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The High Cost of ‘Data Darkness’ in the Developing World
The developing world is data dark, writes Tara Thiagarajan of Madura Microfinance; gathering even the most elementary data is a monumental task, requiring feet on the ground, paid employees and auditing systems. Without it, however, products don’t have good market fit, customers don’t get what they really need and the cost of customer acquisition and delivery is higher.
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The real promise of regulatory technology in financial inclusion
Financial authorities could someday run digitally, but getting there is not going to be easy. In many countries, regulators today often use fax machines, let alone cloud-based software and analytics. And yet, the future of the financial sector depends on modernizing regulatory authorities.
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Zimbabwe: $90m Package for SMEs Unveiled
Of the $90 million facility, $10 million will go to horticulture, $15 million to cross border traders, $40 million for the gold facility, $15 million for women empowerment, while $10 million has been earmarked for business linkages.
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Global Accelerator Learning Initiative Releases Second Major Report
Accelerating Startups in Emerging Markets: Insights from 43 Programs examines data from over 2,400 early- stage ventures that applied to 43 acceleration programs run by twelve different organizations in nine countries. The report, developed in partnership with Deloitte Canada, compares the performance of accelerators in emerging markets with those operating in high-income countries (categories as defined by the World Bank).
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Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania Join World Economic Forum in Promoting Financial Inclusion in East Africa
This effort aims to develop collaboration between policy-makers, private-sector providers of financial services and their clients, and other relevant actors. East Africa has already made significant strides towards financial inclusion, leveraging digital and other means to raise the number of adults that have an account to 34 percent in 2014, up from 24 percent in 2011.
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Like Using a Wall to Stop a Runaway Bus’: Cambodian Microcredit is Overheated, But Rate Caps Aren’t the Answer
Daniel Rozas says a proposed interest rate cap of 18 percent on most new microloans in Cambodia will, if enforced, hurt the very people it ostensibly seeks to protect. Taking issue with a recent post by Milford Bateman, Rozas argues the cap would create a clear preference for certain types of lending and could heighten problems created by Cambodia's saturated microcredit market.
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Aman Foundation’s chairperson wins Social Entrepreneur of the Year award
Upon winning the award, Fayeeza said, “Aman is dedicated to promoting the centrality of family, and dignity of life for all. The ‘Sukh’ program was created with this mission in mind, and seeks to foster gender equality, by giving women the power of choice.”
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- South Asia
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Global Accelerator Learning Initiative Releases Second Major Report
The Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI)--a partnership between the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and Social Enterprise @ Goizueta at Emory University--released its second major report revealing that emerging market entrepreneurs and accelerator programs are more similar to those run in high-income countries than previously believed. Across a range of countries, entrepreneurs that go through accelerator programs report more capital raised, more revenues, and more full-time employees.
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