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Closing the Gap: Identifying Key Challenges for the Missing Middle SMEs in Francophone West Africa
Many small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries fall into the “missing middle”: They're too big for microfinance and too small or risky for traditional finance. To better understand this sector and how to support it, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) commissioned studies on the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Togo. WDI's Ekta Jhaveri discusses the research with Julia Kho, knowledge manager at TripleJump, an investment management and advisory services firm that manages DGGF’s Investment Funds Local SMEs effort.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Viewpoint: Women’s Financial Inclusion Needs a Bigger Fix Than Digital IDs
Until governments and banks tackle issues such as corruption, low informal sector wages and female illiteracy, digital ID systems like Aadhaar will do little to improve the financial inclusion of poor women in India, says economist Debdatta Saha.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Secret Ingredient in Product Design: How Crossing the ‘Emotional Gateway’ Can Boost Financial Services
Banks can be intimidating places for people who have never set up an account, let alone stepped foot in one. But people love and trust their savings groups, which are a mainstay of financial security in dozens of countries. Innocent Ephraim at the Financial Sector Deepening Trust and Daryl Collins at Bankable Frontier Associates (BFA) ask: How can formal providers offer financial services that appeal to users in the same way?
- Categories
- Finance
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Live from European Microfinance Week: Watch Recordings of Friday’s Two Plenary Sessions
NextBillion is covering European Microfinance Week as a media partner, and we're planning to live-stream two plenary sessions on Friday, Dec. 1, via Facebook Live. You can watch the broadcasts on our Facebook Page at 9:00 - 10:30 AM Luxembourg Time/3:00 - 4:30 AM EST, and at 3:30-4:30 PM Luxembourg Time/9:30-10:30 AM EST.
- Categories
- Finance, NextBillion Originals, Technology
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Financial Services for Real People: Using Behavioral Science to Boost Financial Health in Latin America
Behavioral economics illustrates how we humans often fail to plan beyond the immediate future. Over the past two years, the MetLife Foundation and behavioral economics lab ideas42 have examined the behavioral barriers standing in the way of financial health for low-income people in two pilot markets, Mexico and Chile. The two organizations have designed solutions that facilitate retirement savings, short-term savings and access to credit.
- Categories
- Finance
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Who Are Kenya’s Financially Excluded?
After a decade of significant declines in financial exclusion, these new numbers raise the question of whether the strongest mobile money markets, such as those in East Africa, might be reaching a plateau in financial access.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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