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Viewpoint: No, Facebook’s Libra Will Not Really Help The Unbanked
Ultimately, the aim of Libra is to be a truly mainstream cryptocurrency: a decentralized global form of payment that is as stable as the dollar, can be used to buy almost anything, and can support an entire range of financial products—from banking to loans to credit.
- Categories
- Finance
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Can Blockchain Tech Revolutionize The Global Aid Industry?
Powered by the ethereum blockchain, Disberse is building a distributed financial network that helps to improve transparency and efficiency in the aid sector
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Press Release: UNDP and IRENA Join Forces to Advance Low-Carbon Energy Transition
Under the cooperation, the organizations will explore joint initiatives aimed at accelerating the implementation of the Agenda 2030, and stimulating renewable energy investments in developing countries.
- Categories
- Energy
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Serving Refugee Communities with Tech, Energy Access, Entrepreneurship: Mastercard and USAID’s Collective Approach
Last year, USAID and Mastercard established the Smart Communities Coalition (SCC), a network of 35+ public and private organizations. The group is developing new ways companies, NGOs, governments and UN agencies can co-design and co-implement programs that empower people and enable growth in energy access, connectivity and digital tools. Katrina Pielli with USAID and Sasha Kapadia with Mastercard explain why the group chose to focus on Uganda and Kenya as pilot countries, which collectively host over 1.5 million refugees.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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How Gender Equality Can Help Build Sustainable Peace
Persuading private investors to back projects that advance gender equality calls for concerted efforts to show that empowering women could reduce risks and enhance overall outcomes, especially in creating sustainable peace in conflict-affected regions around the world.
- Categories
- Finance
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Bringing Biogas to Billions: Why PAYGO Could be the Key to Scaling the Industry
Small scale biogas digesters (biodigesters) convert animal manure into biogas for clean cooking and high-quality organic fertilizer. The technology is hardly new – in fact, it's been around for 150 years. But for farmers to benefit on a mass scale, companies will need to lean on new technology and innovative business models, writes Ben Jeffreys, CEO of ATEC* Biodigesters International. That means learning the lessons of the off-grid solar industry and devising new pay-as-you-go models to enable the inclusion of low-income customers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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Countries Are Ranked On Everything From Health To Happiness. What’s The Point?
"Countries can get index fatigue, not know where to prioritize, become complacent and refuse to pay attention to them," notes Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, an international lawyer based in East Africa.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- global development, SDGs
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African Development Bank launches Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility
The African Development Bank and its partners on Wednesday launched the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), designed to aid safety and expansion of digital financial transactions in Africa.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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