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Economy & Nation Defaults rising in MFI loan book post demonetisation
Post demonetisation, the delinquencies in microfinance institutions (MFI) loan books are rising. Ratings agency ICRA recently downgraded its outlook on two prominent MFIs to negative from stable, mainly due to limited currency supply and disruption in borrower cash flows, which hampered overall the collection efficiency of these lenders
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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How PSI is Shaping Markets to Address Global Unmet Need
There are now more than 300 million women and girls using modern contraception in the world’s 69 poorest countries, with more than 30 million of those users added since 2012. That’s the good news. The more challenging news is that despite this progress, health markets in low- and middle-income countries often operate inefficiently, failing millions of potential family planning (FP) consumers.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Asian Development Bank and Credit Access Asia Sign $32 Million Deal to Improve Financial Inclusion in Asia
The Asian Development Bank signed a €30 million ($32 million) equity investment agreement with CreditAccess Asia, a holding company headquartered in Amsterdam, that operates microfinance institutions across Asia, currently serving approximately 1.8 million customers, 99.8% of whom are women.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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M-Pesa cash ceiling to go up in bid to boost M-Akiba bond
Plans are in the offing to raise the daily mobile money transaction ceiling from the current Sh140,000 to accommodate higher purchases of the M-Akiba product launched on Thursday.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: We Need a Software Revolution for the Greater Social Good
Silicon Valley is well aware of the gap between delivering profits to shareholders and providing social good to the world. It’s that awareness that led to robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, steep nonprofit discounts on otherwise expensive software, Salesforce’s 1/1/1 model and many software billionaires committing their fortunes to social efforts through the Giving Pledge. These efforts have been a boon to the social sector.
- Categories
- Technology
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Sanofi exec fires back amid fight over Zika vaccine license
After taking a beating over a proposed Zika vaccine license from the U.S. Army, Sanofi is hitting back. R&D chief Elias Zerhouni wrote a letter to New York Times editors stating that Senator Bernie Sanders, who recently lambasted the proposal, “doesn’t seem to recognize” the importance of public-private partnerships.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Tackling Tuberculosis in Southern Africa’s Mineworkers with an Innovative Approach
As many recognize World TB Day, March 24, an initiative in South Africa shows how an innovative and a more harmonized regional approach can result in more effective TB management in the mining sector.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Competition Heats Up in Kenya’s Off-Grid, Mobile Pay-Go Solar Market
Home to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Kenya is a hive of activity and a magnet for sustainable development-minded off-grid solar and energy storage startups. Having raised $40 million of capital over the course of the last four months of 2016, d.light announced that an average 800 Kenyan households a day are signing up for its D30 Pay-Go solar home system.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy
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