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Orange May Become Bank With Groupama Takeover
France's Orange has revealed it is in negotiations to acquire a 65% stake in Groupama Banque and set itself up as a fully fledged bank offering savings, loans, insurance and other financial services.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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2015’s Most Influential Post Winners Are …
It comes as no surprise that financial technology (fintech) trends that brought "the unbanked" somewhat closer to true financial inclusion, dominated our Our Most Influential Post of the Year Contest. But what was surprising, at least in terms of the results of our contest this year, were the geographies in question.
- Categories
- Investing
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Financing the Farming of the Future
According to the World Bank, 78 percent of the world’s poor are rural poor, and many of them are farmers. If you are looking for social returns, there are few better places to invest than in agriculture. Yet, we see significant unmet capital needs. At Calvert Foundation is interested in bringing additional capital to grow this important sector and encouraging other private investors to join as well. Fair trade lending has been an important movement in the agriculture sector, and has led to the creation of critical jobs and economic activity. But how can we learn from pioneer investors and encourage capital to address the significant gaps in financing for innovations in the value chains for locally consumed crops?
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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Electrifying India, With the Sun and Small Loans
A few years ago, the hundred or so residents of Paradeshappanamatha, a secluded hamlet in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, gathered along the central pathway between their 22 densely clustered homes, and watched as government workers hoisted a solar-powered streetlamp. As the first display of electricity in the town, it was an object of mild interest, but, being outside, the light didn’t help anyone cook or study, and only attracted moths.
- Region
- South Asia
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Social enterprises increasingly getting more capital, from impact and venture capital funds
GoCoop now has 250 cooperatives on its ecommerce platform and B2B customers include the likes of Levi's and Reliance Retail. While Devireddy used his savings of 10 years and funds from his colleagues to get his dream project off the ground, the startup later raised seed funding and is currently in the process of closing its Series A round of funds, both from impact investors.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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The Most Popular Posts of 2015: Which One Most Influenced You?
For the fourth year in a row, we're launching our Most Influential Post of the Year Contest – think of it as a listicle that you control. Below are the 12 most viewed articles on NB by month. Please read or re-read them and then vote for your favorite(s).
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Ebay Philanthropist Funds ‘Cryptocomplex’ Cash for Central Banks
Central banks around the world say they want to drive financial inclusion, especially since telecoms operators have provided them with an object lesson in how this can be done with digital money.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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NextBillion’s Most Popular and Most Shared Posts in the 4th Quarter of 2015
Our most-viewed and most-shared blog posts from the months of October, November and December explored the history and future of impact assessment, a randomized control trial around financial inclusion in Afghanistan and technology solutions for mitigating the youth jobs shortage.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing
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