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Why African fintech startups are so attractive to investors
The recently-released African Tech Startups Funding Report released by Disrupt Africa found fintech was the most popular destination for funding in the tech sector after solar in 2015.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visa Enters Somalia’s Financial Market
Visa Inc. has signed an agreement with Somalia’s Premier Bank that will enable Visa cardholders in Somalia to use Premier Bank’s ATM network in the country.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Samsung Pay Joins China’s Trillion Dollar Mobile Wallet Market
With Apple already expecting China to be its biggest mobile payment market, it's no surprise that its biggest direct competitor, Samsung, also wants a slice of this piping hot pie. After a one-month public beta, today the Korean giant is officially launching its Samsung Pay service in China in partnership with UnionPay -- inevitably the same bankcard company thathelped launch Apple Pay locally. In other words, only UnionPay credit and debit cards -- up to 10 of them per device -- can be associated with local Samsung phones for the time being.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- fintech
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A New mHealth Device to Tackle Global Health
That global health is a puzzle that mobile health technologies can help to solve is not new. But it's always amazing to see entrepreneurs dream up new applications nonetheless.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Living Cities Launches New $31 Million Blended Catalyst Fund for Social Impact Investment in US Cities
Living Cities today launched the Blended Catalyst Fund, a $31 million impact investing debt fund that will test innovative approaches to solving urban problems. The Blended Catalyst Fund combines philanthropic and commercial debt under the premise that both types of capital are needed to support initiatives that achieve better results for low-income people in US cities. The Fund currently includes ten philanthropic and commercial investors that are committed to increasing the flow of available capital to meet growing demand for social services across the country.
- Categories
- Investing
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Report: Facebook Is Turning Messenger Into a Mobile Wallet
Facebook has big plans to turn Messenger into an “Everything App”that will replace many others found on your smartphone, but one of the most important shifts will be turning it into an app that pays for things. Now code found inside Messenger suggests Facebook plans to turn on a feature to make digital transactions or even pay for physical goods in stores, according to a report in The Information.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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GE and Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Partner to Accelerate Mother and Child Health Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa
GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship today announced a partnership that blends Silicon Valley entrepreneurial acumen with venture impact investing to tackle one of the world’s most pressing problems: maternal and child health.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Perspective: Social Entrepreneurship by the Billions
Only a decade ago, some 400 million people in India lacked any type of formal documentation. Most were impoverished and, without even basic identification such as a birth certificate, they were marginalized and unable to alter their societal status. This condition made them, in effect, noncitizens, with no influence on or ability to participate in their country’s economic and legal systems.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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