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Leveraging the COVID-19 Crisis for Local Development: How the Pandemic Can Strengthen Public-Private Collaboration in Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic is a massive humanitarian crisis. But as Malado Kaba, the first female Economy and Finance Minister of the Republic of Guinea argues, it could also be an opportunity for the African continent. She explores how public-private partnerships and improved collaboration across industries and sectors could create sustainable change—if governments take the lead in mobilizing private sector and development partners to support locally driven solutions.
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- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Investing
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Keeping Finance in the Family: How Intra-Family Accounts Can Help Low-Income Customers During COVID-19 – and Beyond
Banks in emerging countries often struggle to generate active usage of the accounts they offer to young people. Yet as Anne Marie van Swinderen at L-IFT points out, financial diaries research has shown that young people save frequently and significantly – especially when their earnings rise. She explores how intra-family accounts could help banks serve this challenging demographic during COVID-19 and in the longer term – while also expanding their financial services to other members of the family.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- COVID-19, financial inclusion, youth
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How Governments Can Reach People in Extreme Poverty and Build Resilient Livelihoods During COVID-19
Governments around the world have taken fiscal measures that total almost $12 trillion in response to COVID-19. But Lindsay Coates at BRAC argues that most of these programs are short-term and reactive, and many do not reach those most in need of support. She proposes a more comprehensive response – and discusses how the Graduation approach to poverty alleviation can play a role.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Startups and Venture Capital vs. COVID-19: How an INR 1 Billion Grant Program Is Boosting India’s Pandemic Response
India is home to many innovative startups that are leveraging technology to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. To support them, a group of prominent venture capital funds and founders recently launched ACT Grants, an INR 1 billion effort to fund scale-ready solutions to COVID-related challenges. NextBillion spoke with Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam Learning Foundation – a key partner in the initiative – about how it is helping India’s startups ramp up their battle against the virus.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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Manufacturing a COVID-19 Recovery: Why Building Local Manufacturing Capacity Is Key To Africa’s Pandemic Response
COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll on sub-Saharan Africa's economies. And as Salma Okonkwo at Blue Power Energy Ltd. points out, the region is particularly vulnerable because it relies on international imports and exports for much of its GDP. She proposes an effective way to help Africa recover from the pandemic and build resilience to future shocks: developing local manufacturing.
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- Coronavirus, Energy
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Addressing the Weak Link in COVID-19 Relief: How Improving Strategic Communications Can Boost the Impact of Social Protection Programs
In response to COVID-19, 212 countries have planned or implemented more than 1,100 social protection programs to help over 1.8 billion people. But as Arshi Aadil and Abhishek Jain at MicroSave (MSC) point out, many intended recipients don’t know about the benefits they're eligible for, or how to access these funds. They explore how governments and program administrators can improve their communication and outreach.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Impact Assessment
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Enabling Ecosystems: How To Boost Fintech Innovation and Financial Inclusion During and After COVID-19
Lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have rapidly accelerated digitalization worldwide, particularly in finance. But as analysts from the University of New South Wales, the University of Luxembourg, the University of Hong Kong and GIZ point out, ensuring the safe and inclusive development of digital finance is a major challenge. They explore why an ecosystem-based strategy could be the answer.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Gender: The Blind Spot of the COVID-19 Response in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing a disproportionately higher socio-economic cost on women. As Melinda Gates put it, “COVID-19 is gender-blind, but not gender-neutral.” Analysts at MSC discuss four potential types of fallout from COVID-19 that will have lasting socio-economic impacts on women in India and other low- and middle-income countries, based on multiple studies that MSC conducted between March and July of this year.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology