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Four Major Banks Launch Branchless Banking Program in Indonesia
The Financial Services Authority (OJK), along with four of the nation’s largest banks, launched on Thursday a nationwide campaign on financial services without physical branches to help boost access to the banking system in rural areas.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Korean Social Enterprises Go Global
Social enterprises — businesses that prioritize human and environmental benefits equally to profits — are effective vehicles to achieve development goals as their market-based approaches bring sustainability and scalability that are essential to create long-term impact.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Launches Digitization Scheme for Women Self-Help Groups
With an objective to promote financial inclusion, Nabard today started a pilot project for complete digitisation of women self help groups (SHGs) to improve the quality of interface between members and banks for efficient and hassle free delivery of banking services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Who Moved My Cheese?: A social enterprise discovers that the dairy business is harder than it looks
In a poor region of Bolivia, goat milk producers often drink their own product, for lack of a market. Pro-Milk was launched to help them make and sell cheese instead. But the company was soon undermined by challenges in its business model and region. Fundación IES, a development institution that supported Pro-Milk, tells the story in the latest post in our business failure series.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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Press Release: Better Than Cash Alliance Study Shows Colombia’s Digital Payment Tool for Coffee Farmers Is a Model to Replicate
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) Smart Coffee ID Card (CCI), launched in 2006, has become a vital tool for financial inclusion and change in the productive dynamics of Colombia´s rural sector, according to the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), a United Nations alliance of governments, companies and the development community committed to the global transition from cash to electronic payments.
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- Agriculture
- Region
- Latin America
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Bank of Zimbabwe Launches $50 Million Fund to Support Smallholder Farmers, Rural Development
Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Michael Gondwe has launched a US$50 million Fund under the MasterCard Foundation’s Fund to support smallholder farmers in the rural areas.
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- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Savings Groups: An Inclusive Emerging Economy, With Africa in the Lead
At a time when news about Africa has been dominated by Ebola, it’s worth observing that a highly encouraging change has been quietly spreading across the continent. Over the past five years, the number of Africans — mainly women — who have joined village-based savings and loan associations has soared to more than nine million. These groups are now operating in 40 countries in Africa. Globally, it’s estimated that 10.5 million people are members of formally trained savings groups in about 65 countries. (PDF) The big story about these groups, including their surprising success and emerging importance in development, comes from Africa.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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UAE Fund To Provide $200 Million In Loans To Microfinance Projects In Egypt
A United Arab Emirates state investment fund announced on Monday it would provide $200 million in loans for microfinance projects in Egypt, a move it said would create more than 120,000 jobs by 2020.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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