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Pan-African Seed-Stage Ventures Platform Secures $64 Million 1st close for Fund II
Founded in 2016, Ventures Platform targets companies that bridge infrastructural gaps and promote prosperity.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: SMS Charges May Be Inhibiting the Use of AI for 1 Billion People
"Entrepreneurs I spoke with are shelving ideas due to the price of SMS, including services that would have provided local agricultural guidance, advice for pregnant women, and insights to small businesses from transaction records."
- Categories
- Telecommunications
- Region
- Global
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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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UNICEF and Co-Develop Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Safe and Inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in Tanzania and Lesotho
This strategic collaboration aims to accelerate digital transformation while placing children’s rights and inclusion at the heart of national DPI efforts.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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World Bank Chief ‘Not Certain’ Developing Nations Can Leapfrog With AI
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga is skeptical about AI's leapfrogging opportunity, but experts believe that while challenges exist in Africa, so do opportunities for advancement.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Razorpay, NPCI, and OpenAI Join Forces to Enable ChatGPT UPI Payments in India
Razorpay partners with OpenAI and NPCI to test ChatGPT-based agentic UPI payments for seamless shopping.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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How India’s Non-Bank Financial Companies are Closing the MSME Credit Gap — And What Other Emerging Markets Can Learn from Their Success
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make up around 90% of businesses and employ over half of the workforce globally, while generating up to 40% of GDP and creating 70% of formal jobs in emerging markets. Yet according to Sameer Nanda at Ugro Capital Limited, these businesses face an ongoing credit gap that, in India alone, amounts to an estimated ₹80 trillion. He explains how non-bank financial companies are addressing this gap by offering dynamic and flexible lending services designed for MSMEs — and shares useful lessons from their approach that can be applied in other emerging economies with similar credit challenges.
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Econet Founder Strive Masiyiwa Unveils $720 Million Plan to Build Africa’s First AI Factory Network by 2026
Under this vision, the continent would gain the infrastructure to conduct local AI research, development, and deployment.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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