Mobile for Development Blog

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Connectivity in Crisis: The humanitarian implications of connectivity for crisis-affected communities

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Connectivity has changed the nature of humanitarian crises and humanitarian response. More and more, affected people and humanitarian responders rely on connectivity for information, coordination and services. And, while this increasingly connected world has many benefits, ...

The GSMA Agritech Accelerator Bootcamp: Building synergies to deliver on the Accelerator’s objectives

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‘The cross-learning from other innovators and networking opportunities has been amazing,’ remarks Peter Okonmah, co-founder of Nigerian smart farming agritech FarmSpeak Technology Limited. This is just one example of the many positive testimonials validating the purpose of ...

Five steps to measuring environmental impact of climate tech innovation

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There is still much to learn about measuring and attributing the impact of climate tech solutions, and in particular, the environmental impact. Rapidly advancing climate tech offers significant potential to serve as a catalyst for climate action.

Reflections from COP28: Digital will be central to climate action

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Digital will play a key role in climate action. Read our reflections from COP28.

Enhancing commercial sustainability of assistive tech solutions through business-to-business models

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Digital assistive technologies (AT) are a gateway for persons with disabilities to access life-enhancing services and opportunities that can enable them to live more independent and autonomous lives. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), nearly half (around 43%) of ...

J-Palm Liberia: Transforming sustainable palm oil through mobile blockchain technology

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J-Palm in Liberia, is revolutionising the sustainability of wild palm oil in West Africa using mobile and blockchain technology, and strengthening the climate resilience of communities.

The GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Challenges is open for applications

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We are pleased to announce the launch of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Challenges. As global humanitarian needs continue to rise, the Fund will leverage our proven innovation fund model to provide grants as well as additional non-financial and technical support ...

By invitation: Ian Ferrao explains how mobile money could grow in Sub-Saharan Africa 

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In April 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme hosted a workshop for several mobile money providers in London – as part of the launch of the 11th annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money (SOTIR). At the workshop, we discussed industry progress and concerns with ...

Sustainable impact: Scaling digital innovation in Africa 

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In October 2023, as part of MWC Kigali, the GSMA Innovation Fund hosted a panel session on sustainable impact in Africa, hearing from both start-ups and investors.   This panel briefly introduced several pathways to scale identified in the Scaling Digital Innovation report ...

Lessons from MWC Kigali: What will it take to develop inclusive AI for development in Africa?

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Successful leverage of AI can propel advancement in a range of sectors from healthcare to climate resilience. Discover what is key to making this progress inclusive in the African context, with the insights from our AI for Development roundtable held at MWC Kigali 2023.

Investing in digital agriculture – Insights from the AgriTech’s panel discussion at MWC Kigali

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Introduction Digital agriculture solutions have the potential to transform the lives of millions of smallholder farmers by increasing their yield and revenues and reducing inefficiencies along value chains. The number of such solutions is growing rapidly, from just 152 in ...

Enseignements tirés d’Orange Sierra Leone : Approches pour la mise en œuvre d’un programme de formation aux compétences numériques basé sur des agents et couronné de succès

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This blog is available in English here. Selon les chiffres de la GSMA, en 2022, seulement 21,5 % de la population de la Sierra Leone utilisait l’internet mobile. Les données de la GSMA soulignent que, dans les pays à faible revenu et à revenu intermédiaire, parmi les ...

Insights from Orange Sierra Leone: Approaches for implementing a successful agent-based digital skills training programme 

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Ce blog est disponible en français ici. According to GSMA data, in 2022, only 21.5% of the population in Sierra Leone was using mobile internet. GSMA data highlights that across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) among mobile users aware of mobile internet, a lack of ...

Understanding women micro-entrepreneurs’ use of mobile phones for business 

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Women micro-entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the income and well-being of their families and the development of communities and national economies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Mobile phones can be a source of economic and social empowerment for ...

GSMA Innovation Fund Bootcamp 2023

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In October 2023, the GSMA Innovation Fund hosted a series of workshops that provided a platform for cross-learning, gaining insights through thematic workshops and networking with each other and different funding organisations. The 1.5-day bootcamp was also an opportunity ...

An introduction to the GSMA Mobile for Development climate impact narrative

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Read an introduction to the GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) Climate Impact Narrative. It outlines M4D’s pathways to climate impact.

Announcing the GSMA Innovation Fund for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action Cohort

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Following the successful GSMA Innovation Fund Bootcamp that took place prior to MWC Kigali in October, we are pleased to announce our new cohort of organisations in the GSMA Innovation Fund for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action.  On 24th November 2022, the GSMA and UK ...

The GSMA, CARE and GDIP consortium selected to accelerate closure of the gender digital divide

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The GSMA Foundation, CARE and Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP) are pleased to have been selected as the consortium partners to manage the Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF), a five-year $60 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for ...

What challenges do African MSMEs face in adopting e-commerce?

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MSMEs play a critical role in creating livelihoods and generating economic value in Africa. E-commerce is increasingly enabling more MSMEs to compete, facilitating access to wider markets and making business operations more efficient. On 17 October, we launched our new ...

How female agents foster inclusivity in digital agriculture

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Digital agriculture solutions have potential to increase productivity, incomes, and livelihoods for smallholder farmers. Yet, only 25% of registered users in Africa are women, while field evidence shows that the gender gap could be wider when looking at usage of digital ...