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Rising Star or Red Flag?: South Africa’s financial inclusion growth raises questions for the entire industry
South Africa placed second in a recent Brookings Institute study comparing financial inclusion in 21 developing countries – surpassed only by Kenya. But though this has led to celebration in some quarters, there’s a troubling aspect to these findings. Illana Melzer argues that the risks of burgeoning financial access and usage are too significant for beneficiaries, development organizations and donors to ignore.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Microfinance Industry Back on Growth Path
After going through a crisis period, the country's microfinance industry has returned to the growth phase, especially in the light of stable regulatory framework, says a report.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Indian MFIs Face Legal Hurdles in Plans to Track Borrowers’ Credit Histories Through National IDs
Microfinanciers’ plans to check Aadhaar numbers to ensure potential borrowers aren’t already loaded with loans may come undone after a recent interim ruling by the Supreme Court restricted the use of Aadhaar data to ration shops and cooking gas.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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DKM Microfinance Saga in Ghana: Three Die in Nkoranza
Frustrated customers of financial companies with frozen accounts have vowed to make Nkoranza a living hell for government employees if monies lodged with the microfinance companies are not released to them.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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FAO and MasterCard Join Forces on Financial Inclusion
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and MasterCard are joining forces to create an innovative new alliance against hunger.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Will India’s New Focus on Financial Inclusion Pay Off?
When India launched the Jan Dhan (people’s wealth) program a year ago, many observers regarded it as an experiment that would fail. But while the program may not have measured up to the claims of its proponents, evidence shows it has had some positive impacts.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: The Case for Islamic Microfinance in Africa
Professor Badr El Din A. Ibrahim, President of the Microfinance Unit at the Central Bank of Sudan, discusses why Shari'ah-compliant financing is key.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile Lender InVenture Raises $10 Million
InVenture Capital Corp., a provider of small loans by cellphones, has raised $10 million in Series A funding, Yuliya Chernova reports for Dow Jones VentureWire. The company has a mobile app that can be downloaded by users, who then can request a loan. Once the user has granted the app access to their device, the company’s algorithm evaluates the activity on their mobile money accounts, such as how much they deposit and withdraw, the timeliness of their utility bill payments, and thousands of other nuggets of information such as social media, demographic, and communications patterns, to make a loan decision in minutes. The company currently operates in Kenya and Tanzania. Data Collective led the Series A round, which includedLowercase Capital, Collaborative Fund, Female Founders Fund and individual investors.
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- Uncategorized