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Accelerating Africa’s E-Commerce Revolution: A SaaS Solution Leverages Payment and Logistics Innovation to Unleash the Continent’s Entrepreneurial Potential
Africa’s e-commerce landscape is in the midst of an ongoing revolution, as the growth in internet access has enabled businesses across the continent to sell their products locally, regionally and globally. Moulaye Taboure at ANKA explains how his company is leveraging “Software as a Service” (SaaS) innovation to connect these businesses with consumers, while providing payments and logistics services geared toward their unique needs. He shares highlights from a recent ANKA whitepaper that outlines key trends and developments in African e-commerce.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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From Proxy IDs to Autonomous Payments: Why the Future of Financial Services is Hyper-Efficiency
Despite the rise of digital banking and other technological advancements, financial services are still plagued by significant inefficiencies. Author and serial entrepreneur Arunjay Katakam explores the causes and consequences of these inefficiencies — including their impact on lower-income customers — and discusses some emerging innovations that are addressing them. He explains why the sector's growing efforts to streamline back-end processes, reduce transaction costs and enhance operational efficiency will be pivotal in shaping the future of financial services.
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- Finance, Technology
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How Can the Financial Inclusion Sector Serve the World’s Growing Number of Refugees and Forcibly Displaced People?
There were over 108 million people worldwide estimated to be forcibly displaced as of 2022. Sam Mendelson, Fernando Naranjo Galindo and Daniel Rozas at e-MFP argue that the financial inclusion sector can and should play an important role in addressing the challenges of forced displacement. They explore how financial service providers and other stakeholders can better serve these communities, and announce the launch of the European Microfinance Award 2024, which will focus on “Advancing Financial Inclusion for Refugees & Forcibly Displaced People.”
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- Finance
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The Next Frontier in Inclusive Fintech: The Value of Client-Centric Impact Measurement
Fintech is projected to be a $1.5 trillion industry by 2030, and Latin America and the Caribbean is a crucial focal point for the sector. But Carla Grados-Villamar at 60 Decibels points out that while fintechs are boosting financial access in the region, this does not guarantee improved living standards. She discusses how 60 Decibels has helped Galgo, a Chile-based fintech that facilitates financial access through motorcycle loans, to better understand its customers' experiences — and explores how this learning process reveals the importance of client-centric impact measurement in the broader fintech sector.
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- Finance, Transportation
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NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Announcing the Three Winners of our Annual Contest
As 2024 gets underway, we'd like to announce the results of NextBillion’s annual “Most Influential Article of the Year” contest. This year's contest featured a strong slate of articles, covering a diverse array of topics ranging from systems change to decarbonization, in sectors that included energy, agriculture, finance and more. We've highlighted the three winners, as selected by our readers, in this article.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Cast Your Vote in our Annual Contest by Jan. 7!
As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time for NextBillion’s annual tradition: our “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest. As we've done since 2012, we've selected 12 of our most-read articles from the past year, inviting readers to vote for the ones that influenced their thinking the most. You can vote multiple times — up to once per hour — during the voting period, which will run from Dec. 22 to 11:59 pm on Jan. 7. Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year!
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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Achieving the Latina American Dream: How Entrepreneurship Can Empower Latin American Migrant Women and Their Communities
Latin American migrant women in the U.S. have the potential to be drivers of economic growth for themselves, their families, their communities and their countries — both native and naturalized. But as Carmen Correa at Pro Mujer explains, they often lack the tools and opportunities they need to build successful livelihoods, while facing unique obstacles. She explores why entrepreneurship provides a solution to these challenges, and discusses a free skilling platform that Pro Mujer offers to support Latina migrants in their entrepreneurial journey.
- Categories
- Finance
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The Rise of Embedded Finance in Africa: Three Fintech Innovators Highlight its Potential to Boost Financial Inclusion and Business Growth on the Continent
In Egypt and other African countries, recent years have seen growing usage of fintech tools to boost financial inclusion. Basil Moftah at Nclude explores the impact of one such tool: embedded finance, in which a financial product is placed within a non-financial product, customer experience or platform. He discusses how the emergence of embedded finance is revolutionizing business operations and providing a catalyst for digitization and growth, across sectors ranging from hospitality to agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
- Categories
- Finance
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