-
PRESS RELEASE: GSMA Report Shows Active Mobile Money Customers Increased by Over 40 Percent to 100 Million in 2014
The GSMA’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) programme today released its fourth annual ‘Mobile Financial Services State of the Industry Report’, providing a quantitative assessment of the state of mobile financial services, including mobile money, mobile insurance, mobile savings and mobile credit.
- Categories
- Education
-
Striving for Consistency: A new guide aims to standardize impact assessments of the growing microinsurance market
Estimates suggest there are close to 270 million microinsurance clients in the developing world, with a potential market estimated at 3 to 4 billion policies. But while assessing the social impact of this growing sector is vital to improving product design, there is a dearth of consistency amongst the impact assessments being conducted. Microinsurance Network created “A Practical Guide to Impact Assessments” to address this challenge.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Impact Assessment
-
NexThought Monday – Test Tubers: Why potatoes in Bangladesh are turning heads in the Andes
If you’re a subsistence farmer of potatoes, cassava or bananas, you’ll often sow your crops by taking cuttings from other plants. An alternative method of in vitro micro-propagation involves cloning plantlets in a laboratory setting. This can lead to dramatic gains in crop yields, but it’s expensive. But there may be a low-tech solution.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Technology
- Tags
- research
-
Microcredit oversold as anti-poverty tool, economists say
Microcredit is no panacea for lifting millions of people from poverty, leading economists said on Friday in releasing research from seven countries that challenges a key development tool.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- microfinance, research
-
Four Ways Big Data Can Improve Financial Lives: CFSI previews its upcoming report on harnessing data technology for the underserved market
Big Data is a buzzword, but it’s also a very real phenomenon: analysts estimate that annual data production will increase by a whopping 4300% between 2009 and 2020. In advance of a new report on the subject, the Center for Financial Services Innovation discusses four key trends driving Big Data innovation that can unlock value for both financial providers and consumers.
- Categories
- Education
-
Don’t Cover Everything: Why targeted health microinsurance can work better than full coverage
EA Consultants’ efforts to understand both the business case and client value of microinsurance led to some interesting findings. For instance, catastrophic health insurance represented much greater value than primary or outpatient care for clients, but its behavioral effects skewed against good health outcomes. Barbara Magnoni discusses these findings, and offers some solutions.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
-
Weekly Roundup – 2/20/15: A Turning Point in the Evolution of Microfinance?
There has been plenty of research questioning the social impact of microcredit. But the latest studies in the American Economic Journal feel far more momentous. Conducted by prominent poverty researchers, and covering six countries on four continents, they consistently undermine the sector’s core social impact claims. NextBillion will cover the Feb. 27 event on the research and the path ahead.
- Categories
- Education, Environment, Impact Assessment
-
New Tuberculosis Drug Enters First Trial: The Good and Sad News
The maiden human trial of a potential tuberculosis drug — the first in six years — has now commenced.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- research