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Mobile Money in South Africa: What’s in It for Banks?
The 2015 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Financial Services tabled at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona brings some interesting but not unexpected figures on the state of mobile money today. I say “unexpected” because any innovation that delivers simple, affordable and accessible product is bound to make its presence felt and disrupting the traditional systems.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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Ford Turning Captured CO2 Into Car Parts
Ford Motor Company claims to be the first automaker to formulate and test new foam and plastic components using captured carbon dioxide (CO2) as feedstock. Within five years, the company expects to be using the new biomaterials in its vehicles.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Accounts for Only 1.4% of World Insurance Premium
The African Insurance Organisation, AIO, has decried the low level of insurance penetration in Africa, saying that the continent can boast of only about 1.4 per cent of total world premium. President of AIO, Mrs. Lamia Ben Mahmoud who made the assertion at the 43rd Conference and Annual General Assembly of the AIO in Marrakech, Morocco last week noted that there is clear predominance of developed countries on the insurance market.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mosquito-Repellent Soap Invention Seeks to Wash Away Africa Malaria Threat
Two former students from Burkina Faso have designed a mosquito-repellent soap, which they hope could be a simple and affordable solution in the fight to end malaria, but more funds are needed to test the idea, according to the startup behind it.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Facebook Has Finally Launched Free Basics in Its Biggest African Market
Social network giant, Facebook, has launched its Free Basics service in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country—and its biggest market on the continent. The platform which allows users to access listed websites at no cost was launched in partnership with Airtel, the country’s third largest telecoms operator with almost 34 million subscribers.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: The Challenges of Mobile Financial Inclusion
One of the gating factors to financial inclusion is the mobile network itself. It sounds simple to say that all of Africa can have access to mobile money, and they can, but if each telco has different wallet structures, charges and fees, then the ease of usage falls sharply. This is why interoperability is a key factor and Tanzania leads the way in this regard.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: It’s Time to Green Our Financial Deserts
Since 2010, more than 5,000 bank branches have closed in communities across the United States. Meanwhile, expensive alternative financial service providers like check cashers and payday lenders continued to proliferate at an alarming rate. Not surprisingly, these two trends have disproportionately impacted hard-working people of color, trapping roughly 9 million African-American families in a world where it costs more to have less.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Airtel Ghana Launches Mobile Money Loan Scheme
Airtel has partnered with Fidelity Bank and Tiaxa, a global leader in Nano credits to launch Airtel Money Bosea – a Nano loan scheme that provides access to financial services enabling customers to borrow money instantly through their Airtel Money wallet anytime, anywhere.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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