Publications
Financial Inclusion
Sustainable Finance
Covid-19
Sep 16, 2021
With its wide-ranging economic impact, the COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to governments and businesses all over the world. Vigorous responses from governments and central banks have succeeded in averting a major global crisis, but the pandemic and the responses to it have left various medium and long-term challenges in their...
Digital Transformation
Fintech
Sep 08, 2021
Erik Feyen (World Bank), Jon Frost (Bank for International Settlements and Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance), Leonardo Gambacorta (BIS and Centre for Economic Policy Research), Harish Natarajan (World Bank) and Matthew Saal (International Finance Corporation) have jointly published a paper about fintech and digital transformation. Economic...
Digital Transformation
Aug 31, 2021
On 7 July 2021, Mastercard and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) held a series of convenings, focused on the digital transformation of the sector. During those roundtables, the following topics were discussed: How digital technology and collaborative business models are helping to transform the postal sector and creating new ways for posts to...
Covid-19
Aug 24, 2021
Europe’s banks have a golden opportunity to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the midst of the pandemic, they are the conduits for billions in state funding to support this crucial segment of the economy. However cumbersome legacy IT systems and outdated risk profiling stand in the way. Agile new competitors are...
Digital Financial Services
Fintech
Aug 17, 2021
To meet the evolving needs of SME customers, banks are transforming their business models, digitizing their offerings, and creating ecosystems with a whole range of beyond banking services. These banking transformations, however, do not just happen overnight. With their business clients at the forefront of their efforts, some banks are going it...
Gender Finance
Aug 09, 2021
Across the globe, e-commerce is thriving. The e-commerce market in Africa is expected to reach $84 billion by 2030. The number of online shoppers has increased by an average of 18 percent every year since 2014, with similar growth anticipated over the next decade. The IFC’s latest report Women and E-commerce in Africa is the first large-scale use...
Digital Transformation
Jul 30, 2021
Following the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum Roundtable, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) released a report that gathers recommendations to APEC Leaders and Finance Ministers on how regional cooperation can help create the digital infrastructure and ecosystem for financial services to accelerate MSMEs’ digital transformation. It examined...
Trade Finance
Jul 22, 2021
The B20, the Business at OECD (BIAC) and the IOE just published a joint paper, followed the B20-OECD-Business at OECD annual meeting last Friday 16th July, proposing three concrete recommendations to the G20 in support of access to Trade Finance. The paper progresses the work on the “GVC Passport” concept initiated last year under the B20 Saudi...
Fintech
Jul 20, 2021
Bitbond is a global peer-to-peer bitcoin lending platform where small businesses get access to affordable loans and lenders earn great interest rates. It is based in Berlin and in operation since 2013. In 2019, Bitbond conducted Germany's first Security Token Offering (STO) with a securities prospectus approved by BaFin. It is a provider for...
Governance
Covid-19
Jun 21, 2021
Afreximbank Research recently published a paper written by Prof. Emmanual Akyeampong (Ellen Gurney Professors of History and of African and African America Studies, and Oppenheimer Faculty Director, Harvard University Center for Africa Studies), discussing the strength and the reaction that African governments have during the post-COVID-19 period...