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COVID-19: Burden or Boon for Financial Inclusion?
When the Alliance for Financial Inclusion outlined its “Five Key Financial Inclusion Policy Trends for 2020” on January 17 of this year, the spread of the novel coronavirus was still in its infancy. Now that COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the global economy, Robin Newnham at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion revisits those trends, viewing them through the prism of the pandemic – and finding both new risks, and new opportunities.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Walmart Foundation Announces Two New Grants To Help Smallholder Farmers in India
Both grantees will focus on increasing opportunities for women farmers via farmer producer organizations (FPOs).
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Whatsapp Partners With Common Services Centers for a Digital Literacy Service Chatbot
The government describes CSC as a 'strategic cornerstone' of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), approved by the government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Youth Saving and Spending During COVID-19: Tracking Young People’s Financial Activity in Nigeria
How are young people in Africa saving and spending money during COVID-19, when many of their previous sources of income have disappeared? Mahlet Alemayehu at L-IFT shares the results of a study in which 117 young people living in Nigeria kept a record of their savings and spending over several months. The data can help financial service providers anticipate how young people will need to use their accounts, and determine what other services they may need as they navigate the challenges of the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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A New Mission for an Old Model: Unlocking Sustainable Water Through Savings Groups
To achieve universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030, the world will need to quadruple spending to $150 billion per year. Given this financing gap, every investment in clean water counts. Yet according to Chris Prottas at The Water Trust, an estimated one out of three rural water points are broken across Sub-Saharan Africa, and the traditional community-led maintenance approach isn't working. He explores a promising solution: adapting the savings group model to provide sustainable water access.
- Tags
- financial inclusion, sanitation, savings, WASH, water
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Can Africa Really ‘Build Back Better’? How Financial Inclusion Must Evolve To Enable a COVID-19 Recovery
Sub-Saharan Africa has long been one of the financial inclusion sector’s top success stories. But according to David Ferrand, the former director of FSD Kenya, the overall impact of that newfound financial access has been disappointing. In this Q&A, he discusses the current challenges and future outlook of sub-Saharan Africa’s financial sector – and how financial inclusion players can help the region emerge stronger after COVID-19 subsides.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Microsoft, Partners Launch Program To Increase Employability for PWDs in Asia Pacific
Ryan Gersava, a Davao-based medical technologist, experienced first hand what it is like to face discrimination because of a chronic medical condition.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: India Can Soon Be the Tech Garage of the World
Startups have flagged their grievances regarding angel tax provision, which they considered was not friendly to them.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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