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Tech Startups Are Flooding Kenya With Apps Offering High-Interest Loans
Tala has made $1 billion in microloans to people in developing countries, all using its app. It says it can reach those who’ve been ignored by banks, because its software generates instant credit ratings from data scraped off prospective borrowers’ phones. The company is part of the financial-inclusion movement, a loose coalition of tech companies, banks, and nongovernmental organizations trying to lift people out of poverty by offering them new ways to gain access to loans and other financial services.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa’s Tech Startup ‘Investment Frenzy’: Fact, Fantasy – or a Wakeup Call for Better Investing Strategies?
Are Africa's tech startups really facing an "investment frenzy" that's driving excessive valuations, growth-at-all-cost business models and unrealistic investor expectations? That was impact investor Lauren Cochran's argument in a much-discussed NextBillion article. But according to Marsha Wulff at LoftyInc Capital Management, the problem isn't an excess of funding – it's "group-think" among foreign investors who don't see the true value of local, African-led startups.
- Categories
- Investing
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Press Release: Financial Inclusion in West Africa Gets a Boost With New $10M Raise by Aella Fintech
For millions of poor and low-income households, entrepreneurs, and nascent businesses in West Africa without access to financial institutions, micro-lending fintechs like Aella provide a broader array of financial products — savings, insurance, payments and specialized loans, focused on lifting many out of poverty. Aella plans to use this funding to scale its lending operations and expand its product base into payments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Q&A: Jean Case on Swimming With Sharks, Investing and Impact-Washing
Bloomberg recently spoke with Case about impact investing, her personal investing and the work she and husband Steve, former CEO of America Online, have done to encourage a more inclusive startup culture.
- Categories
- Investing
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Tackling Africa’s Youth Employment Challenge: Can Social Enterprise Play a Role?
Social enterprise is becoming an increasingly popular business model in Africa – a clear sign that the continent is gradually shifting from aid-led solutions to enterprise-led solutions. Yet despite their potential, social enterprise markets and ecosystems remain in their infancy, says Stephen Hunt at the Challenges Group. He explores how social enterprise can address one of Africa’s key development challenges: employment and job creation for young people.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Europe Wants Tech to Be Force for Good. Who Cares?
Climate change, social media topped the DLD conference agenda, but the tech is controlled by the U.S. and China.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
- Tags
- climate change, startups
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African Fintech Firm Flutterwave Raises $35M, Partners With Worldpay
With the funding, Flutterwave will invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries, CEO Olugbenga Agboola — aka GB — told TechCrunch.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Catalyst Fund Secures $15M Commitment from UK Aid, JP Morgan
With the additional investment, Catalyst Fund will support the development, growth and reach of 30 new fintech solutions to boost financial inclusion for an additional 1 million underserved people in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India and Mexico, it said in a statement.
- Categories
- Finance
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