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COVID-19 Is Accelerating Digital Banking Across the Globe: Here’s How It Will Impact Bangladesh
COVID-19 has fast-tracked the adoption of innovative tools and technologies by the global banking sector. As Jakirul Islam at Bank Asia points out, this has already led to an increase in digital banking, as customers move away from branch-based banking due to pandemic lockdowns. He explores some popular features of digital banks, and discusses their potential impact in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Data in Real Time: How Digitalisation is Transforming Financial Policies in Africa
For the past year, Cenfri and Finmark Trust have been partnering with NextBillion to share insights from their Insight2Impact (i2i) initiative, a five-year program that has sought to improve financial inclusion and related public policies through the smarter use of data. As the Openi2i Series concludes, i2i lead Hennie Bester takes a look back at the program and the learnings it has generated. In this interview, he explores how digitalisation and data are transforming the policy landscape in Africa and beyond.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Microsoft Collaborates With Social Alpha to Accelerate Growth of Healthtech Startups in India
In its continued efforts to support the startup ecosystem in the country, Microsoft has launched a dedicated program for healthtech startups. The program is designed to help startups scale with advanced technology and joint go-to-market support. Microsoft is also collaborating with startup incubator Social Alpha to accelerate the growth of participating startups.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Reversal of Fortune: Five Ways Biden’s Win Will Boost Impact Investing in Emerging Markets
In the aftermath of the U.S. election, there's been considerable discussion of how Biden’s victory will impact different industries. According to Josh Knauer at JumpScale, one particular sector that will benefit is impact investing. He explains how the work of impact investors had become more difficult during the Trump years, and why there's reason to believe that the incoming administration will give the sector’s efforts in emerging markets a significant boost.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Investing, Technology
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After Fintech, Jumia Is Betting on Spinning off Its Logistics Arm To Deliver Profits
When it first launched in Nigeria in 2012, Jumia quickly realized just how much work was needed to build a logistics service that could enable its e-commerce ambitions across the continent.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: COVID-19 and the Future of Work in Africa’s Mobile Industry – What the Experts Say
In 2019, the GSMA conducted research on Powering Youth Employment through the Mobile Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. Since then, the world’s employment market has experienced unprecedented uncertainties because of COVID-19.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Future Africa Invested $1 Million Across 9 African Startups in Q3 2020
Future Africa, a platform that provides capital, coaching, and community for African innovators, just announced that it invested a total of $1 million in nine African startups in the third quarter of this year.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How India Can Transform Its Fertilizer Subsidy Program
India is the second-largest user of fertilizer in the world, after China. It offers subsidies on fertilizers to make them affordable to the country's 150 million farmers – and ultimately, to ensure food security. But as Ritesh Rautela and Anurodh Giri at MSC point out, an estimated 65% of this fertilizer does not reach the intended beneficiaries – and the system has faced leakages and uneven usage among recipients. They propose a tech-fueled solution that could benefit both farmers and the Indian government.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology