Search Results

Looking back at the year 2020, it feels as if we have all been standing at a watershed, a moment in time of great change. We have spent the year watching the deluge of waters descending upon us, not knowing how the landscape will have shifted and where we will stand once this year has passed. This is certainly true for the developing world. On the one hand, well over 100,000 million additional people have been pushed back into extreme poverty and hunger because of the pandemic, reversing a decade’s worth of development progress. On the other hand, digitization of communications and healthcare due to the pandemic have brought new promise for “building back better”. The telemedicine, distance learning and web-based tools for remote work which have become major features of our lives this year hold great promise for transforming the lives of people living in poverty worldwide by better connecting them to healthcare, education and income and employment opportunities. Now more than ever, technology for development matters. Here in Israel’s international development community, we have also been facing a watershed of a different sort. For over a year, the government’s inter-ministerial committee on Israeli activity in the field of international development has been developing a national strategy for international development, culminating in the release of an interim report for public comment a few weeks ago. The existence of this inter-ministerial committee, formed by a unanimous cabinet decision in July, 2018, is in and of itself a major achievement. After decades in which the Israeli government showed little interest in fulfilling our moral obligation to contribute to the welfare of people living in extreme poverty, the mere declaration of Israel’s intention to become “a significant player in the field of international development” is important. Behind this declaration has been the tireless activity of champions in the Prime Ministers Office, Ministry of Economy, Innovation Authority, Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry as well as a wide range of international development NGOs and think-tanks, including the Pears Program, all of whom have worked together to develop a new vision for Israel’s engagement in the developing world. However, in this too, it is too early to say whether the ultimate outcome will be positive or negative. What is very evident in the interim report is that not all government stakeholders are most concerned with impacting the lives and welfare of people in the global South. The inter-ministerial committee’s mandate speaks of making Israel a player in the field of development “while maximizing the economic and diplomatic potential present in developing countries” and these competing motivations are evident throughout the report. The Pears Program for Global Innovation has, for over the past 12 years, been the leading voice in Israel advocating for harnessing the power of the private and innovation sectors to address international development’s most critical challenges. In doing so, we have often spoken of the win-win value proposition of investing in Israeli “devtech”, and its potential for expanding Israel’s markets and supporting Israel’s standing in the international community while creating development impact. However, we in no way believe that all business is good for development, nor do we think that all efforts to expand Israeli trade with developing countries benefit the development of those countries. To the contrary, for centuries, commercial activities in developing countries have stripped these countries of their natural resources, exploited their populations for cheap labor under substandard conditions, polluted their environments and reinforced corruption. The only way to use the private sector as a force for good in developing countries is with clear intentionality to support development impact and not just trade. And, at this time, when the country’s international development strategy is still being formed, we all have the power to make our voices heard so that our government too prioritizes development impact. Finally, this year has been a watershed for the Pears Program for Global Innovation. 12 years after I founded the program, I have taken a step back from the active management of the program. Hagit Freud, an amazing, committed professional with years of on-the ground experience promoting Israeli innovation in East Africa, has now taken over as the new Managing Director of our program. I will remain involved in the program that I have put my heart and soul into over so many years, now as Founding Director. While we have been undergoing this transition, the Pears Program has also completed an internal strategic process in which we redefined our vision, mission and values for our next decade of activity. When the program was founded, there were few, if any, champions of development innovation in Israel. For twelve years, the Pears Program has worked steadfastly to build the Israeli ecosystem for Israeli innovation for development. In 2020, it is a source of deep pride to see how many organizations, entrepreneurs and officials in Israel have come to share our vision and have adopted our mission as their own. For this reason, we have embarked upon a new mission of building bridges between the emerging Israeli devtech ecosystem and actors and organizations in the Israeli international development community and in developing countries themselves. In this, we are dedicating ourselves to working with Israeli companies, entrepreneurs and international development and humanitarian actors to help connect them to the networks and expertise that they need in Israel, the developing world, and the global development architecture. By doing so, we hope that we can enhance the professionalism, relevance, ethical standards and impact of Israeli innovation for development so that Israel will truly become “a significant player in international development”, making a positive impact on the lives of people living in poverty throughout the global South. Wishing everyone a new year of hope, positive change and impact, Dr. Aliza Inbal Founding Director Pears Program for Global Innovation

