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U.S. startup combines Bitcoin with Islamic microfinance in Indonesia
Founded in San Francisco and recently moved to Jakarta, a financial startup called Blossom aims at nothing less than shaking up the microfinance sector in Indonesia.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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ADB to Increase Lending to Support India’s New Initiatives
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao today met with India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss ADB’s partnership with India. Mr Nakao also met with Minister of Urban Development, M. Venkaiah Naidu and discussed ADB’s support to the government’s new urban initiatives. He stressed that ADB is committed to strengthening its support to India’s new initiatives that target increased economic growth and reduced poverty.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Empty accounts continue to plague India’s financial inclusion plan
More than half of a record 160 million accounts opened in India as part of a drive to offer banking to all are still empty, illustrating the massive task ahead for one of the government's most high-profile campaigns and the strain on banks.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Zimbabwe at the forefront of the mobile revolution
While everyone looks to Kenya as the leader in mobile money transfers, when it comes to sending money from mobiles, Zimbabweans have been almost twice as eager to use an app to make a transfer.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Indonesian start-ups helping to broaden financial inclusion
A string of innovative financial products from Indonesian start-ups are circumventing the traditional payment and investment system, helping to broaden financial inclusion and challenging the established banks.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Thundafund: The crowdfunding platform made for Africa
One South African company has created an ethically-conscious platform for entrepreneurs from the continent -- and it's leaving its rivals by the wayside in the process.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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NexThought Monday – How 5,000 Stranded Flip-Flops Almost Doomed Three Social Startups
Five years ago, Village Capital made its first investment – in Feelgoodz, the a U.S. fair-trade rubber company, which sells comfortable flip-flops that are responsibly manufactured in South Asia. Feelgoodz got a major purchase order from Whole Foods that January. Sounds like a great story, so why is the headline so depressing?
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- Uncategorized
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How one man wants to lend cash to 500m Chinese and lead a microfinancing revolution
Zane Wang Zhengyu, founder and chief executive of lending company China Rapid Finance (CRF), wants to redraw the mainland's credit landscape.Wang hopes to create the mainland version of the San Francisco-based Lending Club, which offers borrowers funds at rates lower than those charged by credit cards. Ideally, the model could help meet the financing needs of 500 million potential mainland customers, many of them borrowing for the first time.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- microfinance
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