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Inclusive Innovation: How Two Mobile Technology Startups are Changing the Game in Microfinance
Securing a bank loan is an onerous task for anyone. But for the 2.5 billion unbanked people worldwide, the obstacles can seem insurmountable. And microfinance and village savings groups both have significant limitations, particularly for people without a credit history. June Sugiyama of Vodafone Americas Foundation explains how two winners of the foundation's annual Wireless Innovation Project competition are overcoming these limitations through mobile technology.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Technology
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Sparrow’s RefugeeMobile Program Shows Smartphones Help Refugee Families Arriving in the US Resettle More Successfully
The results are in: research shows that smartphones help refugees resettle more successfully. RefugeeMobile, a smartphone program launched in May 2016 with the goal of helping refugee families arriving in the US resettle more successfully, has developed a proven program for refugees who have access to smartphones and data service. Recipients are more likely to integrate, be employed, and have higher paying jobs, according to new research.
- Categories
- Technology
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Nigeria’s Hello Tractor in AI, blockchain partnership with IBM Research
Nigerian agri-tech startup Hello Tractor has partnered IBM Research to pilot an agriculture digital wallet and decision-making tool that provides demand and supply visibility for farmers, tractor fleet providers and banks.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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From Paper to Digital: A Guide to Transitioning to Mobile Data Collection
Frontline workers play a critical role in gathering information from – and delivering services to – rural communities. For years, these workers used paper forms and guides, leading to delays, problems with accuracy, and trouble measuring program effectiveness. Mobile data collection tools can help address these challenges, but transitioning to a digital system is not as easy as simply digitizing paper forms. Sam Farnham at Dimagi shares insights and a free guide that can clarify the process.
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- Technology
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WhatsApp Chief Seeks Reserve Bank of India Approval to Expand Payment Services to All Indian Users
WhatsApp Chief has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking a formal nod to expand payments services to all its 200 million users in India.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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What the launch of BebaBeba could mean for Kenya’s taxi industry
Over the years, the surge in the number of taxi-hailing companies in Kenya has been tremendous, and so has the competition in the taxi industry as a whole. BebaBeba will now compete in a market already saturated and controlled by taxi-hailing giants, Uber, Taxify and Safaricom Little cab.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Benin is the latest African nation taxing the internet
The new law has been denounced, with citizens and advocates using the hashtag #Taxepamesmo (“Don’t tax my megabytes”) to call on officials to cancel the levy. The increased fees will not only burden the poorest consumers and widen the digital divide, but they will also be “disastrous” for the nation’s nascent digital economy, says ISF’s executive director Julie Owono.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tanzania’s Nala wins Ecobank Fintech Challenge
After being named overall winner of the annual challenge, which is run annually by Ecobank and was last year won by Nigerian fintech startup IroFit, Nala walks away with US$10,000 in prize money.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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