In 2012, the Israeli DevTech community came together for the first time at the ID2 conference to share ideas and best practices and to connect with other like-minded people. Eight years later, the Israeli DevTech community has grown tremendously and it was time to bring the ecosystem together for a meaningful event in 2020. The effects of the global pandemic made it impossible to gather safely in-person, and so we searched for ways to create a dynamic, interactive virtual gathering that would bring the community together to meanigfully interact, exchange ideas, and connect. We recognized the great breadth of our community members’ knowledge and experience and wanted to leverage it for our gathering. The content and the structure of the DevTech Unconference was built off of insights we gained from surveys that were submitted by our community members. Over the three days, our community took part in interactive sessions relating to various international development sectors and focused on the trends and challenges in innovating for development. Participants joined workshops led by professionals, brainstormed solutions for startups’ challenges, and networked with others interested in a common sector or target market. We learned a lot in the UnTed talk sessions, an 8-minute presentation by participants, startups, or ecosystem partners who shared their expertise and experience in the field with other participants. We also benefited from the experts’ office hours during which we could ask any question to industry leaders. From the initial feedback we have received, the event exceeded expectations and provided practical tools and valuable networking opportunities for stakeholders in the Israeli DevTech ecosystem. Since it was impossible to attend all 38 sessions over the course of the three days, here are some of the key takeaways according to the unconference participants: Funding When pitching to funders, always validate key assumptions with data and evidence- Ophelie Namiech, Mindset PCS Successful fundraising campaigns should take a funnel based approach, targeting many potential funding sources- Ariel Beery, Co-Velocity The Israeli government is eager to engage more companies with development banks- Eyal Medan, Ministry of Economy Partnerships Having an on-the-ground partner is essential for entering emerging markets. The community connections and data they can provide can be invaluable- Hilly Hirt, Israel Innovation Authority Development finance institutions can offer much more than cash. A relationship with a development finance institution can offer context, reliable information, resilience, a soft landing pad, endorsements, and a strong network- Zafrir Assaf, Blue Laurel NGOs and private companies can partner together to solve international development challenges by leveraging their collective strength- Arieh Doobov, JDC-TOV Business Development Entrepreneurs must be passionate, willing to make mistakes, and fully understand their problem-solution fit- Chen Shmilo, 8200 Impact Business models need to incredibly adaptive in order to scale in developing countries- Dalia Silberstein, Nomada Impact SDGs are there to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries, they should be used to set your messages, define your targets and shape your engagement strategy- Keren-Or Rosner, SDG Israel Here’s a brief summary of the Devtech Unconference in numbers: 140 participants connected to the platform 9 hours of content 38 unique sessions 8 hours: Average time that participants spent on the platform With the conclusion of the DevTech Unconference, we hope that our 140 participants gained valuable insights, found the content stimulating, connected with new members of the ecosystem, and that the Unconference will ultimately help us better solve global development challenges. Thank you again to all participants, speakers, and our 22 partners for bringing their time and expertise to the DevTech Unconference. Without them, this would not have been possible. Our Partners Google for Startups, Start-Up Nation Central, Social Finance Israel, Volcani International Partnerships, IsraAID, SDG Israel, Tel Aviv Yafo Municipality, TechForGood, SID Israel, 8200 Impact, Keilot Kenya Ltd, The Trendlines Group, Olam, Israel Innovation Authority, Mindset-PCS, Ehrlich Group, The Israeli Forum for Impact Economy, GITA- the Global Impact Tech Alliance, JDC (The Joint), and UK Tech Hub Listen to our team's closing remarks for the DevTech Unconference 2020! Participant Feedback “I have to be honest, I've been to other digital conferences, but none of them has come close to what you have done. Great job!” “I liked that people were encouraged to play an active role in the discussions. It was organized very well from both content and technical aspects and I found the platform easy to use.” “The sessions were laid out with overall topics, and then the comments of the various participants and the ability to interact with other participants were terrific. I felt like you took a leap into less-familiar formats (high level of participation, limited time-per-day across three days, etc) and that how you did it worked quite well - congratulations and thanks for an interesting and highly productive event.”

