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“Impact” versus “returns-driven” investing in Africa
2017 was the best year on record for African tech startups in funding terms, with 159 companies from across the continent securing a combined total of US$195 million.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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“Impact” versus “returns-driven” investing in Africa
2017 was the best year on record for African tech startups in funding terms, with 159 companies from across the continent securing a combined total of US$195 million. This is according to the latest Disrupt Africa African Tech Startups Funding Report, which tells a very positive story of the continent’s increasing appeal to investors.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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Equitel launches mobile-based insurance in Kenya
Equitel subscribers will now have access to a mobile-based insurance product, called Riziki Cover. According to the company, the solution aims to ease the financial burden associated with lost daily income from one’s employment or personal business in case they are admitted to hospital.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- insurance, mobile finance
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Kenya is finally softening its stance on blockchain technology
Kenya has for years regarded blockchain technology and digital currencies with suspicion, comparing bitcoin to a “pyramid scheme,” and emphasizing that it had no legal footing.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blockchain, cryptocurrency
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Rwanda’s central bank urges MFIs to automate to reduce bad loans
The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has called on microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the country to embrace automation and reduce the rate of bad loans before the end of the year.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Multinationals yielding to allure of M-Pesa
For a while, Google required consumers in Kenya to pay for apps and games bought from its Play Store and Game Store using credit cards, as though they were in developed countries such as the US where there is a widespread use of cards.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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Madagascar: $45 Million to Promote Financial Inclusion of Individuals and Small Enterprises
Madagascar Financial Inclusion project will specifically target women and women-owned enterprises, to reduce disparities in access to finance for women. The direct beneficiaries of the project will include teachers, students and taxpayers that will have the option to receive and make government payments through an e-money transaction account.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Tanzania is betting on coding to help close the gender gap in its tech sector
Even nations that have dramatically closed gender gaps in education and labor force participation have struggled to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. For instance, women hold about 26% of computer and mathematical jobs in the US, slightly below the level in 1960. For a country like Tanzania, which has a promising, budding tech industry, solving this problem could be vital to its future.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- gender equality
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