FiDA Partnership China Blog SeriesThis blog written by Sieka Gatabaki, Financial Services Manager at MercyCorps Agrifin Accelerate Program in Kenya with contributions from Annabel Schiff -Senior Manager, Partners at the FiDA Partnership.
FiDA Partnership China Blog SeriesThis blog is authored by Stephen Deng, co-founder at DFS Labs, an early-stage fintech accelerator for emerging markets
FiDA Partnership China Blog SeriesThis blog was written by Neil Welman, Co-founder and CTO of LulaLend
Jessica OsbornThis blog was co-authored by Jessica Osborn and Annabel Schiff, both Senior Manager, Partners for the FiDA Partnership
Jessica OsbornIn May, the FiDA Partnership took 26 leaders from Africa’s digital finance industry to China to learn about their unprecedented FinTech boom. The week was immersive and intense, designed to allow participants to escape the boardroom and experience Chinese digital life firsthand on the streets of Beijing, in the mom-and-pop stores of Hangzhou, and the on factory floors of Guangdong. In this blog, we reflect on the key lessons.
Maha KhanRichard is a smallholder maize farmer in Western Kenya. He used to borrow money from his family or friends to buy essential inputs to grow maize—seed, fertilizer, and equipment—because he couldn’t access a formal loan from a bank. Most banks consider him a high risk client because of his low-income and lack of credit history. Recently though, Richard obtained a $50 loan for his farming business. By processing and analyzing satellite imagery on his farmland and cropping cycle, in combination with other alternative data, a lending organization was able to assess his creditworthiness.
Marissa DeanThis guest blog was jointly authored by Marissa Dean (FiDA) and Jake Kendall. Jake Kendall is the Director of the Digital Financial Services Lab (DFS Lab), an early-stage accelerator delivering innovative fintech solutions to the developing world.
Janet ShulistThe digital ecosystem—a collection of organizations, individuals, and policies that enable and deliver digital financial services—is rapidly evolving due to increased smartphone penetration in emerging markets and innovation in mobile technologies. How will this shift help or hinder innovation and development of digital financial services? FiDA’s Snapshot 13, The opportunities for and threat to the
Lara GilmanSnapshot 12: “Building the infrastructure for a healthy digital financial ecosystem” addresses one of the key questions of FiDA’s Learning Theme 12. Each Learning Theme addresses a range of topics within the digital finance space. The FiDA Partnership synthesizes the digital finance community’s knowledge of these learning themes as “Snapshots” that cover topics at the
Niamh BarrySnapshot 15:’ “Approaches to determining the impact of digital finance programs” addresses one of the key questions of FiDA’s 16 Learning Themes. The FiDA Partnership synthesizes the digital finance community’s knowledge of these Learning Themes as “Snapshots” that cover topics at the client, institution, ecosystem, and impact levels. Spoiler: Snapshot 15: “Approaches to determining the