Last month, we spoke to Nadav Yesod, Director of Global Communities at Tikkun Olam Makers TOM - Tikkun Olam Makers - is a global network of communities dedicated to improving peoples' lives by making affordable open-source technology accessible to all through our online platform. TOM’s process of innovation brings together the expertise and the needs, allowing a user-focused solution to be created, by connecting local makers with need-knowers (individuals with a personal understanding of unmet needs) to design and manufacture customized solutions We are thrilled to announce that following the webinar series organized by Pears Program, the Israel Embassy in Ethiopia and UNDP Acceleration Lab Ethiopia in May 2020 about innovation during and post Covid-19, TOM has opened a new community in Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. What is TOM's mission? TOM seeks to address a massive societal failure where the acute needs of millions of people have no affordable market or government solution to their needs because their conditions are rare or require significant customization. TOM’s moonshot goal for the coming decade is to improve the lives of 250 million people through affordable, customizable, and easily replicable community-driven solutions. How did TOM contribute to the Covid-19 response? During the COVID-19 pandemic, TOM communities from around the world have manufactured and distributed more than 130,000 units of Personal Protective Equipment (face shields, masks, ventilator splitters and more) to front-line workers in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and special education programs and facilities. Tell us about TOM's communities! Local TOM Communities create and disseminate affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people with disabilities, the elderly and the vulnerable. Each TOM Community is comprised of Makers (engineers, designers, developers), 'Need-Knowers' (individuals with a personal understanding of a neglected challenge) and Community Organizers (Dedicated volunteers who plan, organize, and manage TOM activities in their local communities). Since 2014, there are 70+ TOM communities which count over 5,000 volunteers in 27 countries, from Tel Aviv to Melbourne to Mexico City. They have worked on nearly 600 prototypes. Following the webinar Innovation during Covid-19 organised by Pears Program, the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia and UNDP Acceleration Lab Ethiopia in May, you have launched a new TOM community in Ethiopia. What do you think about this new TOM community? TOM in Ethiopia is a perfect fit. Ethiopia's rich and unique history and culture, together with its deep sense of social responsibility, innovative spirit, and commitment to development combined with the local amazing talent can really transform the lives of those who need solutions for their day-to-day challenges. We are so proud of the partnership with Bahir Dar University led by TOM's Community Manager, Mr. Henok Merbatie Mesfin, and TOM's fellow student Ms. Epheson Belay, and can't wait to see what they will create. Thank you Nadav for this inspiring story. We wish you good luck in accomplishing your mission. Picture: TOM's community in Medellin, Colombia.

We were honored to partner with Kigali Innovation Hub, the Israeli Embassy in Rwanda, and Empower Africa for a week of online events connecting the Israeli and the Rwandan ecosystems: Israel&Rwanda Connect. The first of its kind event was held from the 7th - 11th December 2020 and included a series of virtual sessions focused on learning from the experience and best practices in Israel, exploring the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Rwanda, and promoting connections between entrepreneurs and innovation players in both countries. The event brought together 35 speakers and over 200 participants from the Rwandan and Israeli innovation ecosystems, including entrepreneurs, tech companies, hubs, incubators, investors, and academia. Speakers from Rwanda included Kigali Innovation City, ICT Chamber, Zipline, DMM Hehe, ARED, CMU-Africa, African Leadership University and Westerwelle Startup Haus, among others. From the Israeli side, speakers included MassChallenge, Netafim, Volcani International Partnerships and HUJI Innovate and our team members. We convened several sessions around innovation, FinTech in Developing countries and introducing the Rwandan ecosystem. The distinguished speakers uniformly stressed the need for nurturing entrepreneurial mindsets, thinking globally (given that Rwanda, like Israel, is a small market), and building the necessary support systems. They further stressed the importance of openly sharing lessons from failures in an entrepreneurship ecosystem, rewarding courage and creativity, and working together not in silos. Read more about the event here. We hope to see more collaboration and innovation exchange between Israel and Rwanda.

As part of USAID’s innovation program, Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) is making a significant difference in the world of innovation for development. Through investing in global innovators who test new innovative solutions for development challenges, it implements venture capital and academia practices to maximize impact, while also minimizing risk. DIV looks closely at the evidence of impact, cost effectiveness, potential for scale, and financial sustainability in order to strengthen the impact that innovation can play for improving the world's most vulnerable peoples' livelihoods. Based on the venture capital model, it uses gradual funding stages to allow risk taking at earlier stages, whilst minimizing it later on. To do so, it starts by giving funding for a pilot of up to $200,000, increasing the amount to test it for scale, and then up to $5 million to transition the proven approaches to scale. DIV has focused its funding towards development solutions that show clear evidence of their benefit, whilst being cost effective and scalable to improve the lives of millions of people. In just 10 years, DIV has invested $149 million in innovative solutions around the globe, improving the lives of 55 million people. Its results show the DIV’s capacity to achieve greater results at a greater scale, for less than the conventional development models. For instance, DIV partnered with an off-grid energy team to support Fenix Ready Pay Solar Home Systems expansion. Fenix offers expandable leases to solar home systems which are financed through affordable installments paid using mobile money. As a result of DIV’s investment, Fenix has emerged as a leading company in Zambia, and now delivers affordable energy to 2.5 million people. DIV has also supported CommCare, a Dimagi flagship product which operates as a case management platform. DIV invested in CommCare early on, allowing Dimagi to pilot and test the service in India. DIV has since supported the scaling of CommCare's and has enhanced its effectiveness through AI technology that allows frontline workers to identify problems at an earlier stage. Now, over 1 million frontline workers in 80 countries use CommCare to improve worker efficiency. DIV also funds the Village Enterprise’s Development Impact bond which works to transform the lives of 12,000 households in rural Kenya and Uganda through the creation of thousands of micro enterprises. It uses results-based financing to increase the impact of these global development programs. The last decade for DIV has been extremely productive and relevant within the global international development landscape. As Jonathan Jackson, Dimagi's CEO commented, “DIV allowed us to take a bet on turning our innovation into a product, and our product into a business model. DIV accepts applications year-round for innovations in every sector and country in which USAID operates. Submit your application here!

