Cape Town on Tuesday (Nov.13).
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visa strengthens East Africa presence through partnership with Tanzanian telecom firm
Through the partnership, HaloPesa will offer consumers the option to pay a merchant with interoperable Visa QR Codes that are being rolled out as part of Visa on mobile expansion in the market.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya sets aside funds to develop domestic mobile phone industry
Kenya’s minister of information, communication and technology said on Tuesday that the government had set aside 1 billion shillings ($9.90 million) to help local start-ups in the mobile telephone software and hardware segments to grow.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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SoftBank and Singtel are leading a pre-IPO $1.25 billion investment in Africa’s No.2 mobile phone company
Money raised from going public, alongside some of the new funding, will go towards cutting down the company’s existing $5 billion debt.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africans Fear Trend Toward Taxes on Data, Mobile Money
The telecom companies say taxes on mobile payments introduced by a string of countries hurt their revenues and threaten much-needed investment in infrastructure.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Strict parents and social stigma limit mobile use for girls in poor countries
Strict parenting and social disapproval are among factors that make teenage girls in developing countries significantly less likely than boys to own a mobile phone, researchers have found.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Safaricom, Telkom Integrate Mpesa and T-kash Services
The country's mobile money transfer platform is set for a new frontier after the announcement of an integration of Safaricom's and Telkom's services.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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