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Millennium Development goals in rural Africa get $100 million boost
In 2011, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Earth Institute (Columbia University) formed a partnership to work with African nations to support their efforts to end extreme poverty. On Tuesday, the IsDB and the Earth Institute and its partner, Millennium Promise, announced that the IsDB and its poverty reduction arm, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), have now extended more than $100 million in financing to help eight African nations combat extreme poverty, improve public health and achieve more sustainable development.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Bank? What bank? Orange, Visa and the changing face of Africa’s mobile money
While relatively few Africans have a bank account, companies are finding new ways to offer consumers bank-type services just using mobile devices.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why Did Mobile Money Flop In Nigeria?
Two years have passed since a mobile money service was deployed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and it still has yet to catch on with the masses.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Promise of eHealth in the African Region
Most African patients making repeat visits to a hospital or to their doctor are likely to have had at least one similar experience: they routinely see their doctor or other hospital staff digging through stacks of ancient manila files in search of handwritten notes of their medical records. The patients will even be lucky if their files are found with complete information. Must this decades-old practice continue in this information age? “No”, says Dr Derege Kebede, head of the African Health Observatory (AHO) and Knowledge Management Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Africa Office (WHO/AFRO) in Brazzaville, Congo. “A solution already exists: electronic health or eHealth – countries and people in our region should embrace, promote and intensify the use of eHealth.”
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Eye-phone set to revolutionise African optical care
An impressive new mobile phone app is being tested in Kenya. It acts as a mobile visual clinic, and is set to revolutionise eye care in Africa.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 300 million people are blind or seriously visually impaired.But a team of doctors from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine armed with an innovative, low cost, smartphone solution, have set out to make an impact on this community.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public health
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Fighting Poverty, and Critics
Nina Munk’s new book, “The Idealist,” is about the well-known economist Jeffrey Sachs and his “quest to end poverty,” as the subtitle puts it. I know: That subtitle sounds like classic book-industry hyperbole, but, in this case, it’s not. That really is what Sachs has been trying to do. The question of whether or not he is succeeding is where things get tricky.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya: Are Bitcoins the Future of Mobile Money?
The use of the virtual currency Bitcoins could change the way money flows in Kenya. But it hasn't caught on just yet.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa will Rule the World in Mobile Money, Expert Predicts
African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania have been predicted to rule the world in mobile money transactions, which include mobile banking and mobile wallet, in the next few years, going by the continent’s population and zeal for technology advancement.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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