-
Fintech startups took nearly a third of all African venture funding in 2017
While fintech is seen as disrupting the traditional financial sector in more advanced economies, in Africa it is bridging gaps that have not been addressed by the banking industry to begin with. Between 2015 and 2017, African fintech startups including names like Flutterwave and Paystack jointly raised more than $100 million.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Why an Activist Hedge Fund Cares Whether Apple’s Devices Are Bad for Kids
The truth is that the worlds of activism and impact investing are converging much more swiftly than most people realize — and this union holds enormous promise for those who wish to see the creation of capital markets that support sustainable economic development.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- impact investing
-
Memo To BlackRock: 7 Ways To Hold Corporate Feet To The Social Responsibility Fire
If Blackrock expects its companies to act in a socially responsible way, it has a big practical problem. How will it communicate what constitutes socially responsible action? and How will it measure whether or not companies are getting more or less socially responsible?
- Region
- North America
-
Mastercard’s New Platform Helps Kenyan Micromerchants Get Credit–And Restock Faster
Without a financial history, small shop owners struggle to access loans. A new project from Mastercard helps them build up a track record of payments through digitizing their orders from local wholesalers.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Microfinance sector looks to shake off demonetisation blues by March
Loan repayment took a severe hit in the cash-based sector after the government announced note-ban in November 2016. The situation deteriorated further when small borrowers in five states including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra stopped repaying loans after the respective governments announced farm loan waiver.
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
-
NAMA Signs Partnership to Provide Social Entrepreneurship Training for UAE Women
The joint venture will see the two entities collaborating on the “Badiri Social Entrepreneurship Programme”, which will take 20 women on an educational journey across three countries: the UAE, the UK and India. It will give them a chance to receive first-hand experience of what it is like running a social enterprise and to be inspired by expert social entrepreneurs and previous SSE graduates.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
-
Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform
The deal — which is undisclosed — will see iKaaz’s engineering team join the Bangalore-based engineering office which Grab opened last year. The firm declined to say how many new recruits are moving over from iKaaz, but a spokesperson disclosed that Grab currently has 75 engineers in Bangalore with plans to grow the number to 200 before this year.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, startups
-
Cambodia Has Its Own Mobile Payment App, But Will It Catch On Beyond Phnom Penh?
Pi Pay, although little-known outside of its native Cambodia, has scaled quickly to become a ubiquitous digital wallet solution and the first e-commerce app to gain real traction in a city where many residents still refuse to trust credit cards and banks.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.