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Tanzania: 47% of GDP Transferred in Mobile Money Revolution
When Vodacom introduced the mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa, in 2008 financial inclusion in the country was below 16 per cent. Only eight years later, financial inclusion increased fivefold to reach 86 per cent putting Tanzania well ahead of most Sub-Saharan African countries.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Home Sweet Home: Mobilizing Microfinance for Housing
Only 2 percent of microfinance portfolios consist of housing loans. Why? The authors say it's because housing languishes in the “household spending” category; it's not income generating, so it's somehow less deserving. It will soon be in the spotlight, however, as the eighth European Microfinance Award focuses on what financial institutions serving the world’s poor can do to address their housing needs.
- Categories
- Investing
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Putting Vision into Focus: Lessons on Scaling Up a Social Enterprise
Out of everyone experiencing vision losses globally, 2.5 billion of them can have their vision restored with just a pair of eyeglasses. BRAC and VisionSpring are tackling this problem in Bangladesh through an innovative social entrepreneurship model: They sell low-cost reading glasses to low-wage earners through BRAC’s network of community health workers.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Dear Critics: Here’s Why the Off-grid Energy Industry Needs Impact Investment
Off-grid lighting trade organization GOGLA responds to a recent post from Ceniarth critical of "hype" in the energy access sector. Consider the off-grid market within the context of the wider world and economy around it, say John Keane and Laura Sundblad, and remember that millions of households around the globe live with unreliable, dangerous, inadequate and ultimately extremely expensive means of lighting and basic energy.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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MetLife Renews Sponsorship Of “Multipliers of Prosperity” Financial Inclusion Site
MetLife Foundation today proudly announces its third year as sponsor of Multipliers of Prosperity, an award winning custom content hub led by WSJ. Custom Studios that helps raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities in the realm of financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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How Can Inclusive Business Advance the SDGs?
Two recent publications released in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals' first anniversary share the view that inclusive business is a part of the solution to deliver on the SDGs. That's a sign of progress, according to Jenny Melo, but we still need to go deeper in the conversation and ask for impacts, measurements and specific connections.
- Categories
- Education, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Study: Many South Africans ill-equipped to make sound money decisions
A considerable portion of South African adults may not be adequately equipped to make key financial decisions, a new financial literacy study has found. While there was broad evidence that South Africans had a positive attitude towards saving, personal and macroeconomic realities often hindered their savings behaviour, Benjamin Roberts, senior research manager at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), said.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Fintech Deals in South East Asia Hit Record Numbers in 2016
The total number of venture-backed deals to fintech companies in South East Asia (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) reached record highs in 2016 according to data released by CB Insights recently.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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