-
Kenya Announces First-Ever Government Bond to be Offered Exclusively via Mobile Phone
The Treasury has announced the first-ever Government Bond that will be offered exclusively via mobile phone, pointing to the growing relevance of mobile money solutions in the evolving payments space.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Barclays Bank’s Kenya Lab Targets Financial Solution Developers
Barclays has opened the Barclays Kenya Product Lab in Nairobi, an agile product development program that will give local developers access to a pool of resources to come up with solutions that could potentially change the future of the financial industry.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
East African Community Members Move to Tame Mobile Money Fraud
East African nations are working to reach a common SIM card registration framework to help tame crime that is perpetrated using mobile phones.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Kiva Winding Down Kenyan Operations of Peer-to-Peer Microfinance Lending Platform Kiva Zip
Kiva, a US-based microfinance intermediary, recently announced that it is winding down its peer-to-peer microfinance lending platform Kiva Zip in Kenya. Since its inception in 2012, Kiva Zip has enabled users to lend directly to microentrepreneurs in Kenya and the US. Loans in Kenya are distributed through M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service. Most of Kiva’s loans differ from those through Kiva Zip in that they are intermediated by microfinance institutions. As of 2015, Kiva Zip had received deposits from approximately 8,000 direct lenders and disbursed the equivalent of USD 1.8 million in local currency to approximately 6,500 borrowers in Kenya. As of the same date, Kiva Zip reported a repayment rate of 91 percent [1].
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
-
Without Tackling Substandard Medicines, Health Goals Will Falter
Victoria Amponsah was worried when she entered a clinic in Accra, Ghana, to deliver her son — she was especially distrustful of the quality of medicines at the clinic. She had heard stories and seen firsthand many other women from her village enter the clinic to give birth and not come out.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Equitel Share Rises as Safaricom’s Declines
Equitel, the telecommunications arm of Equity Group, grew its share of the mobile telephony market to 2.4 per cent in June from 1.9 per cent in March, fresh official data showed on Friday, as big players marginally lost ground.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Novo Nordisk Joins Business Call to Action with Diabetes Awareness Campaign
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) is pleased to announce that Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care, has joined BCtA with an initiative to improve access to safe and affordable diabetes care for the working poor in Kenya. The company aims to reach 1.5 million people with a grassroots awareness campaign involving community leaders, healthcare workers and peer educators on diabetes risk factors, the importance of early detection and proper treatment of the disease.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Crowdfunding: Ubuntu Finance in South Africa
Many South Africans dream of getting their concepts off the ground, but they lack the funding to make it reality. Too often their ideas are put on the back-burner for ‘one day’ – when they have accumulated enough wealth; when they finally secure that loan; or when the right investor shows up carrying a suitcase filled with cash.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- crowdfunding, lending
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.