Remittance flows to the developing world are expected to total $406 billion this year, says the World Bank, but the promise of mobile remittances has yet to be fulfilled.
Around three-quarters of the world's population now have access to a mobile phone, sparking the creation of an emerging 'app economy', according to a new report by the World Bank.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is making a $2.6 million (RUB 83 million) equity investment in datacenter operator IXcellerate to support the construction of a major data facility, expanding access to information technology infrastructure for businesses in Russia.
Around three quarters of the world's poor, living on less than $2 a day, do not have a bank account but mobile phones are helping to change this, according to a report from the World Bank.
The World Bank has severed electronic links with the International Monetary Fund after warnings that IMF computer systems had been infiltrated by an unknown foreign power.
Virtual online currencies and digital work are helping to fuel growth and provide real income opportunities to poor and unskilled workers in developing countries, according to a World Bank study.
The World Bank is tapping the expertise of former Safaricom boss Michael Joseph to advise on the expansion of mobile money programmes in member states.
The World Bank Group today kicked off the "Apps for Development" competition, the first global contest of its kind. President Robert B. Zoellick challenged software developers and international experts around the world to enter the contest. Entries must be filed by January 10, 2011.
Even as economies globally were contracting as a result of the financial crisis in 2009, access to formal finance in developing countries grew. An estimated 2.7 billion people around the world have no access to formal financial services. But the picture of financial inclusion is shifting, finds a new report by CGAP and the World Bank Group.
The World Bank and Gemalto today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to join efforts in supporting social and economic advancement in developing countries, by leveraging innovative information and communication technology (ICT).
© Finextra Research 2013