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Women in Rural Rajasthan Plug the Last- Mile Gap Between Consumers and Sellers
Frontier Markets is technologically enabling rural women to use their social network and social capital in the village to book orders
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Amartha Bags US $50 Million Debt Financing to Provide Working Capital to Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Indonesia
Amartha, an Indonesian P2P lending platform focused on women micro-entrepreneurs, announced today it has secured a US$50 million debt financing from US-based Lendable.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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How Digital Technology Is Reshaping Rural Microfinance
“When most people think of microfinance, they think of group-lending programs or maybe even mobile money systems like M-Pesa,” said Carter. "But there are other opportunities with mobile phones, satellites and other digital technologies to enhance access to small scale financial services to low-wealth rural households in developing countries.”
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Bangladesh Receives $200 Million From World Bank for Safe Water and Sanitation Services in Rural Areas
It will provide microcredits to both the households and entrepreneurs for water and sanitation facilities. About 309,000 of the poorest households will receive fully subsidized toilets. Besides the household water connections, it will construct around 3,000 community piped water schemes.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Minigrids and Cold Storage Are a Match Made in Sustainable Development Heaven – So What’s Keeping Them Apart?
The minigrid sector faces a dilemma: Most rural customers need electricity in the evenings, yet most minigrids generate their power during the day. This requires them to store unused power in expensive batteries, complement their solar power with diesel generators, or reduce production. As Seth Silverman and Tom Chaplin at Factor[e] Ventures explain, cold storage providers could offer minigrids reliable demand for their surplus power – yet these partnerships aren't happening. They explore the obstacles, and some potential solutions.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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The Public Option: How Smart Tariff Subsidies Can Boost Minigrids and Solve Africa’s Rural Energy Access Dilemma
The World Bank estimates that minigrids can provide electricity for up to 500 million people by 2030, and that the cost of minigrid electricity per kilowatt hour will decrease by two thirds in the same period. But as Daniel Kitwa at the Africa Minigrid Developers Association points out, these goals can only be realized through effective public policy, scale and innovation. He explains why a smartly designed subsidy program to reduce the cost of minigrid power for rural customers is the critical missing piece in these efforts.
- Categories
- Energy
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A Digital Tool To Help African Farmers in the Battle Against Locusts Unveiled
A free tool that will help farmers and pastoralists across Africa to predict and control locust behaviour has been launched. Kuzi—the Swahili name for the wattled starling, a bird renowned for eating locusts—is an Artificial Intelligence-powered tool that generates a real-time heatmap of locusts across Africa, shows all potential migration routes, and gives a real-time locust breeding index.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: Grid or Solar: Looking for the Best Energy Solution for the Rural Poor
Grid electricity is often said to be critical for long-term human development because it provides sufficient power for appliances and small industries. But are the substantially higher investment costs justified by the economic impact?
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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