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Viewpoint: As Safaricom turns 18, has its innovation ‘conveyor belt’ slowed?
After the global acclaimed mobile money transfer service Mpesa, Safaricom has not had another innovation that has captured its users.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Cash triumphs in Kenya’s public buses as train, taxis embrace cashless system
The cashless system had the backing of the government, top telecommunication firms and banks, which touted the cards as the panacea to end corruption on the road and curb haphazard fare increases.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Women Worldwide Struggle to Access Banking Services. Bitcoin Is Only Making That Worse
Blockchain technology is currently being used to distribute aid to 100,000 Syrian refugeesby The World Food Programme. And plans for future blockchain initiatives within the U.N. alone run from ending child trafficking to providing services for women and girls in humanitarian settings.
- Categories
- Finance
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Why India lags peers in digital payments
Yet despite this growth, after adjusting for population, India continues to lag other major countries. Among the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Russia leads the way with the average adult making more than 200 non-cash transactions annually.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Mauritius-based startup works on first Africa-developed blockchain
A Mauritius-based startup is working on the first highly-efficient mobile blockchain developed in Africa, which it says is set to see large-scale consumer adoption by 2021.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blockchain, fintech, startups
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SoftBank and Singtel are leading a pre-IPO $1.25 billion investment in Africa’s No.2 mobile phone company
Money raised from going public, alongside some of the new funding, will go towards cutting down the company’s existing $5 billion debt.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Google touts 30 million monthly users for its mobile-payment platform in India
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has dominant positions in search, advertising and mobile devices, but the company has had to play from behind when it comes to mobile payments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Over 8 of 10 Small Banks, Microlenders and Co-Ops in the Philippines are Not Ready to Go Digital
“The dominant picture in our data is that majority of financial institutions are not yet ready to transform their business at this point, confirming anecdotal evidence long held by the industry,” wrote FINTQ in the report. “This conclusion indeed raises a notch higher the urgency in enabling financial institutions to be digitally ready, as the pattern uncovered in our data has profound implications on the country’s progress towards expanding financial inclusion in the countryside.”
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific