-
Social Protection Goes Digital: Lessons From an Innovative, WhatsApp-Driven Outreach Campaign in Paraguay
The COVID-19 lockdown has reshaped social policy in Paraguay, as programs that depended on face-to-face contact to reach participants suddenly found themselves unable to conduct their usual outreach. Cristina Heisecke, Carolina de Miranda and Mauricio Royg of Fundación Capital share lessons from an innovative solution to this challenge: a digital campaign that used WhatsApp to offer a remote alternative to the in-person training and coaching of the country's flagship cash transfer program.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
-
Kenyan Startup Finplus Passes $500 Million Transaction Value Mark
Kenyan fintech startup Finplus Group has announced its software has now processed over US$503 million in combined transaction value in less than four years of operations.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Western Union: Emerging Market GDP, Innovation Depend On Remittances
In the payments industry, they’re known as remittances. But for the recipients of the cross-border money transfers and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments usually associated with developing economies, they are lifelines.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Innovation for Adaptation: How a New Fund Is Helping Service Providers Navigate the Challenges of COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 has been amplified at the local level in Kenya and Rwanda, where non-profit service providers working with vulnerable populations are finding it more difficult to support their beneficiaries. Michael Kiema and Linda Ndungu Wambua at Instiglio explore learnings from the COVID-19 Adaptation Fund, which is providing funding to nine qualifying service providers to help them implement innovations that will support their efforts to serve beneficiaries during the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Technology
-
India’s Cred Raises $81 Million, Buys Back Shares Worth $1.2 Million From Employees
CRED is one of the most talked about startups in India, in part because of the scale at which its valuation has soared and the amount of capital it has been able to raise in such a short period.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
-
Documenting a Historic Year in Emerging Markets Business: Vote for the Top NextBillion Article of 2020
Like many of you, we're not sorry to see the end of 2020. But as we look back on this historic, tragic year, NextBillion would like to take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary work done by enterprises, NGOs, researchers and others in the emerging markets business sector. They have risen to the occasion in ways that can best be described as heroic – while sharing their insights in nearly 100 COVID-19-focused articles on our platform. Several of these pieces are included in our "Most Influential Article of the Year" contest, which launches today. We invite you to read these articles and vote for your favorites – the contest runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2.
-
2020 MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTICLE CANDIDATE: Fighting Extreme Poverty During COVID-19: Two Proven Ways to Build Resilience in Times of Catastrophic Disruption
COVID-19 has disrupted life for practically everyone around the world, but people living in extreme poverty are particularly affected. And some estimate that the crisis could push over 80 million more people into extreme poverty. Muhammad Musa at BRAC International discusses two programs that could reduce this impact, improving the lives of marginalized communities both during and after the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
-
Analysis: Covid-19: The World Needs To Back India and South Africa’s Call To Remove Intellectual Property Hurdles
On 2 October, India and South Africa sent a joint communication to the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council of the World Trade Organisation, the multilateral institution formed to promote free trade between countries. The communication asked the body to recommend a waiver of major intellectual-property provisions of the TRIPS agreement for technologies to prevent, contain and treat COVID-19.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
Parent Organization