On November 4th, the Pears Program for Global Innovation led a panel representing the Israeli ecosystem of innovation for development at The Sankalp Forum 2020 Virtual conference. The Sankalp Forum is one of the biggest annual global conferences on the Global South's Impact Economy, promoting business-led solutions to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We organized a virtual panel discussion with Nicky Newfield from Arc Impact, Hilly Hirt from The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and Ariel Beery from CoVelocity, moderated by Hagit Freud, Managing Director at Pears Program for Global Innovation. The panel began with a discussion on why the Israeli innovation ecosystem holds great potential for delivering significant impact given the global advancement in technology and innovation. However, Israel is still far from being where it should be in terms of the amount of technologies deployed and the impact made in emerging markets. The panel started with each of the panelists describing how they are working to help Israel fulfill its potential in this space. The IIA, an independent government funded entity that encourages the private sector to innovate by mitigating their risk, invests millions of dollars into companies across all sectors and its investments are determined by the market's needs. Hilly spoke about the existing dilemma of Israeli entrepreneurs that have great skills developing innovative technologies but lack knowledge about operating in the emerging markets they are targeting. IIA provides a launching pad for companies facing this dilemma. Arc impact is an Impact VC which invests in early stage start-ups. Nicky spoke about the variety of wonderful technologies she sees in Israel and how she wishes to see more that address global challenges. CoVelocity is a new company that Ariel recently co-founded, which distributes health technologies to areas across the globe that aren’t commonly reached. Ariel spoke about his motivation to accelerate global market penetration of life saving technologies, and to minimize inequitable access to healthcare. While these organizations reflect the dynamic and productive terrain for innovation for development across Israel, the panel focused on what is still missing for the Israeli ecosystem to deliver on its potential.. One of the main issues discussed was the lack of partnerships within the field. Ariel noted this in relation to the absence of co-development between NGOs, local actors and the developers of technologies. Nicky commented on the need to have a greater understanding and coordination between the technology developed and the market it is reaching, similarly to how Hilly emphasized the importance of understanding the markets needs and how to show that the technology is something worth taking a risk on and has a relevant fit . Through obtaining a greater understanding of the markets, including its complexity and size, entrepreneurs will possess the necessary tools to understand and connect with their target market. The panel discussion emphasized the importance of partnerships between actors in Israel and actors in target markets. The issue of partnering with potential customers from an early stage was underlined by Ariel, and depicted accurately through the term “venture customers". Based on his experience, Ariel said the most valuable partners to Israeli entrepreneurs are partners operating on the ground that can be venture customers. ”Venture customers are customers who understand the problem, know that the current solutions don’t address these problems sufficiently and are willing to take a chance, with their organizational time and resources, in order to see if the solution that the entrepreneur is offering is actually solving the problem” There is an imminent need for companies to focus on their beneficiaries response to the product in order to see if the company is providing unique value. It is an important step for a business in order to enter i a new market, and is often where Israelis face a challenge given their distance from the target market. Nicky shared her perspective as an investor, and said that she is always highly impressed by the technologies she comes across, but it is often a challenge to understand the market potential of those technologies. She would love to see more partnerships with philanthropies and with investors from the target market that would help minimize the investment risk and support the companies in understanding the market and maximizing market penetration. The panel ended on an optimistic note, discussing the potential partnerships and collaborations that could be developed within each organization. We, at the Pears Program, are committed to enhancing collaboration, building bridges mand enhancing closer collaboration between the Israeli ecosystem and partners in the global south. Watch the event again here!

