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Kenya’s Mobile Penetration Hits 88 Percent
According to the quarterly sector statistics report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the uptake of mobile services by Kenyans continued to grow leading to mobile penetration growing to 88.1per cent with 37.8million subscribers up from 36.1 million in the previous quarter.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Top 10 Best (and Worst) Performing Socially Responsible Mutual Funds
Investors sometimes get a bad rap. Perceived as greedy individuals who will invest in any company — corrupt or otherwise — that boasts high returns, investors can be pegged as only having money on the mind. However, a recently emerging investment philosophy, known as socially responsible investing, is poised to challenge that opinion.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Will 2016 Be the Year of FinTech in India?
Has Financial Technology or FinTech finally come of age in India? While, FinTech accounted only for 13.3% of the total funding raised by Indian startups in 2015, the gross investment into it was up 8 times over the equivalent 2014 number of $145.1 million. While that looks amazing at first glance, it has to be noted that m-commerce platform One97 (Paytm) accounted for about 74% of the money raised by FinTech companies this year. Nonetheless, even if one were to exclude this number, Indian FinTech investment has doubled over the 2014 number. India’s FinTech sector has been a far cry from its global peers, accounting only for 6% of the total global FinTech space (by funding), but clearly as the numbers above show, that is changing fairly rapidly.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Bank of Ghana Revokes Preliminary Approval of 70 Prospective Microfinance Companies
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revoked its preliminary approval of 70 prospective microfinance companies and one money lending institution.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- microfinance
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The Hardships of Delhi’s Street Vendors
An estimated 10 million vendors sell goods and services on the streets of India. A Street Vendors Act aimed at regulating these vendors and to protect their rights has been passed by parliament, but the New Delhi High Court says the local government has failed to implement the law.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- public policy
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Orange May Become Bank With Groupama Takeover
France's Orange has revealed it is in negotiations to acquire a 65% stake in Groupama Banque and set itself up as a fully fledged bank offering savings, loans, insurance and other financial services.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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First Time, Plan to Map Every Doctor, Health Facility in the Country
For the first time, the government will map health facilities, doctors and specialists available in all districts of the country. The health geo-mapping project has already been completed in four districts chosen as a pilot. When the entire country is covered, the project will cost around Rs 100 crore as per initial estimates drawn up by the Ministry of Health.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Stanford to Launch Entrepreneurship Training Initiative in East Africa
The Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) announced the opening of a research, training and innovation facility in Nairobi, Kenya by June 2016.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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