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Viewpoint: COVID-19 in Rural Communities — Building Back Better in the Global South
As the COVID-19 pandemic has flooded the world and infiltrated many of the global south’s most rural, most impoverished communities, attention has turned to what the future will look like.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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Viewpoint: South African Banks Need to Do More to Ensure Financial Inclusion
An analysis of financial inclusion in South Africa shows that affordability limits poor households’ access to formal financial services. In our study, which looked at people’s use of financial goods and services between 2008 and 2015, we found that there was a general increase in use. But this was severely skewed to households with higher incomes.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Four Key Challenges Facing India’s Local Energy Enterprises During COVID-19 – And 16 Ways Funders Can Help
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on last-mile energy companies. SELCO Foundation recently conducted surveys and conversations with 33 local Indian energy enterprises about the challenges they're facing. Sarah Alexander explores what these businesses shared about how governments, investors, philanthropies and other stakeholders can support them.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Social Enterprise
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Viewpoint: Digital Equity, More Urgent Than Ever
Experts discuss overcoming racial and geographic disparities in a post-pandemic world.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
- Region
- North America
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COVID-19 Pushes Rural Myanmar Towards Moneylenders
Desperate for cash and low on work, rural households are turning to high-interest loans from informal moneylenders as microfinance companies are forced to cut back on credit.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Rural Fintech Startup Jai Kisan Raises USD$3.9 million From Nabard-Back Fund, Others
Jai Kisan, a Mumbai-based fintech platform, on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 30 crore funding from Arkam Ventures with participation of a fund backed by NABARD.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- fintech, rural development, startups
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Viewpoint: Scientists Say Satellite Imagery and Machine Learning Advances Will Boost African Consumer Data
Of a population of 198 million people only 22,110 households where covered. The data was collected via door-to-door surveys requiring visits to rural communities which in many parts of the country are often difficult to access and sometimes not safe for researchers unfamiliar with the terrain.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Designing for Women: How COVID-19 Could Allow Government Payment Programs to Boost Women’s Economic Empowerment
Governments around the world are deploying government-to-person programs to address the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. But as Amanda Schwartz at IDEO.org points out, unless these programs are designed around women’s unique needs, they could exacerbate gender inequality and financial exclusion. She explores how a gender inclusive approach could "make the single biggest push for women’s economic empowerment that the world has ever seen."
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance