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The End of the ‘Developing World’
BILL GATES, in his foundation’s annual letter, declared that “the terms ‘developing countries’ and ‘developed countries’ have outlived their usefulness.” He’s right. If we want to understand the modern global economy, we need a better vocabulary. Mr. Gates was making a point about improvements in income and gross domestic product; unfortunately, these formal measures generate categories that tend to obscure obvious distinctions. Only when employing a crude “development” binary could anyone lump Mozambique and Mexico together.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Rockefeller Foundation And Tony Elumelu Foundation Announce Africa Winners Of The Impact Economy Innovations Fund
The fund provides grant capital for entrepreneurs with projects that create jobs in underserved sectors, and supports proposals geared toward enabling capital solutions, fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems and promoting impact investing industry infrastructure.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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Central Bank of Nigeria to extend cashless policy nationwide
The Central Bank of Nigeria Acting Governor, Dr. Sarah Alade, Wednesday said the bankers’ committee will not rescind on the plan to extend the cashless policy to other states in the country from July 1.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Harvested rainwater in South Africa harbors pathogens, finds new study
According to research from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, pathogens are inhabiting harvested rainwater across the region, potentially posing a public health hazard, especially for children and immunocompromised individuals.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya’s Equity Bank Seeks Share of Telco Business
An Equity Bank branch in Dadaab. In a move likely to upset the applecart in the telecom sector, Equity Bank has applied for a license to operate a mobile telephone business.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tackling Newborn Deaths? We Need More (Qualified) Health Workers
With 78,977 stillbirths and first-day deaths, the Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the highest newborn mortality rate across sub-Saharan Africa, despite enjoying a high rate of 80.4 percent of skilled attendance at birth.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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WhatsApp gives Facebook a lock on the planet’s next billion mobile internet users
WhatsApp is “the de facto standard for messaging” in Africa, offering ”an awesome messaging experience to the middle billion, those living on $10 a day” or less, as TextIt, a Rwanda-based tech company, explains in this blog post. It does that through its Java 2 Mobile Edition (J2ME) version, designed to work on regular (non-smart) phones. Though that’s scarcely been mentioned in the acquisition hullabaloo, it’s huge considering how limited smartphone penetration is in Africa.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visa Partners with Airtel in Kenya to Launch Global Mobile Money Visa Card
According to Visa’s Head of Emerging Products & Innovation for Africa, Dougie Henderson said: “This strategic partnership with Airtel and Chase Bank brings the benefits of electronic payments to the under banked in Kenya by being innovative in mobile money services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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