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Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up: Bhutan and Fiji’s Contrasting Paths to Digital Transformation Reveal the Pros and Cons of Government and Market-Driven Approaches
The pursuit of digital competitiveness — the capacity and readiness to adopt digital technologies — has led to remarkable success stories in emerging markets, transforming public infrastructure and enhancing the delivery of social and financial services. But as Neeraj Lekhwar and Garima Singh at FinValue Advisors explain, this path remains challenging for many nations — particularly small countries. They share insights from a FinValue study involving Bhutan and Fiji: two countries with comparable sizes and socioeconomic structures that have approached their digital transformation very differently. The policy paths they've taken present contrasting examples of digital adoption strategies that provide valuable lessons for other small markets.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Flutterwave Selects Polygon as Its Default Blockchain for Cross-Border Payments
Africa’s largest payments company joins forces with Polygon Labs to launch instant, low-cost cross-border payments for global multinationals and millions of consumers.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Latin America Fintech Remitee Lands $20 Million Funding Round
Remitee will use the funding to expand its coverage across Latin America, while also "deepening our presence in the US-Europe-LatAm triangle".
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Moving Past the ‘Infrastructure of Hope’: Why Investors, Policymakers and Entrepreneurs Must Build a Modern E-Commerce Ecosystem in Southeast Asia
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over 95% of all businesses in Southeast Asia, and millions of these entrepreneurs have migrated their hustle online. Yet according to Macy Castillo at Enstack, due to a lack of access to reliable payment options and other tools, they are attempting to build modern e-commerce businesses on a foundation of informal agreements and personal trust: an “infrastructure of hope” that leaves them exposed to payment fraud and locked out of formal finance. She argues that this is the central challenge for economic inclusion in Southeast Asia today, and explores Enstack's solution.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Japanese VCs Launch USD $20 Million Early-Stage Startup Fund for Africa & MENA
The fund will invest in four key sectors: finance, mobility, distribution, and sustainability. Furthermore, it will focus on areas such as mobile payments, microlending, digital retail, logistics, and agri-tech.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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East Asia Brings Boom to African Fintech Unicorn Flutterwave
The company’s international growth this year has also included securing 20 new licenses in the United States for its remittance app, Send.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African Payments Platform HoneyCoin Secures $4.9 Million Funding
Licensed in jurisdictions including the US, Canada, the EU and key African markets, it integrates directly with banks and telecom operators.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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South Africa’s Street Wallet Raises $350K to Bring Cashless Payments to Informal Economy
Founded by Kosta Scholiadis in 2021, Street Wallet is a mobile payment solution built for informal traders and service providers in South Africa.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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