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Visa to Offer Debit Cards to Millions of Micro Financial Users in Pakistan
Mobile Financial Service, JazzCash, which is a collaboration of Mobilink and Mobilink Microfinance Bank, has entered into a partnership with global payments technology company, Visa, to offer Visa debit cards to consumers.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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This Startup is Fixing Health Care…in Kabul
Aschkan Abdul-Malek had come to Afghanistan to solve problems. He was working for a consulting firm, and in 2013 was helping the World Bank study healthcare constraints in developing countries. One day, as he was home talking to his cook, he learned how personally devastating the healthcare problem could be: The cook was spending six times his annual income to fly his wife to India for medical care, because she couldn’t find the doctor she needed at home.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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World’s First Islamic Endowment Crowdfunding Platform Launched
Tun Abdullah Badawi, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, has launched the Waqf (Islamic Endowment) crowdfunding platform or WaqfWorld. Described as the “worlds first” the new platform was announced at the 12th World Islamic Economic Foundation Forum (WIEF) held in Jakarta this past week The platform was developed in partnership with EthisVentures.com.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here
Ten miles south of Tel Aviv, I stand on a catwalk over two concrete reservoirs the size of football fields and watch water pour into them from a massive pipe emerging from the sand. The pipe is so large I could walk through it standing upright, were it not full of Mediterranean seawater pumped from an intake a mile offshore.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Microfinance borrowers reach all-time high in Pakistan
he first quarter of 2016 has recorded an upward trend in microcredit outreach with active borrowers reaching an all-time high of 4 million while the gross loan portfolio of the sector crossed Rs100 billion, said the Pakistan Microfinance Network quarterly report.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- microfinance
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The ‘Avon ladies’ of Pakistan selling contraception door to door
From 8am to 4pm, 25-year-old Samina Khaskheli travels door-to-door in rural Pakistan handing out free samples of condoms, birth control pills, and intrauterine devices. “I was told ‘This is sinful’,” Samina says about the initial opposition to her selling birth control. She took the job warily.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Pakistan State Bank Issues Rules for Mobile Banking Interoperability
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) jointly developed regulations for mobile banking interoperability for banks and mobile network operators to enhance outreach and connectivity.
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- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals Launches $30M Digital Health Venture Fund in Amman
Hikma Pharmaceuticals has launched a $30 million strategic venture capital fund focused on digital health, therapeutics, and diagnostics startups.Founded in August 2015, the Amman-based Hikma Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Hikma Pharmaceuticals.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East