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Redesigning Birth Control in the Developing World
How single-use injectable contraceptives could change family planning in Africa.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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In Bangladesh, Floating Schools, Farms, And Health Clinics Help Stay On Top Of Rising Waters
Beyond island nations like the Maldives that are quickly getting submerged, no country is more threatened by climate change than Bangladesh. Sitting at the bottom of three huge rivers, much of its surface area is either covered with water, or barely above sea level. Many of its 154 million inhabitants are poor (about a quarter earn less than $2 a day) and Bangladeshis often live in structures unsuited to severe weather. Bangladesh, in short, is a climate disaster in the making. By 2030, rising water could make 20% of the country uninhabitable, forecasts show.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Can crowdfunding help finance the ‘missing middle?’
What does a social business do when they don’t have a rich uncle to help them go from microenterprise to a small- or medium-sized enterprises? The answer may be crowdfunding.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- crowdfunding, microfinance
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India’s MFIs shift focus to urban areas
Microfinance institutions (MFIs), which evolved as precursors of the rural thrift credit market in India, are now shifting to urban areas, with big slums in cities turning out to be cost-effective markets over small villages in far-flung locations.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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Airtel, Tigo claim mobile money first
Two operators in Tanzania launched a service so that subscribers to their rival mobile money services can send and receive cash with one another.Airtel and Tigo claim it is the world’s first cross-network mobile money transfer service.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments
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Y Combinator Nonprofit Zidisha Changes Microfinance Equation
The nonprofit says it has figured out a way of getting a 90% repayment rate on business loans to the types of people no financial institution would trust–young people in poor African countries without as much as a permanent address.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Impact investing soars with $12 million green bond sale by Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management advisers sold $12 million in green bonds issued by the World Bank last week, surpassing what the investment bank expected based on similar issuances a few years ago.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- impact investing
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India telcos agree on mobile banking through SMSs
MUMBAI: Mobile companies have been persuaded by the Narendra Modi government to share a slice of their infrastructure to pave the way for basic banking services through cellphones.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- mobile finance
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