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Bitcoin’s rise in African markets is driven by an old Russian ponzi scheme
Cryptocurrency experts have touted the potential for their tech to transform the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations: refugees, the unbanked, those living on less than a dollar a day. Yet the story of Bitcoin’s social impact is more complicated than the headlines portray.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Bharti Airtel to acquire Tata’s money-losing mobile unit for nothing
India’s telecoms market, with 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, is in the midst of a wave of consolidation as smaller debt-laden players seek exits after overspending in airwave auctions.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Reserve Bank of India asks financial firms to make mobile wallets interoperable within six months
“In subsequent phases, interoperability shall be enabled between wallets and bank accounts through UPI. Similarly, interoperability for PPIs issued in the form of cards shall also be enabled in due course,” said the directive issued by RBI.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- fintech
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Even Africa’s poorest countries are too expensive to be the world’s next manufacturing hub
In a bid to find out if African countries can “break into global manufacturing in a substantial way”, the researchers found factories in Africa were almost always more expensive to start and run. Looking at overall costs, small African firms were 39% more expensive than comparative firms elsewhere while medium and large firms were around 50% more expensive.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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British Council: US Social Enterprises Make Strides but Lag on Gender Equity
The report, done in cooperation with the US-based Social Enterprise Alliance, is titled “From an Activist to Entrepreneur: The role of social enterprise in supporting women’s empowerment in the US,” and is meant to be the first in a series of country studies.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North America
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Tenfold increase in childhood and adolescent obesity in four decades: new study by Imperial College London and WHO
The number of obese children and adolescents (aged five to 19 years) worldwide has risen tenfold in the past four decades. If current trends continue, more children and adolescents will be obese than moderately or severely underweight by 2022, according to a new study led by Imperial College London and WHO.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- nutrition
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Press release: Bamboo Capital Partners exits its investment from Vitas Group, a leading microfinance institution in post conflict MENA and Eastern Europe regions
Vitas has grown significantly over the course of Bamboo’s investment. Since 2011, Vitas and its affiliates’ Gross Loan Portfolio increased from $82 million to $247 million and the number of clients has tripled. Currently, Vitas and its affiliates serve more than 112,000 clients while employing nearly 1600 local professional staff.
- Categories
- Investing
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Releases Open-Source Software to Support Efforts that Expand Access to Financial Services in Developing Countries
Current data from the World Bank shows that nearly two billion people in developing economies lack bank accounts and miss out on the benefits and security that basic financial services provide. Digital financial services, such as mobile money on cell phones, have rapidly expanded over the last two decades because they are convenient for users and cost-effective for companies aiming to serve new markets.
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