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African startups slowly realize value of informal economies
The company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Vahid Monadjem says as one of the largest and least well-served parts of African economies there are numerous opportunities for companies offering solutions to informal markets.
“The two areas that I see the most immediate opportunities are in financial services and logistics. Within financial services, payments is still a massive opportunity, and increasingly there are new opportunities becoming possible as payments rails go deeper such as micro-insurance, savings, on-demand products…” he said.- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Sub-Saharan Africa to Surpass Half a Billion Mobile Subscribers by End of Decade, Finds New GSMA Study
“Sub-Saharan Africa will be a key engine of subscriber growth for the world’s mobile industry over the next few years as we connect millions of previously unconnected men, women and young people across the continent,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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Swift Emergency Care – Nigeria’s First Online Emergency Response System
Anigbo and his team developed the Swift Emergency Care, an online emergency response care system, the “Uber” for health emergencies in Nigeria. Nigeria’s healthcare system is riddled with numerous challenges and limitations, from medical negligence to a lack of infrastructure and personnel.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why M-Akiba bond may present new headache to many banks in Kenya
The banks, which are already reeling from the effects of interest rates capping, now face huge competition on deposits from the bond, which gives 10 per cent interest a year, above the capped 7 per cent that banks are offering.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Visa pushes further into Africa
Visa has partnered with Interswitch, Africa's integrated payments and transaction solutions company, to bolster adoption of mVisa, the card network’s mobile payment solution, according to Vanguard.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Airtel loses 5 million mobile money users in Kenya in three months
The firm’s subscribers stood at 6.3 million in March, a decline from 6.8 million in December, which the regulator attributed to the revision of a popular offering by the operator resulting in customers slowing down on use of its products.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African countries want to turn their poor, overcrowded urban centers into “smart cities”
Rwanda is on a campaign to transform its capital city of rolling hills and low-rise buildings into a so-called smart city where urban living has been optimized. Already, officials like to stress how much technology is part of daily life in Rwanda, from the president’s active Twitter presence to the fact that registering a marriage, death, or birth—things that would normally require multiple forms and trips to a government office—are increasingly done online.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Research as a catalyst to grow technology clusters in Africa
Africa’s poor standing mirrors an unfortunate reality that has seen research and development given less importance, both in building scalable products or an active technology community.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- innovation, research
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