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Coronavirus Has Upended Payments and Fintech Investing
The payments industry has been in a state of disruption for years, with new technology, greater flexibility and customer experience improvements defining the past decade of innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic all but guarantees an accelerated adoption of new payments technology, both online and in physical stores, but the trajectory of new solutions is going to pivot according to the new pandemic reality. Over the next few years, we’re going to see fintech investments evolve accordingly.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Mobile money is booming in Africa as countries shun cash amid the pandemic
As movement restrictions to curb Covid-19 prevent customers from accessing cash, mobile banking is filling the gap
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Egypt’s Msmeda Aims to Finance 200k Micro Projects With $187.2M in 2020
MSMEDA developed and rehabilitated six NGOs in five governorates to raise their financial and administrative performance
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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How Software-as-a-Service is Helping Digitize Latin America’s Small Businesses
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model is allowing small businesses around the world to compete with larger firms at a fraction of the cost. However, as Greg Mitchell at Angel Ventures points out, in markets like Latin America, the rise of SaaS has been slow and difficult. He explores how that dynamic is changing, and how SaaS is boosting the region's small businesses.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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Remote Business Coaching Made Sense Even Before COVID-19 – Now it’s a Necessity
The coronavirus is forcing us all to do things differently. But as Donna Rosa argues, in some cases that may be a good thing. For instance, microenterprises in low-income countries have long needed basic business management skills, yet the development sector has often failed to deliver this training effectively. Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes many interactions online, she argues that it’s time to increase the focus on distance coaching for these small businesses.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Education, Entrepreneurship
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Sizing the ‘Grey Economy’: Using Geospatial Data to Uncover the True Extent of the MSME Sector in Emerging Markets
The micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector is a major employer in many emerging economies – but exactly how big? And how many jobs is it producing? According to Obert Maposa at FinMark Trust, those are hard questions to answer – but advancements in technology and geospatial data modeling are improving our understanding of the sector. He explores how FinMark Trust has leveraged these tools in Malawi, and why the model holds promise for other countries.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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What Will Last Mile Distribution Look Like in 2025? Six Predictions for an Emerging Sector
From water purifiers to solar lights, the impact-oriented products can’t further development goals if they can't make it to last mile customers. Emma Colenbrader and Charlie Miller of the Global Distributors Collective explain how the organization's 140 member distributors have defied tough odds to get 13 million products and counting into the hands of last mile households. They share a first-of-its-kind report that aims to better understand the markets for these products, the customers being reached – and the business models that can reach them.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Grab Launches Social Impact Program to Upskill Southeast Asians
With the Grab for Good program, the company looks to help around 5 million micro entrepreneurs and small businesses digitize their workflows and processes.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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