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When It Comes to Cash Transfers, the Medium Matters: The pros and cons of delivering aid via cash, voucher or digital payment in two African programs
Mobile payments have some clear advantages over cash in the developing world, but they are not without limitations. Existing research points to lack of trust, inadequate marketing efforts and inhospitable regulatory frameworks as some of the key factors that limit the adoption of mobile financial services.
- Categories
- Technology
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Smart Loan Products, Smarter Lending Approach: Kazakhstan’s Asian Credit Fund serves the country’s financially underserved, rural poor
There’s a dramatic income gap between rich and poor in Kazakhstan. Recognizing this, in recent years Asian Credit Fund (founded in 1997 by Mercy Corps) has been targeting the country’s most remote areas, adapting its products to the rural context, with a sustainable twist.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Tata Group donates $15.5M to IIT Bombay to develop low-cost solutions for BoP consumers
Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Group has donated $15.5 million (Rs 95 crore) to IIT Bombay (IIT-B) to setup a virtual centre, which would focus on developing low-cost technologies for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) consumers, says a report in The Economic Times, quoting IIT-B director Devang V Khakhar.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Humans give malaria to mosquitoes – we need a vaccine to stop this
On Wednesday, the world marks World Mosquito Day to commemorate the 1897 discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross that malaria in people is transmitted to and from mosquitoes. Ross won a Nobel prize for his discovery, and, since then, mosquitoes have been enemy No 1 when it comes to defeating a disease that takes a life every single minute – most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa. But on this day, let’s focus on approaching malaria in a surprising new way: a vaccine to stop humans from giving malaria to mosquitoes.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- product design, research, vaccines
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Shifting the Paradigm in Indian Health Care: Results will follow when delivery, drug, device and diagnosis innovations occur simultaneously
Indian health care continues to face challenges of affordability, availability and quality, but a growing number of enterprises are changing the landscape by addressing inefficiencies in the market. When delivery, drug, device and diagnosis innovations occur simultaneously, the Indian health care market will witness a paradigm shift.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
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NexThought Monday – Innovation Overkill: Why product innovation in financial inclusion isn’t always the right move
All the renewed talk about product innovation and a client-centric approach in financial inclusion may overlook two important points, says MicroSave’s Graham Wright. First, there are important differences between market leaders and followers. And second, moving through the product development continuum isn’t easy. For some companies, he suggests, it’s better to copy than to innovate.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Latrines Made Easy: iDE helping find ways to produce, sell sanitary toilets to the rural poor
Diarrheal disease, increased vulnerability of women, humiliation, discomfort and general unpleasantness were facts of everyday life in much of rural Cambodia, due to a lack of decent latrines. In a period of two years, however, the businesses that iDE works with were able to sell 100,000 latrines, lending new hope to the effort to improve sanitation worldwide.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Mobilizing TB Lab Services: Portalabs offer high-quality diagnostic capacity at less cost than traditional facilities
TB laboratories are expensive to build, staff and maintain. New portable facilities address these problems and might offer scalable lab services in low- and middle-income countries.
- Categories
- Health Care
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