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Venture Capital’s Funding Gender Gap Is Actually Getting Worse
It's a well-documented fact that female founders receive less venture capital funding than their male counterparts. What is perhaps more surprising is that things haven't improved—and have actually worsened—over the past year.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- venture capital
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More banks given go-ahead to roll out mobile cash in Kenya
The number of commercial banks approved by the Central Bank of Kenya to operate interbank mobile money transfer platform, PesaLink, has doubled to 24 from 12. The product was unveiled on February 16.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Cambodia caps interest on microfinance loans
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has capped interest on microfinance loans to a maximum of 18 percent per year, an unprecedented move that came on the direct orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Defence Minister Tea Banh said yesterday – a decision some experts suggested had political overtones and could have unintended negative consequences for the poor.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Africa finds its own path for fintech development
Fintech in Africa remains the most financially supported area of tech start-up activity in the continent. The Disrupt Africa African Tech Startups Funding Report 2016 found that fintechs received a combined $31.4 million in investment during the year.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Launches Two Sustainable Investing Portfolios with Reduced Account Minimums
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management today announced the launch of two sustainable investing model portfolios with reduced account minimums of $10,000 on its Investing with Impact platform. These new portfolios – Investing with Impact Access Balanced and Investing with Impact Access Equity – will provide investors with diversified goal-specific solutions to help align financial goals with personal values
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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Safaricom and mSurvey launch Consumer Wallet to map Africa’s cash economy
Kenya’s leading mobile provider, Safaricom, is teaming up with data collection startup mSurvey to launch Consumer Wallet ― an online platform using mobile and SMS to map Africa’s cash-based economy.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Impact investor Ankur Capital to launch $50 million fund next year
Mumbai-based impact investor focused on innovative businesses in agriculture, healthcare, education, skill development and rural access – is positioning for the next leg of growth.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Study: Is India’s flagship financial inclusion initiative bearing fruit on the ground?
There is a big debate about the role of financial markets and products in shaping consumer welfare and real economic activity. In developed economies, there is an increasing discussion that financial sector may have become inefficiently large and products offered to households may have become excessively complex. In contrast, in many developing countries, like India, there has been a significant push to increase the usage of financial products – to “complete” the market. While there is some empirical literature on the former, evidence on the latter is scant.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia