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Knowledge and opportunities are part and parcel of financial capability: the combination of financial education and financial inclusion via safe and affordable financial products.
OPINION: Financial Education Is Not Enough in Today’s Economy: We Need Financial CapabilityBlog Post
This week brought a number of developments in global health, social enterprise and financial inclusion - some promising, some disturbing, and one bittersweet. As usual, we’ve highlighted a sample of the reaction to these events on Twitter, along with some long-form pieces that vividly describe some of the big challenges and small triumphs in the sectors we cover.
Twitter Top TenBlog Post
Smartphone sales are exploding in emerging economies, with Latin America and the Middle East/Africa recording growth rates of 59 percent and 83 percent, respectively, last year. CGAP’s Greg Chen discusses how this new access could transform low-income people’s interactions with their financial services providers in this video Q&A, the latest in our series on the Future of Microfinance.
A Revolution in the Making: CGAP’s Greg Chen discusses how smartphones could transform financial inclusion and microfinanceBlog Post
Technology is the enabler of digital services, but people are still the backbone. This is important for microfinance institutions to remember, since transitioning to mobile services requires considerable changes from staff. In the latest post in their series on how MFIs can go digital, Grameen Foundation explores best practices for making this transition.
The Human Touch Behind Digital Success: Microfinance institutions that go mobile need to support the people behind the technologyNews
There were no drugs to treat Ebola in the outbreak that devastated three west African countries, other diseases of the poor are neglected and the pipeline of new antibiotics has dried up. Experts are calling for a $10 billion fund to pay for research and development ahead of the World Health Assembly in Geneva next week.
Experts Call for Global Research Fund for Antibiotics, Ebola and Other Neglected DiseasesBlog Post
The first commandment for companies, organizations and investors that aim to generate social impact is: "Thou shalt adopt mechanisms to measure it." Unfortunately, this practice is not yet common. And when it does occur, it often focuses narrowly on counting the total number of units distributed or beneficiaries supported, rather than on understanding the nuances of the benefits being transferred.
The First Commandment of Social Impact Generation: We need a better understanding of the nuances of creating social impactNews
Wave (waveapps.com) has closed a $10 million Series C investment with participation from CRV, The Social+Capital Partnership, OMERS Ventures, and a strategic investor in the global fintech software space. This brings total investment in Wave to $35 million, with the new funds earmarked for ongoing innovation and development of small business financial tools.
Press Release: Wave Closes $10 Million Investment to Provide Tools for Owners of Small- and Micro-BusinessesBlog Post
After a group of six studies published in January found that its benefits are modest at best, microcredit is stuck at a crossroads, says Matt Mossman. But as debate continues amongst practitioners about how to react to the new data, the findings could spark changes in the funding landscape for the sector.
Funding a Sector in Transition: Recent RCTs could reshape donors’ approach to microcredit
