NextBillion - A WDI Publication

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• News
  E-payments to dethrone cash

  “There is a clear correlation between the share of electronic payments and the opportunity for GDP growth,” Tim Murphy, general counsel and chief franchise officer for MasterCard, told The Post on the forum’s sidelines. “With every 1 percent increase in the share of electronic payments of a country’s personal expenditure, you can see somewhere between a third and a half of a percentage point increase in GDP.”

• News
  Social Enterprise Sector Is Missing Link in Africa Wealth-Creation Chain

  The objectives of social businesses are generally seen as meeting social goals. They often reinvest profits back into the business or target audience or community. Africans may have to start thinking of using social enterprises -- whether at village, community or non-governmental organisations -- to create businesses, manufacture goods, expand financial services and farm commercially; and to serve as alternative public-service providers, delivering education, energy and accessible finance.

• Calendar Event
  Last Day of Voting for SOCAP Open

• Calendar Event
  Submissions Deadline for SOCAP Open

• Blog Post
  The High Cost of ‘Data Darkness’ in the Developing World

  The developing world is data dark, writes Tara Thiagarajan of Madura Microfinance; gathering even the most elementary data is a monumental task, requiring feet on the ground, paid employees and auditing systems. Without it, however, products don’t have good market fit, customers don’t get what they really need and the cost of customer acquisition and delivery is higher.

• Blog Post
  Climbing India’s Technology Stack: As the Fintech Revolution Extends to Health Care, Will Emerging Markets Be Ready?

  The use of technology stacks has been a profoundly important breakthrough for social and financial inclusion in India, and it also opens up many opportunities to transform health care for the poorest residents there. But as these tech-based solutions proliferate in other low and middle-income countries, writes David Butz, the health care industry must be prepared for the massive disruptions they're likely to bring.

• News
  6 Surprising Reasons Why South Africans Are Not Big On Banks

  BCG recently undertook extensive research into the process of financial inclusion in South Africa. This primary research which is based on surveys, interviews and a fresh analytical approach, yielded several interesting themes about the country’s use and perceptions of formal banking channels. Bringing more people into the financial system has the ability to enhance GDP growth, reduce poverty and create new market opportunities for the private sector.

• Blog Post
  The Nigerian Prototype: Youth, Companies, Government Rallying Around the SDGs

  Nigeria-based Sahara Group has translated the Sustainable Development Goals into strategies that resonate alongside all facets of its work, says Karen Newman. The organization also helped bring together a variety of stakeholders – including young people, a network of companies dedicated to alleviating poverty and the government – to provide greater political traction and ownership of the SDGs.