What’s new: In start-ups, SMEs, and sharing platforms?

Here are a few highlights:
The way disasters impact people’s lives can be difficult to comprehend and so can the data around disaster risk.
Does the gravity of risk data resonate with people if they are only interacting with it through numbers and two-dimensional charts on a page? Can the scale of impacts be conveyed through such flat media? Will data in this format drive the level of action and innovation necessary to address growing risks in a warmer world?
In the face of these challenges, art can play an increasingly important role in risk communication. Art gives life and emotion to numbers, allowing for the communicator to more powerfully convey data that represent significant threats to people’s lives and livelihoods.
In a new World Bank report on the Market for Remittance Services in Southern Africa, we outline the binding constraints that appear to be holding back the digital remittances revolution in the countries that make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Digital disruption in international person-to-person remittances is well underway. New research estimates that international digital remittances will exceed US$300 billion globally by 2021, making up 44% of total formal international remittances, and up from 36% in 2018. Thanks to high rates of mobile phone penetration and growing internet access, digital players are not only gaining ground, but they are also forcing “traditional” incumbents to expand their digital footprint.
What would happen if you put all the relevant players for the entrepreneurial ecosystem — startup founders, policymakers, developers, students, investors — into one room and facilitated an open dialogue on improving the business environment? This is exactly what is taking place in West Africa through a series of policy hackathons supported by the World Bank.
“We all have a stake in development and this multifaceted process – local, top-down, bottom-up – is a great example of African innovation. Civic engagement in policymaking is not happening elsewhere so it’s not just about importing knowledge and best practice but generating lessons we can export to the rest of the world,” said Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Director of the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation (FCI) Global Practice about policy hackathons taking place in West Africa, at a recent World Bank Brown-Bag Lunch in January.
So what is a policy hackathon?
“The training has completed my knowledge about open innovation. I can now go and talk to potential clients to identify their needs and show what we can offer them.” -- Mariem Kane, Hadina RIMTIC incubator
They also allow corporate partners to respond quickly to changing market dynamics and test out new products or target new audiences.
The financial system is going through a period of rapid innovation that is disintermediating the financial services value chain. This can have significant benefits for financial inclusion- providing access to, and enabling active usage of, affordable financial products and services to all individuals while supporting a diverse and competitive marketplace.
Financial regulators around the world are looking for more flexible ways to engage with fintech companies while being mindful of the inherent risks. Although the importance of interacting with this sector is widely accepted, the most appropriate instrument to do so is still being determined.
A tool that has become increasingly popular and synonymous with innovation is the ‘Regulatory Sandbox’. While nuances exist, they are fundamentally a regulator-controlled environment that allows participants to test their products, services and business models. However, Sandboxes are only one of several tools that regulators can use and have both benefits and challenges associated with them.
Tech startups and business angels are not what comes to mind when thinking of the Czech Republic (CR). Instead, this small central European country is known for its beer, scenic bridges crossing the Vltava river, and existential writers. Not so easy to add “vibrant entrepreneurial hub” to the list as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia. Nevertheless, that's exactly what the CR policymakers intend to do.
CR has what it takes to be an entrepreneurial hub for Central Europe