The African Development Bank and its partners on the 13th of June, 2019 launched the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) , designed to aid safety and expansion of digital financial transactions in Africa. The Fund, launched at the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Government of Luxembourg, as initial contributors. The fund will deploy $100 million in grants and $300 million in the form of debt from the Bank’s ordinary capital resources by 2030, to...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have recently published a title called, ‘ Blockchain for Agriculture, Opportunities and Challenges ’ as part of the E-Agriculture in Action series publications. This is part of the collaboration of working together of the two UN Agencies to work together to promote the use of sustainable information and communication technologies (ICTs) in agriculture. The focus of the publication is on blockchain technology in agriculture. The aim of the book is to demystify the technology,...
The agricultural ministers of 74 nations who attended the just ended the 11th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, held during the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture issued a communique that affirms support to farmers through digital innovation. The statement acknowledge the projected increase in world’s population amidst the current hunger level of, over 821 million 9 people in the world who are suffering from hunger. The ministers called for digitalization in agriculture, innovation and smart solutions in increasing agricultural production and commitment to the goals of the 2030...
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Member States have approved at new resolution that consolidate ITU’s mandate on matters relating to digital financial inclusion , reports ITU . The except of the news can be read below “Two billion adults worldwide do not have a bank account, but among them, 1.6 billion have a mobile phone. Developing countries are capitalizing on the widespread use of mobile phones and information and communication technologies (ICTs) to bring all people within reach of financial services and out of poverty. Digital financial services show great potential to...
A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural finance and insufficient resources make it difficult for smallholder farmers to become profitable, despite the pivotal role they play in agricultural production. Over the last four years, Grameen Foundation and Musoni Microfinance Kenya have built a...
Can mobile money transform women's lives? The digital revolution has spread in many developing countries and mobile telephony is readily available and has penetrated areas not yet reached by other prior inventions. In Africa for example, the mobile adaption has grown in recent years and in 2017 overall subscriber penetration was recorded at 44% . However, women still face a challenge or ‘triple divide’ –that is digital, rural and gender divide ( FAO, 2018:5 ). The Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2018 established that mobile connectivity is not spreading its gains equally across gender. Some...
The partnership will support efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 – a world with zero hunger . Alibaba and The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have entered into a strategic partnership to achieve a world with zero hunger – which is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. Under the framework agreement, Alibaba will provide its leading technology and resources to support the digital transformation of WFP’s operations. Alibaba operates the Alibaba Cloud and will avail this infrastructure and collaborate with WFP to develop a digital ‘World Hunger Map’ to monitor...
The GSMA today announced a new Innovative Fund for Rural Connectivity seeking to expand digital inclusion in Ghana and Uganda. The Fund will provide grants up to £300,000 and is open to eligible companies who can deploy solutions in Uganda or Ghana and is implemented in partnership with MTN Uganda and Vodafone Ghana respectively. Projects eligible for funding should employ innovative ways to deploy mobile broadband networks in rural areas with partnerships with a mobile operator and projects should be commercially viable and scalable in similar environments. The Innovation Fund for Rural...
CTA has launched a Call for Proposals to support the implementation of blockchain use cases addressing the agri-food sector in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries. Proposals must be submitted by Monday 12 November 2018, in English or French. A maximum of six grants will be awarded. The maximum amount per grant is Euro 60,000. The objective of this call is to support the implementation of blockchain uses cases addressing the agri-food sector in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries, in order to contribute to its transformation. Information for applicants A maximum of six grants...
In a recent press release, UN Women and the World Food Programmw (WFP)have announced that they are breaking new ground by using blockchain to assist Syrian refugee women participating in UN Women’s cash for work programmes at the Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan. Before adopting this technology, WFP has been doing cash transfer to refugees via third-party financial service providers such as banks. However, through blockchain, UN women and WFP are exploring the possibility of providing female refugee with cash back at WFP-contracted supermarkets or pay for thier purchases directly...
A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural finance and insufficient resources make it difficult for smallholder farmers to become profitable, despite the pivotal role they play in agricultural production. Over the last four years, Grameen Foundation and Musoni Microfinance Kenya have built a...
