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Building an App in Africa: Lessons From an Aspiring Tech Disruptor
The motorcycle taxi, or boda boda, industry is the second-highest employer in Uganda, but is marked by rising crime and road accidents. SafeBoda, founded in 2015, wants to change this through an app that connects its community of trained, professional drivers with passengers who are looking for a safer ride. The company's co-founder discusses what they've learned so far about building an app in Africa.
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- Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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From Beehive Fences to Coconut Bombs: 10 Non-Chemical Pest-Control Innovations for the Global South
Farm-raiding elephants and malarial mosquitoes are among the pests that plague the Global South. But farmers there also contend with pests that are all too familiar on farms anywhere in the world: harvest-munching rats and mice, for example. Rob Goodier at Engineering for Change lists 10 non-chemical pest-control solutions designed for any place resources are constrained.
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- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Africa as a Hotbed for Innovation: Technology Providing New Ways to Look at Age-Old Problems
Intellecap’s latest research explores how emerging technologies can trigger a set of big shifts in Africa over the next decade, and how innovators and enterprises there can leverage these shifts to help address the continent’s mega-challenges in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, financial services, health care, education, energy and water.
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- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Cashless Hospitalization, Premiums of $3.90 a Year … and the Program Pays for Itself
Beset with high levels of preventable illness and avoidable hospital admissions, India needs a risk coverage instrument that shields poor and low-income households. Grameen Koota thinks it's found one; the microfinance organization's insurance plan offers a variety of medical services at an annual premium of $3.90, capturing the pricing benefit of risk-pooling between different households.
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- Health Care
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How Ikea helped to change attitudes on helping refugees
Refugee populations have long been reliant on charitable aid agencies, but could business investment make a more meaningful difference?
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- Uncategorized
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Deprived or Different?: Tips for Social Entrepreneurs Working Across Cultures
Not all people value the same things. This is crucial information for social entrepreneurs working across cultures, says the author, Andrea Nelson Trice, who conducted more than 70 related interviews around the world. She offers a few tips to social entrepreneurs on how they can make sense of their customers' differing priorities and dreams, and how these might impact an enterprise’s success.
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- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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Four Ways Digital Finance Can Prepare for the Next Wave of Mobile Money Disruption
The mobile money and agent banking markets of the developing world are due for disruption, so digital finance providers should start preparing. A new research paper from the Helix Institute of Digital Finance offers tips on preparing for the new wave, plus some advice: Focus on data, "the common denominator and foundation for all financial technology companies."
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- Technology
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Why a Few More Women Coders Isn’t Enough to Close the Digital Gender Divide
“Girls in ICT,” “women in tech,” “women in STEM,” “girls that code." Attend any conference on business, social enterprise or technology in emerging markets and you can likely take in a panel on one of these topics. But while high-level discussions and new initiatives to encourage girls to enter the technology field are steps in the right direction, there is still a long way to go in closing the digital gender divide.
- Categories
- Technology
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