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Remittances to developing world hit record in 2019: World Bank
Money transfers to poor and developing countries hit a fresh record in 2018 and should become their largest source of external financing this year, the World Bank said Monday.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- LMICs, migration, remittances, World Bank
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Sierra Leone launches competition on financial inclusion
The Sierra Leone FinTech Challenge 2019-2020 aims to harness the growing digital economy in order to develop and test innovative solutions as a way to leapfrog access to finance, and consequently build out government and private sector platforms to operationalize the benefits of the digital economy, the partners said in a joined statement published on Friday.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Reimagining the World’s Dirtiest Job: How Pit Vidura is Professionalizing Waste Management
Around 2.7 billion people – 35 percent of the world’s population – use on-site sanitation systems that are not connected to sewers. When they become full, they need to be emptied – a job that’s often done manually, presenting hazards to both the workers and their communities. Pit Vidura is tackling this challenge in Kigali, Rwanda, offering safe hygienic pit latrine and septic tank emptying for people in hard-to-reach areas. Katie Sottilare discusses the company’s innovative approach, and the impact it’s having.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, WASH
- Tags
- LMICs, public health, sanitation, social enterprise, toilets, WASH, waste
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Medical Equipment Graveyards: Three Causes of the Problem – And How Blockchain Can Help
Medical equipment is essential for diagnosing and treating patients. Yet due to inefficiencies and a lack of coordination in donations, much of this equipment sits unused in low-income countries — a situation often referred to as equipment graveyards. According to global health consultant Vikas Meka, blockchain could provide a solution. In this post – the first in a series – he explores three common problems with the current medical equipment donation system, and how a blockchain-driven platform could help.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Report: Sub-Saharan Africa 2nd worst region in mobile gender gap
"Mobile access and use has grown dramatically in LMICs [low- and middle-income countries] in recent years, but not equally. A gender gap in both mobile ownership and mobile Internet use persists across these markets, and is significantly wider in certain regions, particularly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa," the report says.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Still Waiting for a Seat at the Table: When Will Global Family Planning Focus on Smaller Private Providers?
The family planning community is not on track to reach its goal of 120 million new contraception users by 2020. And though millions of women in the world’s poorest countries rely on private providers for contraception, Andrea Bare at the William Davidson Institute notes that the private sector lacks a major presence in global family planning discussions. She says this needs to change, arguing that small, for-profit providers in particular can help close the gap.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Health Care
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Don’t overlook Africa’s ‘fragile’ states for social businesses, urge industry experts
“Of course you have to do things differently in fragile states compared to other countries, but it is possible to see your businesses grow,” said Fiona Lukwago from the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), an impact investment fund.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press release: GSMA Study Reveals 250 Million More Women Became Mobile Owners in Low- and Middle-Income Countries since 2014
Women remain 10 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile phone in low- and middle-income countries, and 23 per cent less likely than men to use mobile internet.
- Categories
- Technology
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