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Revisiting our Assumptions About Digital Financial Inclusion: Three Unexpected Findings from BFA’s FIBR Project
When BFA launched its FIBR (Financial Inclusion on Business Runways) R&D project four years ago, it outlined a set of assumptions about how smartphones, increased connectivity and digitization would help to accelerate financial inclusion for small businesses in Africa. As the project wraps up, BFA Founder and Chair David Porteous explores which of those assumptions still hold – and which need to be reassessed as unanticipated developments have reshaped the market.
- Categories
- Finance
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How Artificial Intelligence Can Simplify International Development Research: An Intriguing Experiment (Involving NextBillion)
International development professionals must often spend a great deal of time trying to keep up with news, trends and research about their area of activity – and this requires a lot of manual labor. But much of this can now be automated and aided by artificial intelligence (AI). Jacob Rosen and Ashirul Amin at BFA explore how they used AI to sort and categorize a vast amount of development-focused content online, using NextBillion's 5,000+ article library as a test case. The results of their experiment show how AI can help people reduce time and labor and learn more efficiently.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Creating an Inclusive Fintech Ecosystem? Here Are Three Facts Accelerators Should Consider
BFA's Catalyst Fund started with one goal: to support early-stage inclusive fintech entrepreneurs in developing accessible, high-quality and relevant financial solutions for the underserved. After three years of operations, the accelerator has worked with 20 startups across 13 emerging markets, helping to create better credit, payment, insurance, savings and investment solutions that improve the financial health of people with low incomes. Maelis Carraro and Rasima Swarup at BFA share some of the fund's lessons on how to build an inclusive fintech network.
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African Fintech Dominates Catalyst Fund’s 2019 Startup Cohort
The organization announced its 2019 startup cohort and three out of the four finance ventures — Chipper Cash, Salutat and Turaco — have an Africa focus (Brazil-based venture Diin, was the fourth).
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Machine Learning in PAYGo: What You Need to Know Before You Jump In
Machine learning is an exciting technology with plenty of potential applications in social impact business. But as Jacob Winiecki at BFA points out, the hype around the approach may make it tempting to jump in without first determining if it's the right tool for the job. He offers a clear run-down of how machine learning actually works in practice, along with three concrete steps for how a PAYGo enterprise can implement the technology, based on the work BFA’s FIBR Project has done with ZOLA, a leading PAYGo solar operator in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
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Is Financial Inclusion Really Impacting the SDGs? This New Research Approach Could Offer an Answer
There's growing discussion about how financial inclusion can impact the Sustainable Development Goals – including on NextBillion earlier this week. But according to Liz Larson at UNCDF and Daryl Collins at BFA, the evidence of a link between financial tools and development impacts has not been conclusive. They explore a new measurement framework that aims to take account of the breadth of all potential and proven connections between financial services and the SDGs – while also offering a method for substantiating those impacts.
- Categories
- Finance
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Accelerating to Investment: Four Strategies for Securing Follow-on Funding for Fintech Startups
Every startup wants to secure funding for growth. Yet for many fintech startups, especially in emerging markets, capital is scarce, business models are unproven, and investors are unfamiliar with the sector – so funding runs out before they can achieve impact. Under these challenging circumstances, BFA's Catalyst Fund accelerator has helped its early-stage, inclusive fintech startups raise substantial investment capital. Maelis Carraro and Malika Anand at BFA explore the secrets to its success.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Investing
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The Superplatforms are Coming … And They Will Transform Financial Inclusion
With their big brands, big budgets and big data, superplatforms like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Alibaba already know more about most banks’ customers than the banks themselves. As these internet giants make increasing inroads into financial services, what are the implications for low-income customers – and their existing providers? David Porteous of BFA and Olga Morawcynski of MasterCard Foundation explore how these platforms are reshaping the face of financial inclusion around the world.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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