Weekly Review June 16-22

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate them to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week, we’re featuring news on smartphones and telecoms and other ICT headlines. … read more

Weekly Review June 9-15

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week, we’re featuring news on financial innovation and impact investing.… read more

Closing the Digital Divide with Mobile Broadband in Africa

Today, there are over 60 million mobile cellular subscriptions in Africa – an astounding increase from less than 5 million ten years ago. Unlike anywhere else, mobile phone subscriptions quickly leapfrogged over fixed landline subscriptions, some calling it “The Death of the Fixed Line.” Similarly, mobile broadband is experiencing a much faster uptake than fixed broadband. In this post, we discuss the policy, infrastructure, and accessibility considerations that have allowed mobile to be … read more

Weekly Review June 2-8

Every week, we share articles on an industry trend along with our thoughts.

We invest in alternative energy technologies for many reasons, one being their ability to provide safe and affordable energy to those beyond the reach of the grid. Check out news from this week that discusses bringing energy to those who are off-grid.… read more

Introducing the Impact Factoring Fund

Over the past few years, ID has worked to catalyze risk capital for underserved markets. To date, we have done this with direct investments from our BSP Fund, business co-creation through our BETA program, and deal syndication with fellow investors. Now, we are ready to announce our latest effort to support high-growth enterprises working in underserved markets.

The Impact Factoring Fund solves one of the most critical inhibitors to high-growth impact entrepreneurship. It levels … read more

Weekly Review May 19-25

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends that relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

Articles and blog posts this week cover news on mobile technology in emerging markets.  We’re featuring news from iHub’s blog, MIT Technology Review, Business Daily Africa, and Mobile Payments Today. A common trend you’ll find in each article is … read more

Weekly Review May 12-18

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week, we’re featuring articles on alternative energy, noting the challenges that startups often face in terms of distribution, pricing, and scale.… read more

How Mobile Technology Improves Informal Savings Groups

To date, we’ve introduced both the benefits and the inefficiencies of informal savings groups. Today, we’ll share how mobile technology can improve informal savings groups. Injecting the benefits of mobile money, increased communication, and innovative apps into the savings group model can displace the inefficiencies that exist in trust, convenience, and security. Importantly, mobile technology does not compromise the intrinsic benefits of the savings groupsread more

Weekly Review May 5-11

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week, we read about the work that organizations and businesses are doing around the world to enhance, promote, and leverage the benefits of mobile.… read more

Weekly Review April 30-May 4

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

In a follow up to our recent post on financial inclusion, this week we turned to our favorite industry blogs and mainstream media to see what they’re saying this week on the topic. We’ve included posts and articles from … read more

The Benefits of Informal Savings Groups

Over 70% of people in emerging markets do not have a formal bank account (Goss, Mas, Radcliffe, & Stark, 2011). Despite exclusion from what we consider formal banking, many people in emerging markets have figured out their own ways to save money. An increasing number of people are participating in informal savings groups.

Our goal in this series is to explore the effectiveness of savings groups. In this post, we’ll explain how they work and … read more

Weekly Review April 21-27

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week’s topic is solar power in emerging markets. Headlines included updates on India’s National Solar Mission and the practical use of solar power on-the-ground in Africa.… read more

Weekly Review April 14-20

Every week, we read dozens of articles on our favorite industry trends and relate to our investment thesis. We pick the most popular trend from the week and share the top articles along with our thoughts.

This week, we read about many different opportunities available for mobile and information communication technology innovators, including incubators, market growth, and improvements in infrastructure.… read more

Weekly Review April 7-13

Last week we looked at the support system for mobile tech innovation; this week, several headlines caught our attention regarding the developing ecosystem of support for clean tech entrepreneurs in emerging markets.… read more

Weekly Review March 24-30

We can never place enough emphasis on the need for alternative energy in emerging markets. From wind to solar to “crazy” energy as Bill Gates calls it, the potential to leverage innovation for increased energy access is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors, and development advocates alike.… read more

Mobile Money’s Boost – Can Nigeria Outpace Egypt?

In our recent post, Africa’s Big Three, we compared Nigeria – Africa’s third largest economy – to South Africa and Egypt – the first and second largest, respectively. We discovered that added mobile penetration could boost Nigeria’s GDP to outgrow Egypt’s by 2020. This prediction is a result of increased mobile penetration and its positive effects on economic growth. In this post, we’re following up on our prediction with a discussion of another benefit of … read more

Can India Install 20 GW of Solar by 2020? Part 1

India Energy Inequality

In a first-of-its-kind plan, the Indian government announced the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission with the goal of achieving 20 GW of installed solar capacity by 2020. An incredible ambition, many are wondering if it is possible. There’s no denying that the country needs it, but is it possible to garner enough investment in solar to install 20 GW of capacity by 2020? We looked at several macroeconomic factors to determine the feasibility of the … read more

Weekly Review February 5-11

This week, we read about growing entrepreneurial opportunities in our target investment markets: India, Africa, and Latin America. The movement of human and financial capital in (and out) of emerging markets is increasing steadily thanks to changing demographics and blossoming economies. This presents exciting opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs alike.… read more

Weekly Review January 22-28

At the start of the New Year, many reports predicting tech trends for 2012 in Africa pointed to the increased adoption of smartphones. We agree — that is where the market is headed – but it’s important to remember that a high penetration of smartphones is still quite a few years away. Currently, most Africans own a basic Nokia “dumb” phone. This week, we looked at articles reporting on the adoption of smartphones and … read more

Simpa Networks Makes Headlines

We take pride in each one of our portfolio companies, and it’s always rewarding to see them recognized for their work. Simpa Networks has been quietly walking the walk and is now talking the talk, evidenced by article after article popping up in our Google Alerts. The media stories on Simpa spotlight the need for alternative energy and accompanying innovative financing solutions for the under- and un-electrified. Now, mainstream media like Inc Magazine and National read more

Weekly Review January 8-14

2012 is going to be a big year for mobile money and financial inclusion. Below we highlight a few of the stories describing the increased adoption of mobile money (beyond Kenya) and the continued growth of financial inclusion and other benefits offered through mobile phones.

A Mobile Money Wish List for 2012” by Will Mutua on Afrinnovator
As a follow up to Mbwana Alliy’s prediction that increased mobile money services in Africa … read more