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Rwanda Mulls a Digital Currency in Two Years – Central Bank
The national digital currency, according to the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), would offer Rwandans a safe, free, and easy alternative to physical cash.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Paystack-Led Consortium Acquires Brass, Replaces CEO
The acquisition ends months of uncertainty over the future of Brass after delays in processing customer withdrawals began in October 2023.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech, startups
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Techstars-Backed BlackCopper Set Out to Disrupt Lending, Now It Owes Investors ₦1 Billion
Despite its bright start and significant press coverage, BlackCopper soon faced an existential crisis: it could not recover over 60,000 loans disbursed to customers.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, failure, fintech, lending, startups
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Promoting Financial Inclusion in the Caribbean: A Broken ATM in the Bahamas Reveals the Need for Digital Banking Solutions Across the Region
Imagine if your only access to your salary and savings depended on a single ATM. Now imagine that someone takes a hammer and smashes it up. As Nicholas Rees at Kanoo Pays explains, that was the situation facing a community in The Bahamas after vandals damaged the district’s sole ATM. He discusses the challenges experienced by remote, cash-dependent populations across the Caribbean, and explores how Kanoo Pays' digital wallet leverages offline payment capabilities and Central Bank Digital Currencies to address these customers' unique needs.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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India, Ghana Agree To Operationalise UPI Link Within 6 Months
The linking of Indian and Ghanaian instant payment systems will be the latest in India's expansion of UPI operations, which are already available in countries such as France, UAE, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Future of Digital Credit: A Recent Report Explores How to Make its Second Decade More Impactful Than its First
The first online lending platforms began emerging roughly two decades ago, and since then, the global digital credit market has grown to reach many formerly excluded customers. But according to Dan Cassara, previously at CEGA, this growth has raised concerns about over-indebtedness, exploitation and scams. As the market looks toward the coming decades, he shares a recent report that investigates digital credit — particularly Mobile Instant Credit and airtime loans — and explores approaches that can better protect consumers and support their financial health.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Inclusion Requires Interoperability: Why All Digital Financial Services Should be Interoperable
As of 2021, there were 1.4 billion financially excluded people globally — over 1 billion fewer than there were in 2011. As Briana Marbury at the Interledger Foundation explains, mobile money and other digital financial products and services have helped to drive this progress, reaching populations that have traditionally been excluded. But she argues that this momentum has highlighted an emerging issue that could limit the impact of the growth in financial inclusion: the lack of interoperability between digital systems.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Norrsken22 Invests $205 Million in Africa’s Growing Fintech Sector
Lexi Novitske expects a rebound beyond pre-2020 levels despite a dip in 2023.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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