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How to Support Entrepreneurs in the Time of Coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing falling demand, mandatory store closings, labor shortages and other challenges for businesses around the world – and micro and small businesses are especially vulnerable. How can development organizations help these critical drivers of local economies? Juan Carlos Thomas and Andrea Bettosini at Technoserve provide answers to this question, based on past experience helping businesses weather socio-political upheaval in developing countries.
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- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise, Transportation
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An Unlevel Playing Field: Why Small Businesses Face Disadvantages in Digital Commerce – and How Inclusive Tech Innovations Could Help
One reason COVID-19 has been so damaging to global micro and small enterprises (MSEs) is that consumers have shifted towards purchasing online – a change that has mainly benefited large corporations. According to Malika Anand at BFA's Catalyst Fund, making digital commerce more inclusive could help these businesses survive and grow in the long term. She shares research from Ghana that highlights several promising opportunities for digital commerce innovations that can benefit informal MSEs.
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- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology, Transportation
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The Big Impact of Small Improvements: How Last-Mile Distributors Have Responded to COVID-19 with ‘Incremental Innovation’
Distributing beneficial products in last-mile communities has always been difficult, but COVID-19 has made it much harder, exacerbating many of the challenges that last-mile distributors were already facing. Emma Colenbrander and Gerwin Jansen at the Global Distributors Collective explore innovative solutions to some of these challenges, many of which have tended to be incremental rather than radical.
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- Coronavirus, Technology
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A Boon for Online Commerce: How COVID-19 is Transforming the Industry in Bangladesh
COVID-19 has been merciless to the world and its economy in general. But according to analysts at MicroSave (MSC), it has boosted a few sectors – like digital/contactless payments, e-commerce and Facebook commerce (or f-commerce). They explore how the pandemic is accelerating the online commerce industry in Bangladesh, and how regulators and other stakeholders can support its growth.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
- Tags
- COVID-19, digital payments, e-commerce, MSMEs
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Maker Spaces vs. COVID-19: How the Pandemic Is Bringing the Small Manufacturing Revolution to the Development Sector
When COVID-19 first struck, it soon became apparent that there wasn’t enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to go around. As Kuldeep Bandhu Aryal and Nishat Tasnim at BRAC point out, this has resulted in price gouging and acute scarcity, in Bangladesh and other developing (and developed) countries. They explore BRAC's innovative solution to this problem: collaborating with maker spaces and other small manufacturers to produce PPE locally and affordably.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
- Tags
- COVID-19, manufacturing, scale
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COVID-19 Is Accelerating Digital Banking Across the Globe: Here’s How It Will Impact Bangladesh
COVID-19 has fast-tracked the adoption of innovative tools and technologies by the global banking sector. As Jakirul Islam at Bank Asia points out, this has already led to an increase in digital banking, as customers move away from branch-based banking due to pandemic lockdowns. He explores some popular features of digital banks, and discusses their potential impact in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Data + Digitization: The Key To Helping African Banks and Microfinance Institutions Support Their Customers During COVID-19
Thanks to COVID-19, the IMF projects 2020 to be the worst year for Africa's economic growth since its record-keeping began in 1970. And concerns are also mounting about the likelihood of an increase in non-performing loans, which will impact businesses, industries and individuals across the continent. Cate Rung at Pngme explores how financial technology – including a unified data API platform – can help banks and microfinance institutions weather this crisis, while delivering services that comply with social distancing measures.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Digital Access Matters: The Benefits of Bringing High-Speed Internet To Low-Income Communities During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led people around the world to work and shop from home – but as Dirk-Jan Koeman and Kara Ing at Poa Internet point out, this is easier for some than others. For instance, in densely-populated urban areas in Kenya, the lack of high-speed internet makes working from home almost impossible. They discuss how Poa is bringing these households online, and share research on how these newly connected customers are using the internet.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation