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The High Cost of ‘Data Darkness’ in the Developing World
The developing world is data dark, writes Tara Thiagarajan of Madura Microfinance; gathering even the most elementary data is a monumental task, requiring feet on the ground, paid employees and auditing systems. Without it, however, products don’t have good market fit, customers don’t get what they really need and the cost of customer acquisition and delivery is higher.
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- Uncategorized
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Zimbabwe: $90m Package for SMEs Unveiled
Of the $90 million facility, $10 million will go to horticulture, $15 million to cross border traders, $40 million for the gold facility, $15 million for women empowerment, while $10 million has been earmarked for business linkages.
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- Uncategorized
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania Join World Economic Forum in Promoting Financial Inclusion in East Africa
This effort aims to develop collaboration between policy-makers, private-sector providers of financial services and their clients, and other relevant actors. East Africa has already made significant strides towards financial inclusion, leveraging digital and other means to raise the number of adults that have an account to 34 percent in 2014, up from 24 percent in 2011.
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- Uncategorized
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Like Using a Wall to Stop a Runaway Bus’: Cambodian Microcredit is Overheated, But Rate Caps Aren’t the Answer
Daniel Rozas says a proposed interest rate cap of 18 percent on most new microloans in Cambodia will, if enforced, hurt the very people it ostensibly seeks to protect. Taking issue with a recent post by Milford Bateman, Rozas argues the cap would create a clear preference for certain types of lending and could heighten problems created by Cambodia's saturated microcredit market.
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How SAJIDA Foundation Nearly Doubled Customer Uptake of Savings Accounts
Astha, a term deposit account, allows SAJIDA Foundation members in Bangladesh to save toward a purchase or financial goal. Through the OPTIX project, BFA conducted data analytics and client research with SAJIDA and eventually redesigned the accounts. After rolling out the new features, the foundation saw a 97 percent increase in accounts opened and 59 percent more mobilization of savings.
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- Finance
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Climbing India’s Technology Stack: As the Fintech Revolution Extends to Health Care, Will Emerging Markets Be Ready?
The use of technology stacks has been a profoundly important breakthrough for social and financial inclusion in India, and it also opens up many opportunities to transform health care for the poorest residents there. But as these tech-based solutions proliferate in other low and middle-income countries, writes David Butz, the health care industry must be prepared for the massive disruptions they're likely to bring.
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Savings groups boost financial inclusion and women’s empowerment among rural poor, three-country study finds
“What we’re seeing is that that the poor can and do save for themselves when given the right opportunity, and this has positive effects elsewhere in their lives,” says Dean Karlan, professor of economics at Yale and co-author of the study. “We see savings and business income increase, but importantly there is also a boost in women’s empowerment. As women get more access to these groups, their say in household decisions also increases.”
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- Uncategorized
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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6 Surprising Reasons Why South Africans Are Not Big On Banks
BCG recently undertook extensive research into the process of financial inclusion in South Africa. This primary research which is based on surveys, interviews and a fresh analytical approach, yielded several interesting themes about the country’s use and perceptions of formal banking channels. Bringing more people into the financial system has the ability to enhance GDP growth, reduce poverty and create new market opportunities for the private sector.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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