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In Sierra Leone, New Kiva Protocol Uses Blockchain to Benefit Unbanked
The National Civil Registration Commission developed the national digital identity platform with support from Kiva, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that allows people to lend money to low-income people around the world, as well as the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the United Nations Development Programme.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Empowering Female Entrepreneurs: Solutions to Five Key Barriers to Women’s Financial Inclusion
In developing countries, only 59% of women have a bank account – an issue VisionFund is addressing through its Women’s Empowerment Fund. But though the fund has supported thousands of female-led businesses, it has also faced persistent challenges – many of which are unique to women. Johanna Ryan, VisionFund's Global Director of Impact, discusses five obstacles the fund has encountered, and how they've responded.
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Asian Development Bank Approves $25M Loan to Support Women-Led SMEs
Access to finance is very limited in Pakistan, with only 21.3% of adults and only 7% of women over the age of 15 having bank accounts in fiscal year 2017, according to available data.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Microfinance Is Driving Many Sri Lankan Borrowers to Despair
Nalani Wickremesinghe, from Baduraliya in the south, has taken loans from 11 companies, only two of which are registered with the central bank. Struggling to feed her family, she has little option but to borrow again.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: For Facebook’s Cryptocurrency, the Well May Already Be Poisoned
Facebook's new Libra coin is asset-backed and runs on a restricted network, which could make it as stable as a major currency — setting it apart from other, much more volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
- Categories
- Finance
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Viewpoint: Perpetual Debt in the Silicon Savannah
One Kenyan argued the apps are ‘enslaving’ people—from the working poor to the salaried classes—by making claims on their future labor.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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PayPal Helps Entrepreneurs With MetLife and Village Capital
PayPal, venture capital firm Village Capital and financial health expert, MetLife Foundation, have come to together to launch Finance Forward – a global coalition to support fresh entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Finance, Health Care
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Bringing Digital Financial Inclusion to Women: The Impact of an Integrated Ecosystem Approach
Despite many global initiatives aimed at catalyzing formal banking, almost 1 billion women remain excluded from the financial economy. According to Ankur Seth and Neha Kumar at Intellecap, it's now clear that financial inclusion for women cannot be attained by simply giving them an account or internet access. Instead, it will require an integrated digital financial ecosystem designed for women's needs – an approach Intellecap is piloting in India.
- Categories
- Finance
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