In light of the new directives from the National Bank of Ethiopia opening the financial sector to other actors, we organised a webinar series about the future of FinTech in Ethiopia, together with IceAddis, the first Innovation hub in Ethiopia, and the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia.After going over the general FinTech landscape and understanding the opportunities opening up in Ethiopia, we discussed the topic of financial inclusion and the role of digital services, in the first two events of the series. The third webinar, on November 10th focused on the journey of FinTech entrepreneurs. Watch again the event here! Hanna Felleke, Consulatnt at IFC’s Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services, presented the Ethiopian agricultural value chain in a short but very comprehensive keynote speech. She mentioned that agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy, making up 85% of the labor force, and includes farmers, aggregators (unions/co-ops), agro business (distributors), logistics, and end markets. The country’s exports rely heavily on the agricultural commodities that are produced mostly by smallholder farmers. In terms of infrastructure, Hanna mentioned a few interesting points of data: Mobile coverage is 85% of the land and penetration is 50m users, Mobile money has 1% penetration Only 35% of the population is banked 44% of the population has access to electricity. There is potential for digital tools in the agriculture space to improve efficiency, streamline processes, and increase transparency. Farmers, agribusinesses, and digital payment providers would gain productivity if they go digital and partner with other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain. Indeed, if the network is reliable and regulation allows for it, digital tools would increase transparency and security of transactions and allow scalable solutions to reach rural areas. Nonetheless, there are barriers to digital payment expansion such as connectivity, digital literacy, and the need for Cash In/Cash Out Points. Therefore, there is a need to scale more solutions like financial literacy programs or leveraging microfinance organisations. Hanna concluded by adding that there is immense potential for agriculture technologies, but nothing can be done without sector collaboration in the public, private, civil sectors to ensure adequate policies, increased digital inclusion, and the building of digital skills. See the presentation here. Following Hanna’s presentation, we opened the discussion to a panel of 4 entrepreneurs. Hilina Damte, CEO at G&H Blockchain and PayWay Ethiopia Shalom Ben Or, CEO at Avenews-GT Simon Schwall, CEO at OKO finance Boaz Jacobi, CEO at Fidocredit We discussed their entrepreneurial journeys and discussed their views on the opportunities of FinTech in Africa. Hilina Damte, founder of G&H Blockchain, based in Ethiopia, shared that she created a blockchain solution for the Agri industry that aims to solve inefficiencies and build transparency for farmers by eliminating the middleman. According to Hilina, the biggest challenge for the financial sector in Ethiopia is the governmental regulation of technology adoption and access to finance. Her advice to FinTech entrepreneurs: “Focus on innovative solutions that take the local market context into consideration.” Boaz Jacobi, FIDO credit’s CEO, presented his fast growing startup that is operating in Ghana. FIDO is offering quick credit in emerging markets using a proprietary method for evaluating applicants’ credit worthiness with phone surveys and digital footprint. It is based on the mission that credit should be fast, easy, and available. An interesting milestone that Boaz mentioned is that he witnessed the penetration of phones in emerging markets and came to understand the imminent need for credit. His advice to FinTech entrepreneurs: find the right people locally to start your venture and build a market model without using any external data. Shalom Ben Or, CEO at Avenews, presented his platform that digitizes the supply chain and provides banks with relevant knowledge to understand the workings of the local supply chain and embed and deploy financial services to smallholder farmers and agribusinesses. An important milestone for Avenews is Barclays’ accelerator program in South Africa that the 3 co-founders participated in. The accelerator was a crucial step to understanding the local context and forming partnerships with local stakeholders. His advice to FinTech entrepreneurs: “An innovation or acceleration program is helpful for entrepreneurs and can help lay the cornerstone for strong companies.” The last entrepreneur presenting his venture was Simon Schwall, OKO Finance’s CEO. OKO is a micro-insurance company providing digital evaluations for protecting crop investment using index insurance. They are providing smallholder farmers with tools to protect their investments through a simple phone. OKO monitors weather using satellite data. If a drought or flood is observed, farmers will automatically receive compensation. His advice to FinTech entrepreneurs: “Find an early partner, like a financial institution, to help with scaling and licensing. Do not view them as competitors.” We closed the event and the webinar series with those practical pieces of advice. The Ethiopian financial transformation is opening up great opportunities for Ethiopian and foreign entrepreneurs subject to partner with local entrepreneurs. We look forward to exploring more collaboration opportunities by organizing events which will create a stronger link between the Ethiopian and the Israeli ecosystems.

On November 3rd, the Pears Program hosted the second webinar event of the series organised with IceAddis and the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia, focusing on the adoption, benefits, and challenges associated with Fintech in Ethiopia. After covering the global FinTech landscape, the second event focused on financial inclusion and how FinTech could create opportunities for the underbanked and unbanked. The event was attended by some leading voices in the fintech and digital tech community. This included Jennifer Chien, senior financial sector specialist at the World Bank, Anna Stone from GoodDollar, Ariel Resnik, the CEO at Paretix, and Oswell Kahonde, the African Regional Lead at Better than Cash Alliance. The event began with a keynote presentation from Jennifer Chien, who provided an overview of the current state of financial inclusion in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, where only 30% of people own financial accounts, there is a need for increased financial inclusion, whereby individuals who are underserved and lack access to financial services are given the ability to unlock the potential of financial products and services. Greater financial inclusion for the Base of the Pyramid market can translate into improved risk management, the growth of human capital, economic growth and employment generation. Jennifer Chien also noted that women and those living in rural areas have significantly lower access to existing financial services, and that the gender gap is widening. Some of the obstacles to financial inclusion include insufficient infrastructure, market and access issues, and the dominance of state-owned banks with little competition. But if such challenges can be overcome, digitalised financial services offer previously unconnected users with the opportunity to make payments and send small loans/ remittance with much greater ease. The increase of new players in the financial market will also create a more competitive environment, with better tailored products for customers. See her presentation here. The discussion