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Grameen Bank to be Controlled Directly
The government is finally bringing the Grameen Bank under direct control of the central bank, to give the authorities more powers over the microcredit organisation. The decision is in line with the proposals of the government-sponsored Grameen Bank Commission, which recommended bringing the bank under the regulatory control of either the Bangladesh Bank or the Microcredit Regulatory Authority to better monitor its activities.
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- microfinance
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Nigeria: Insurance Sector Can Enhance Economic Growth – NAICOM
The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has said that the country is much likely to attain a sustained economic growth and development if it can adapt its insurance industry with innovative ways that will bring on board the generality of the country's population. Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel stated this at the sensitisation workshop for stakeholders on key initiatives of the Commission held in New Karu, Nasarawa State last week.
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Kenyans Find the Unintended Consequences of Mobile Money
In Western Kenya, “Sambaza” is both a marketing slogan and means for despair. It means “to spread.” Vodafone-owned Safaricom, the dominant mobile provider in Kenya, uses it as a brand name for a service that allows customers to transfer airtime to each other. According to a new study funded by the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion (IMFTI), the word has also come to refer to the way money in a mobile account slips away, drip by drip, as friends and family ask for favors.
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Crowdfunding’s Evolving: The Next Big ‘Profitable’ Thing
It seems like ages ago that nascent start-ups like Facebook (FB_)and LinkedIn (LNKD_) were reinventing how billions of people around the globe would stay both socially and professionally connected. Fast forward to today and we're witnessing the progressive unfolding of one of the most democratic ways for individuals and start-ups to fund their ideas and enterprises.
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- impact investing
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New Methods and Models for Social Enterprise Accelerators: Building a stronger, more efficient network
For those of us lucky enough to spend our days (and nights) thinking about how to help more social entrepreneurs help more people, the messiness of the impact accelerator landscape leads to a lot of questions. How can we reach more entrepreneurs? How we can guide the right entrepreneurs to the right program at the right time? How can we maximize our impact on the enterprise? Not to mention, how can we cover our costs of helping these enterprises? My work with the GSBI centers on answering these questions by strengthening and expanding our program offerings.
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MaRs launches Social Venture Connection, SVX
Socially-minded investors in Ontario who want to make a difference while making a profit have a new financial tool at their fingertips. The MaRs Discovery District’s Social Venture Connection, or SVX, is launching at the Toronto Stock Exchange Thursday.
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- impact investing
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Poverty-Focused Innovation: Alex Counts, CEO of Grameen Foundation, on how to foster financial innovation by creating agency for the poor
As part of NextBillion Financial Innovation’s launch, we invited a number of top innovators and leaders to contribute their views on financial innovation – what’s driving it, where momentum is heading, and what obstacles remain. Today, Alex Counts, CEO of Grameen Foundation, deconstructs the foundation’s approach to financial innovation – and how it maintains the focus on the poor for which the Grameen name is famous.
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The Growing Global Need for Innovative Financial Solutions: Citi Foundation invites you to join an ongoing dialogue around financial inclusion
We envision NextBillion Financial Innovation as a knowledge platform, where a diverse group of experts and practitioners from a range of organizations can share their research or their work, and partake in discussions around financial products, financial capability research and technology. These connections will help us achieve the shared goals of expanding financial services to the underserved, financing promising new businesses, and ultimately, improving the livelihoods of the poor.
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