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Visa Is Planning a Mobile Payments Push Into Nigeria
Though no launch date has been announced, Visa is in “advanced discussions” with major Nigerian banks. mVisa, which launched in India last August, is primarily an in-store payment method, allowing users to pay for goods or services by scanning a QR code on a smartphone or entering a merchant identifier into their feature phones.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, mobile finance
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Bank of Ghana to weed out unscrupulous microfinance institutions
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is strengthening its licensing requirements in order to weed out unscrupulous microfinance institutions from the system. Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, the Governor of Bank of Ghana, said recent events had shown that unregulated and poorly supervised financial systems might lead to risky behaviours and undermine the growth process.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile Money boom: Thousands scramble for agency jobs in Ghana
According to the Bank of Ghana, the number of registered mobile money agents has now hit 93,376 as of the end of the first three months of this year, which is a 200 percent increase in the number of registered agents in just a year.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Uganda is trying to close a for-profit school chain backed by Zuckerburg, Gates and the World Bank
Ugandan education officials have called for the closure of 63 nurseries and primary schools operated by Bridge International Academies (BIA), a controversial for-profit school chain that offers standardized, internet-based education in developing countries.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A Better (Smelly) Mosquito Trap, but With Caveats
A new type of mosquito trap running on solar electricity and using human odor as bait has cut mosquito populations by 70 percent in a test on a malaria-ridden island in Kenya, according to a new study.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Opinion: Africans Investing in Africa: New Engine of Africa’s Growth
Rising disposable incomes, a young and talented population, growing urbanization, and an increasingly robust business climate have all combined to produce an emerging middle-class that is poised to drive consumption, innovation, industrialization and trade. Global investor confidence in Africa is higher than it has ever been.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Uganda: Stop Cheating Clients, Minister Urges Microfinance Institutions
The minister for Microfinance, Mr Kyeyune Haruna Kasolo, has warned microfinance institutions to stop cheating the general public by charging very high interest rates on loans.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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There’s a Growing Pressure on African Mobile Operators to Become Innovators
Africa may well be the world’s premier mobile-first continent, but vast swathes of the population still don’t have mobile or internet connectivity. This is a severe limitation as local mobile networks plan out building a customer base, especially when the spending power of that base is low.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- mobile finance
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