then opened up to the panellists, looking at how each of their organisations/ companies are encouraging a digitalised financial environment. Anna Stone explained how her organisation, Good Dollar, functions as a new digital marketplace that allows users to trade ‘Good Dollars’ to increase economic activity. The more people using this unconventional market, the more commerce occurs, allowing those who do not have bank accounts to experience greater financial access. Oswell Kahonde explained his role in encouraging a greater cash alliance, working with the Ethiopian government to support the uptake of digital payments. There is a tendency for financial solutions to fail to consider what customers look for in a product. Considering this, the cash-alliance creates responsible digital payment practices which design products specifically around the individual needs and capabilities of the users. As the CEO of Paretix, Ariel Resnick spoke about how his company enables banks and mobile networks to offer digital lending. Ariel highlighted how loans pose a challenge for banks, as it is difficult for them to assess the risk of borrowers; this means there are high operational costs for banks and the access to credit is limited and expensive. Whilst informal lending processes are filling this gap, he spoke of the potential of micro-finance to fill this gap. Through using phones to make loans over a course of seconds, the entire practice of borrowing money will be likely revolutionised in the future. With loans digitalised, the provision of loans is given based on m-wallet loyalty scores. Payment is a driver of financial inclusion but it is challenging to make into a profitable industry. If financial institutions want to have a profit, they need to offer loans to their customers. “Unfinancial, the largest FinTech company in the world, makes more profit from loan than payment” highlighted Ariel. Entrepreneurs need to balance this and take care of over indebtedness. Ariel mentioned the example of the nanoloans being used for sport betting in Kenya, affecting their credit score and therefore their potential. Cryptocurrency has different use cases. It is used as a speculative tool all over the world but also as a payment tool. In developing countries with high levels of connectivity, such as Kenya, there is a leapfrog phenomenon and a good percentage of the population have adopted blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. In the case of Ethiopia, because the infrastructure is not as developed yet, cryptocurrency adoption may take a bit longer. The panel ended with some pointers for the future. The importance of connecting digital banks to the central banking systems was noted as an essential step in order to enhance financial inclusivity in emerging economies. Additionally, the importance of teaching financial literacy was noted, in order to ensure increased comfort and familiarity with the use of smart phones for financial services, especially for those at the bottom of the pyramid. The effects of Covid-19 also seem mixed, with a longer-term projection of increased confidence in digital technology adoption. However, it has also disrupted initiatives which could not be carried out.

In light of new directives by the National Bank of Ethiopia, we have organised a webinar series together with IceAddis and the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia about the future of financial services in Ethiopia. We launched the trilogy with the first webinar on October 20th. Watch the webinar recording here Find below the key takeaways from the webinar. This webinar discussed FinTech’s growing relevance, the benefits and challenges that are associated with it, and how the Ethiopian financial system could benefit from its integration. FinTech is making financial services and wealth much more accessible to the Bottom of the Pyramid market, bringing disconnected rural areas into a global payment system and an increase in customers for financial institutions. This growth in openness and an increase in customers is partnered with a more regulated environment whereby governments are involved in the regulation of what is occurring on the internet and how open banking is used. In Ethiopia specifically, there are challenges in the financial sector. Nebiat Tekle (Account and Reconciliation Manager at Bank of Abyssinia) emphasized how the distinct lack of infrastructure in Ethiopia (with 70% of the population living in dispersed rural areas) makes the adoption of IT infrastructure difficult. Additionally, whilst having financial literacy is important for promoting access to finance, the rate of literacy is only 52%, and reflects a strong gender divide. Small and medium sized enterprises also seem to be discriminated against due to their high risk profile, their lack of collateral, and lack of profitability for the banks. In Ethiopia, two new directives are changing the landscape of finance opportunities. Within those directives, anyone can apply for payment instrument issuers which replaces the previous Mobile and agent banking directive. If only banks and microfinance institutions could give financial and banking services to the population, the new directive will bring more players to be involved in the market: FinTech, postal services, telecom, and others (supermarkets will be able to do payment). The directive will bring alternative services like micro saving, micro credit, micro insurance, pensions, electronic receipts and more. The second directive is for payment system providers. It will bring new players to provide alternative payment gateway or ATM. Both directives only allow Ethiopian nationals to apply to get a license, but foreign players can participate if they have an agreement with a financial institution and a license. The National Bank of Ethiopia will oversee the system and outsource the counter-parties. In order to provide more efficient financial services, the government is also preparing new regulations coming soon like requiring electronic transactions proclamations. The associated security and data protection issues related to the rise of FinTech were discussed too. In order to secure financial services, financial institutions need to ensure that all layers of data are protected. Rahav Shalom Revivo (Ministry of Finance - FinTech and Cyber Manager) commented on the need for a holistic protection by a fusion operation centre which focuses on the multiple aspects of security; cyber security, physical security, embezzlement, fraud prevention and more. In Israel, the National Centre provides free services to financial institutions across Israel in order to help them navigate the security environment, learn about threats, and how to overcome them. A key takeaway was the importance and benefit of sharing information across organisations, nationally and globally; if institutions share their cyber information, an optimum security level can be reached. In order to facilitate the adoption of FinTech, governments and regulators can either become enablers or showstoppers. Becoming an enabler means aiding the progression of the FinTech ecosystem, however it is also important that the environment remains secure and stable through regulation. The Bank of Abyssinia has a 5 year digital innovation plan that focuses on how they will overcome FinTech barriers. The Bank of Abyssinia can offer cross-border payment thanks to their new partnership with VISA and e-commerce options for SMBs. Finally, the Israeli experts advise that Ethiopian financial institutions should follow the change and embrace FinTech and that regulatory bodies should share cyber-related information to bring the level of security to financial institutions to a higher level.

