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Kenya’s Safaricom Tests New Mobile Savings Service
Policymakers say the East African nation suffers from a low national savings rate and analysts said Safaricom could be looking to target that untapped market with the new product, dubbed “Mali” (Kiswahili for wealth).
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Shell Foundation and FMO Collaborate to Help Achieve Clean Energy Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
Shell Foundation, a UK-registered charity, together with FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, announces the launch of the US$120 million Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF), with an initial close of US$45 million, providing catalytic financing to early to growth stage companies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) operating in the access to energy ecosystem.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- energy access, SDGs
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Lessons From M-Pesa for Africa’s New VC-Rich Fintech Startups
Over the last decade, Africa has been in the midst of a startup boom accompanied by big growth in VC and improvements in internet and mobile penetration.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Gates Foundation Has Enormous Impact. Its CEO Leaving Could Have an Enormous Impact, Too.
while Desmond-Hellmann has not been a household name, she held enormous influence across the globe, shaping everything from malaria programs in Africa to billionaires’ willingness to participate in the Gates-led Giving Pledge.
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- NGOs
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This Digital Platform Fights Corruption by Bypassing the Officials Demanding Bribes
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the tax payment system could require many kickbacks to corrupt officials. A new digital platform lets people pay their taxes directly.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, governance
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Here’s How Countries Might Actually Reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Policymakers knew that aid alone would never be able to meet the financing needs of development. But the SDGs were accompanied by the optimistic “billions to trillions” vision, in which many believed that an abundance of commercially-viable SDG-related investments were ready and waiting for trillions in profitable private investment.
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Foundations and Family Offices Create a Fund to Support Impact Investing
The founding donors also include Ian Simmons and Liesel Pritzer Simmons’ family office, Blue Haven Initiative, and a corporate member, the Visa Foundation.
- Categories
- Investing
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Kredivo’s Parent Firm FinAccel Raises $90m to Expand Its Credit Lending Platform in Southeast Asia
The app enables customers to secure credit between $100 and $2,200. If a customer pays it back in full in a month, FinAccel does not charge them any fee.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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