-
Designing Credit Systems for Informal Economies: Why More Data Alone Is Not Enough
The global financing gap for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is estimated in the trillions. As Ayokunmi Sodamola argues, the reason for this gap is not that these enterprises exhibit poor financial behaviors — or even that there’s a lack of data that can be used to establish their creditworthiness. It's that standard credit assessment systems aren't designed to capture and interpret the data generated by their informal financial activities. He explores how lenders can build a more integrated approach that treats data, identity, trust, risk and incentives as interconnected layers of a single credit system.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Courageous Capital: How Africa Built its Own Tech Ecosystem
Africa’s tech sector has been thriving for almost three decades, during which its entrepreneurs have quietly built a self-sustaining ecosystem. And as Marsha Wulff at LoftyInc Capital explains, instead of government and charitable institutions taking the lead, it has been Africa’s own innovators who have developed its tech infrastructure and driven its commercial success. She explores how African entrepreneurs and investors have built a vibrant and resilient tech ecosystem that addresses the continent's unique needs — and taps its massive growth potential.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
-
‘Deep Pockets’ vs. ‘Long Pockets’ in DPI: What Instant Payments and Open Finance Tell Us About Sustainable Funding for Digital Public Infrastructure
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is gaining traction in emerging markets around the world. But as David Porteous at Integral: Governance Solutions and Rafe Mazer at Fair Finance Consulting explain, while the financial cost of building DPI may be modest, operating it at scale requires ongoing costs to be allocated across the ecosystem over time, making DPI sustainability fundamentally a governance issue centered on pricing policies. They explore how two of the three broadly accepted categories of DPI, instant payment systems and open finance, can develop credible mechanisms to finance long-term costs — while maintaining incentives for participants and trust among users.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Moving Forward in a Post-USAID World: Why Women Must Be at the Center of Financial Inclusion
The demise of USAID has profound implications for the movement toward gender equality in financial inclusion and other development priorities. According to Julia Arnold and Sara Seavey, consultants specializing in women’s financial inclusion, the agency played a central role in funding, researching and coordinating global gender equality work — and without that anchor, these efforts are at risk of fragmentation and regression. They argue that this moment places responsibility on the sector itself to preserve the values, evidence and accountability structures that made progress toward gender-inclusive finance possible.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Bfree Raises $3.1 Million to Tackle Africa’s Growing Digital Loan Crisis
Unlike traditional debt collection firms, Bfree uses artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to analyse borrower behaviour, estimate repayment capacity, and create personalised repayment arrangements.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Thunes and Vodacom Tanzania Launch Cross-Border M-Pesa Payments for Uganda and China
Thanks to the collaboration, Vodacom customers in Tanzania can now seamlessly pay merchants in Uganda and China directly from their mobile phones.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Viewpoint: Who Really Uses Her Mobile Money Account?
While men generally operated mobile money directly, the women they interviewed in rural Ghana were largely dependent on an intermediary to complete even the simplest transaction: a husband, a daughter, a neighbor or a local agent.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Latin America’s Digital Bank Plata Secures $405 Million in Series C Funding, Reaching $5B Valuation
Previously focused on credit cards, the platform has now introduced deposit accounts and debit cards, delivering comprehensive digital banking solutions to Mexican consumers for the first time.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.