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India’s Illicit Moneylenders Aren’t Going Away
Three bank branches stand across the street from Ajay Kumar Jaswal’s vegetable stand. But their loan officers shun his small business, forcing him to pay up to 20% quarterly interest to an illegal moneylender for the roughly $160 he needs as working capital.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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10,000 Flat-Pack IKEA Shelters for Iraqi Displaced
The UN refugee agency has placed an order for 10,000 flat-pack refugee shelters designed by a social enterprise arm of furniture giant IKEA, with first delivery planned within months to camps across Iraq, where some 2.5 million people have been displaced by conflict.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- philanthropy
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Nigerian Tycoon Shortlists 167 Kenyan Start-Ups for Funding
Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu has selected 167 Kenyan entrepreneurs to benefit from his Sh9.2 billion start-up fund targeting 10,000 enterprises across Africa.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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Artoo IT Solutions Raises Rs 3.1 crore Series A Funds From Accion Venture Lab, Artha Initiative
Bengaluru-based Artoo IT Solutions, which has developed a financial customer relationship management solution for the financial sector, has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.1 crore) in Series A round of funding from Accion Venture Labs and Switzerland-based Rianta Capital Zurich's Artha Initiative.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Innovation in Somalia: Launch of E-Transfer Cards in Bossaso
In February, Somalia became the second country in the world where WFP has launched its groundbreaking new system for managing assistance programmes, a platform known as SCOPE. The SCOPE information system allows WFP to monitor and control all its distributions of food, cash and vouchers electronically and in near real time. SCOPE also allows WFP to register beneficiaries, store information on the amount of food or money they are entitled to and – in the case of cash or vouchers – transfer the specific amount onto the cards. There was a buzz of anticipation as the first SCOPE transfer cards were handed out.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments
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You Need a Banking Law to Create a Bank for the Poor
Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and a proponent of 'social business', a not-for-profit business model to combat unemployment and other social evils, does not mince his words when it comes to micro-credit for the poor. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is dismissive about some recent innovations in the microfinance sector and warns about the direction they are taking. He also believes that micro-credit should be kept outside political influence to run it as a sound financial institution. "The best scenario," he says, "is when a micro-credit bank is owned by the poor." Excerpts from an interview with Shamni Pande:
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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28M Filipinos Covered by Micro-Insurance as of 2014
As of 2014, 28 million Filipinos have micro-insurance coverage, according to the Insurance Commission (IC). The agency sees a continued growth in this segment as more Filipinos turn to micro-insurance for protection and financial security, especially for calamities.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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SA’s Impact Amplifier Catalysed $4.5m in Startup Funding by End of 2014
South African incubator and consulting firm Impact Amplifier has revealed to Disrupt Africa it had catalysed over ZAR55 million (US$4.5 million) in investments into early-stage startups, and aims to close over ZAR100 million (US$8.2 million) of capital deployed in 2015.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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