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Kenya’s Safaricom’s overdraft service exceeds expectations
Started 11 years ago as a service to allow Kenyans without access to the banking network to transfer money via mobile phones, M-Pesa now offers loans and savings in conjunction with local banks, as well as merchant payments services.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press release: Mastercard and The Rockefeller Foundation Announce ‘Data Science for Social Impact’ with Initial $50 Million Commitment
The collaborative was announced at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with an initial commitment of $50 million from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mastercard Impact Fund over five years and an invitation to other companies and philanthropies to join.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- data, philanthropy
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Why you can expect to see more businesses embrace social missions in 2019
While methods and motivations can vary greatly, businesses that go this route share a common tenet: Working for social betterment is probably a good investment — financial or otherwise.
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Go-Jek buys fintech startup Coins.ph for $72M ahead of Philippines expansion
Today, Go-Jek announced it has acquired local fintech company Coins.ph through “substantial investment,” which gives it a majority stake in the business.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech, startups
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Socially conscious investing has quadrupled in the past decade
In 2010, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments made up approximately $3 trillion of all professionally managed assets. As of the beginning of last year, that number had quadrupled to $12 trillion.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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The social entrepreneur equipping youth with skills of the future
Juan David Aristizabal is the founder of social enterprise Los Zuper, which uses a mix of media content and live events to inspire young people to equip themselves with the capabilities needed for the future.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- employment
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Stricter global standards needed for impact funds to work, says OECD
Public authorities have a responsibility to set standards to counter the risk of “impact washing” - where firms seek to disguise unpopular practices or overstate the impact of their investments - said the OECD, an intergovernmental organization.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Viewpoint: How the digital finance revolution can drive sustainable development
A new task force convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will consider how these two topics might best intersect: how the digital revolution in financing could be shaped not only to minimise potential harms, but in ways that could help advance the SDGs’ inspiring vision.
- Categories
- Finance
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