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Sierra Leone, United Nations to Develop Blockchain Digital ID System
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNDCF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have entered into a partnership with Kiva, a technology nonprofit. Kiva will lend its institutional protocol of the same name to implement the “Credit Bureau Of The Future.”
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Blockchain Experiments Have Begun: Here’s What They Could Yield for Business and Development
The buzz around blockchain is loud. But despite the widespread attention the tech has generated, it has yet to live up to its potential to make a major impact in low- and middle-income countries, according to Akhtar Badshah of Catalytic Innovators Group. Badshah profiles blockchain success stories from the for-profit, social enterprise and development sectors alike, arguing that if more organizations would give the tech a chance, they (and their beneficiaries) could tap into its great potential.
- Categories
- Technology
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Zambians, Wary of Taxpayer ID Rule, Opt for Mobile Money Rather Than Banks
Zambia’s government and its banks insist the country’s new taxpayer identification numbers aren’t used to collect additional taxes. But the public’s suspicions about this ID requirement have driven many locals to favor digital transactions, now a booming business.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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From Financial Inclusion to Employment: Four Ways Superplatforms Will Shape Africa’s Future
Perhaps surprisingly, young people in sub-Saharan Africa and other low-income countries haven't embraced digital payments to the extent of their older peers. But that may be changing as "superplatforms" like Alibaba and Facebook – which can leverage their data and tech capabilities over multiple sectors – emerge in the region. David Porteous and Amolo Ng’weno of BFA and Olga Morawcynski of Mastercard Foundation discuss four ways these tech platforms will shape youth employment, financial inclusion, digital identity and other fields.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Viewpoint: Impact of digitisation: The new rural reality
Rural India contributes a substantial part of the total net value added in many sectors, with an overall 46% contribution to Indian national income.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Omidyar Network will invest $200 million in India over next 4 years
Philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network will be investing over $200 million in India in the next four years to fund start-ups in areas such as civic tech, education and digital identity.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Inside the Jordan refugee camp that runs on blockchain
By letting a machine scan his iris, he confirmed his identity on a traditional United Nations database, queried a family account kept on a variant of the Ethereum blockchain by the World Food Programme (WFP), and settled his bill without opening his wallet.
- Categories
- Technology
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Viewpoint: Stop talking about financial inclusion. Identity inclusion must come first
When it comes to financial services, we tend to think that proving our identity begins at the credit bureau or bank branch, as a necessary step in the process of building up a credit history. But that’s back to front: identity and financial services intertwine well before this point.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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