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Move Over Facebook: WeChat Is Set to Become the Only App African Internet Users Need
As technology hubs from Silicon Valley to Bangalore work hard at devising digital approaches to finance that could alter the global banking landscape, mobile banking penetration in China has already exceeded390 million people. And for Chinese-owned Tencent Holdings, the world's fifth largest Internet company, China's 1.3 billion-strong market is just the beginning. The tech giant's best-known social network, WeChat, is fast gaining traction in Africa, and mobile banking is one area in which its influence is spreading.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Future Looks Gloomy for Ghana’s Microfinance Institutions
THE future looks gloomy for Ghana’s microfinance institutions as the country’s central bank cracks the whip on fly-night lenders that have mushroomed across the country.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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NexThought Monday: Impact Investing ‘Skeptics Have Been Defeated’ – Our Q&A With LeapFrog CEO
LeapFrog Investments' portfolio of companies make insurance and financial services their business, and their clientele are those who earn $10 or less a day. With a recent investment from development organization OPIC, LeapFrog has raised more than $1 billion. In an interview with NextBillion, CEO Andrew Kuper details LeapFrog's trajectory, the shakiness of emerging markets, and the challenges of reaching consumers for whom insurance can provide both a safety net and an economic springboard.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Egyptian Government and Visa Sign Agreement to Help Bring Electronic Payments to Government Subsidies
The Egyptian government, represented by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade and the Ministry of Planning, this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Visa Inc., to enable electronic payment of government subsidies to 22 million Egyptian families.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Weekly Roundup: Grading Super Bowl Ads, Teaching Social Entrepreneurship, Fact-Checking Global Health
Three commercials at this Sunday's Super Bowl 50 come from financial services providers focused on customers who can’t afford a ticket to the game. We grade the three ads in terms of how effectively they present the inclusive elements of these companies' brands, discuss a new school for social entrepreneurs, and explore a new fact-checking initiative for global health in this roundup.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
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Viewpoint: How Mobile Banking Can Protect Refugees
“Mean spirited”, “inhumane” and desecrating the spirit of the Refugee Convention are some of the milder criticisms levelled at Denmark’s harsh new asylum laws, passed last week. Among new measures is a decision to strip new arrivals of any cash and valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner (US$1,450), purportedly to pay for their upkeep. Switzerland and some southern German states have introduced similar policies.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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India: Moving a Billion People into Digital Finance
Digital finance has great potential to improve life for consumers and merchants in India. But the lack of familiarity has impeded digital money’s growth in the country. This lack of awareness exists despite India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national mission for financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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OPIC Enters Into $250 Million Partnership with Bayport to Advance Financial Inclusion
Bayport Management Ltd, a leading emerging market financial services group, today announced the closing of a $250 million senior debt facility with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation which will support the group’s financial inclusion and growth agenda across its operations.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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