This month, we spoke to Effi Baruch co-founder and CEO at Plethora. Plethora is a Edtech platform teaching computational thinking. The company is part of the Pears Program - IsraAID pilot fund. We hope to field-test Plethora's platform in IsraAID's operations in Dominica as part of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) framework. What is Plethora's story? A while back, a new computer science and software engineering technology was developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, for intuitively specifying and simulating complex systems' behavior without the need for actually coding the system. They called it Play.Go. In fact, it was so easy to simulate complex systems there, the scientists felt it was like playing a children’s game, so they teamed up with MindCet to develop an environment to teach computational thinking and problem solving disciplines with it. Tell us about Plethora! Plethora is a challenge-based computer platform, which utilizes shapes and rules in order to encourage discovery, understanding and application of “Computational Thinking” skills such as solving problems by dividing them into sub-problems, making use of logical thinking, algorithmic thinking and more. While playing the game, students will assemble and complete logical sentences which constitute “rules” in order to solve given tasks. We believe that studying a complex subject effectively is achieved by gradually stimulating the learners’ natural curiosity. Accordingly, the game is composed of levels which increase in difficulty. In each level, players are presented with a challenge which includes an initial state, a goal and a group of logical rules that must be completed in order to achieve the goal. The game is suitable for children ages 8 or above. What is your motivation for doing what you do? Over the past two-three decades, we witnessed a revolution, and we are part of it. Employers shifted from searching personnel with quantifiable, certifiable and definable skills to searching for creative problem solvers, critical thinkers and communicative team workers. Those are the skills everyone refers to as 21st century skills. Asking children “what do you want to be when you grow up” does not make sense anymore. It used to be relevant many years ago, but new jobs are created and adapted everyday and people can change their careers several times during their life spans. Instead, we should be asking them “what problem do you want to solve”, and what are the knowledge and skills that will help you solve that problem. There has been very little change in our education systems over the past decades, and it is not about putting information in children's heads anymore. They can find this information themselves, it’s about what they can do with it. Plethora’s vision is to use Computational Thinking to teach & learn STEM curriculum with gamified content, generated by the community and for the community. How many users are benefiting from your platform? So far close to 13 million challenges were played by over 200,000 students, and amongst them, we can proudly say that our platform is truly gender-neutral, which is uncommon in our industry, and that students and teachers find it exciting and engaging. How did you adapt your technology in times of coronavirus? During schools shutdown, we recorded lessons for the Israeli Ministry of Education that were broadcasted in national TV to every household in Israel. With the huge rise of parents looking for online educational materials, we launched a B2C pilot, that proved to be successful, and as a result, we will soon approach this market as well with a series of international online championships. Additionally, we developed a remote online teamwork feature that allows two students to cooperate remotely in order to solve the same challenge. Thank you Effi for this inspiring story. We wish you good luck in accomplishing your mission.

Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., Woelm, F. 2020. The Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The 2020 SDG report draws on the latest available data on the indicators contained in the global SDG indicator framework as of April 2020. This report also highlights implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on each SDG around the globe. It finds the continued, but not even, progress of the SDGs so far, and identifies areas where significant improvement is required. Areas of progress until the end of 2019 included declining global poverty, falling rates of maternal and child mortality, access to electricity for more people, and the development of more national sustainable development policies and signing of international agreements for environmental protection. The report also provides a progress summary for SDG targets with a 2020 deadline. Here are some key takeaways: The world was not on track to meet the SDGs even before the pandemic erupted. The report highlights how the COVID-19 crisis is disrupting implementation efforts across the SDGs, undoing years and even decades of progress in some cases, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. The SDGs that have seen the most rapid progress include SDG 1 -No Poverty, SDG 9-Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 11-Sustainable Cities and Communities). The overall percentage of people living in extreme poverty globally in 2018 had decreased by 1.4 percentage points from the adoption of the SDGs: from 10% in 2015 to 8.6% in 2018 (United Nations, 2019). Following the historic trends, this figure was projected to reach 6% by 2030, unfortunately Covid-19 now threatens to increase the rate of extreme poverty in many countries. The report emphasizes the need to accelerate the spread of technologies and innovation globally and to strengthen capacities and skills because the current pace of progress may not be sufficient to achieve these SDGs by 2030 - including ending extreme poverty. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, OECD countries were not on track to achieve the SDGs. Due to the outbreak of the pandemic OECD countries face persistent challenges related to sustainable agriculture and diets, inequalities in incomes, and the gender gap. East and South Asia is the region that has most progressed on the SDG Index since the adoption of the goals in 2015. It states that their best performance is obtained on SDG 1-No Poverty, SDG 4-Quality Education, and SDG 7-Affordable and Clean Energy. Compared to other regions that are still facing major challenges (SDG13 - Climate Action), Sub Saharan African has gone a long way in attaining climate change problems. Yet, all sub-Saharan African countries continue to face major challenges in achieving the SDGs and Covid-19 threatens to undo much of the progress made in recent years. Tied to the level of poverty in the region, performance on socioeconomic goals and access to basic services and infrastructure (SDGs 1 to 9) in Sub-saharan Africa are poor compared to other world regions. The report states that the Covid-19 outbreak and the disruption of international supply chains, including the food supply chain, are likely to have very negative impacts on SDG performance in many sub-Saharan countries. The effect of Covid-19 on SDGs The report highlights that the most vulnerable people and countries continue to suffer the most and the global response has not been ambitious enough to solve the global pandemic. For instance, extreme poverty has reached the lowest point since its tracking began. And yet, at the current pace, we are still not on track to end poverty by 2030. Similarly, many countries are taking actions to protect the environment, but the health of the earth is still deteriorating at an alarming rate. The report estimates that 71 million people are expected to be pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020, the first rise in global poverty since 1998. The more than one billion slum dwellers worldwide are acutely at risk from the effects of COVID-19, suffering from a lack of adequate housing, no running water at home, shared toilets, little or no waste management systems, overcrowded public transport and limited access to formal health care facilities. Underemployment and unemployment due to the crisis mean that some 1.6 billion already vulnerable workers in the informal economy – half of the global workforce – may be significantly affected, with their incomes estimated to have fallen by 60 per cent in the first month of the crisis. Disruption to health and vaccination services and limited access to diet and nutrition services have the potential to cause hundreds of thousands of additional under-5 deaths and tens of thousands of additional maternal deaths in 2020. Many countries have seen a surge in reports of domestic violence against women and children.  About 70 countries reported moderate to severe disruptions or a total suspension of childhood vaccination services during March and April of 2020. School closures have kept 90 per cent of students worldwide (1.57 billion) out of school and caused over 370 million children to miss out on school meals they depend on. Lack of access to computers and the internet at home means remote learning is out of reach of many. In fact, the global gains in reducing child labour are likely to be reversed for the first time in 20 years. For more information and details about each country, region and SDG, read the report here: https://sdgindex.org/ As mentioned in the report, there is a “need to accelerate the spread of technologies and innovation globally and to strengthen capacities and skills” in order to increase the progress of the SDGs. It reinforces the Pears Program’s mission and vision emphasising the transformative power of technology to improve people’s lives.

After months of preparation, deep learning, and expert consultations, we finally launch the #Locust Innovative Response Initiative (LIRI), a joint initiative with JDC-GRID and S.I.T in early September. Its mission is to identify and develop innovation response mechanisms to empower smallholder farmers, local response teams, and ministries of agriculture with new and innovative solutions in response to locust swarms. The problem: Smallholder farmers throughout East Africa have virtually no means to prevent the locusts' devastation or protect their crops. More than 25 million hectares of cultivated areas are under threat and at least 20 million people from 30 different countries are at risk, mostly vulnerable rural populations. The situation is particularly worrisome in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya; the United Nations has noted that the region is already vulnerable to food shortages, and warned that the international community only has a small window to prevent “looming catastrophe.” In response to this grave situation, over the last three months, a team from JDC GRID supported in part by the J Gurwin Foundation, SIT, and the Pears Program for Global Innovation has conducted a series of interviews and discussions with world-leading experts, scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs in order to identify potential directions for solutions that can help smallholder farmers and their communities face the threat posed by locust swarms. Over the course of two days in September, LIRI held intensive development meetings with experts, researchers, organizations, and companies interested in honing these ideas further and creating solid proposals for pilot interventions, with participants joining from Europe, the US, East Africa and Israel. We focused specifically on interventions related to Locust swarms forecasting and surveillance and the possibility of catching and processing locusts to be an alternative nutrition source. In the coming months, we will continue to convene experts and practitioners for meetings that will work to develop pathways for testing promising solutions in the field.