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New $35 million competition will enable greater financial inclusion for smallholder farmers in Africa
The MasterCard Foundation has announced the opening of a US$35 million Scaling Competition under its Fund for Rural Prosperity.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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With a Billion Africans Set to Shop Online, a New Wave of Start-ups Is Looking to Cash In
Africa’s middle class is rising and they have money to spend. About a third of the continent spends between $4 to $20 a day—a group that is expected to grow to 42% by 2060, according to data from the Africa Development Bank (pdf). That’s more than a billion people.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Early Morning Call: How One Entrepreneur Is Taking on the Money Transfer Giants
Telephones have always been a fundamental part of the remittance process, Ahmed Ismail says with a wry laugh; when they ring early in the morning, it tends to be costly.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- remittances
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Bill Gates to Narendra Modi: You Need to Generate New Healthcare Models for India
After over a year in power, the Narendra Modi government's decisions to cut federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 billion people have come in for a sharp criticism, including from within his cabinet.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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The New Math of Sustainable Investing
On May 17, 1984, Warren Buffett gave away the secret that has made his face the first result when you Google “the greatest investor of all time.” He opened a speech with the stories of ten investors, including himself, whose portfolios consistently outperformed the S&P 500. It’s no coincidence, Buffet insisted1, that their careers shared a common thread: tutelage under Benjamin Graham, who, as it happens, is the second person who comes up in the Google search.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- impact investing
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Five Mistakes That Social Entrepreneurs Make When Crafting Their Brand
As a brand developer, I’ve met countless social entrepreneurs all over the world: people with an extreme passion for social or environmental impact. They have a lot to master in order to make their ventures succeed – from setting up a production chain, to technology, HR, complex investment structures, and more.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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GE Commits $14.7 Million to Build Healthcare Skills in East Africa
The global health sector, particularly in the developing countries, faces critical workforce shortages. Africa ranks the lowest in the availability of health personnel. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 12 percent of the world’s population and bears 25 percent of the world’s burden of diseases, but has only three percent of the world’s health workforce.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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The Disruptors Are Forcing Change in the Remittance Industry
Remittances to Africa have grown rapidly in recent times, and it forms an integral part of the $500 billion global money transfer market. This is because several African nations rely heavily on money sent home by friends and relatives working abroad. Hundreds of Africansare migrating daily to keep growing the influx. But the biggest gainers in this have for long being a few firms, whose near-monopoly costs the continent about $2 billion annually in remittance fees. However, a new breed of companies are causing much needed disruption in the money transfer market and are putting consumers back in control of their money.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public policy, remittances
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