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Weekly Roundup: Jill Stein’s SRI Controversy; Culture Change as Opportunity; Mobile Money’s Hungry
The hubbub about Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's insufficiently green investments might seem like a tempest in a teapot ... but it could signal an important shift; changing attitudes and rising disposable incomes in Kenya are opening possibilities for insurance firms; and research shows mobile money's driving a price revolution in international remittances. That, and more, in this week's Roundup.
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- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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Taste of solar power builds appetite for more in Kenya, survey finds
Fuel-seller Nancy Kaisa has for years used solar power to light her premises at the Entasopia shopping center in Kajiado, in southern Kenya. But recently she’s started using energy from a solar mini-grid system to operate her fuel pumps and meet her other energy needs, ditching her diesel generator.
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- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Peer Mentorships Helping Colombia Write Its Next Chapter
Peer learning provides mutually beneficial relationships that advance the knowledge and well-being of all participants. In the second post in our series on the Graduation model of alleviating poverty, Fundación Capital explores the power of local peer mentors in supporting the income-generation projects of individuals affected by the violence in Colombia.
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- Education
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Interview: Jonathan Chang, Executive Director of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation
Thirty-five-year–old Jonathan Chang is the Singapore-based founder of four Silicon Valley social enterprises. He has two degrees from Harvard and has taught social enterprise in Rwanda to genocide survivors. Here he explains why society should look at social entrepreneurship as a business, not a charity.
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- Uncategorized
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New Report: Small Merchants Offer Big Financial Inclusion Opportunities
Increasing micro and small merchants’ use of cashless payment systems will require broad participation and innovation from the financial sector, regulators, governments and the private sector. But the impact will be transformative for millions of small merchants, their customers and the broader economies in which they operate.
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- Uncategorized
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The Father of M-Pesa on Being Innovative in Africa
Nick Hughes is known for being at the forefront of innovation in Africa. He is responsible for founding and developing the M-Pesa mobile payments service in the mid-2000s while working at Vodafone. Today the platform is hailed as one of Africa’s top success stories. Over 70% of the Kenyan population uses M-Pesa, and other markets – such as Tanzania – are showing strong adoption.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why One Indian Entrepreneur Is Investing In Smart Villages, Not Smart Cities
Varun Chandran grew up in a village in rural India. Till his late teens, he didn’t know what the Internet was. Now, he’s running a startup, Corporate360, that works with IT clients around the world. The global community, he says, should invest in smart villages as much as they are in smart cities.
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- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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What Digital Finance Means For Emerging Economies
Financial services are the lifeblood of an economy, enabling households and businesses alike to save, invest, and protect themselves against risk. Yet in many emerging economies today, the majority of individuals and small businesses lack access to basic savings and credit products, which hinders economic growth and perpetuates poverty.
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- Uncategorized
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