NEWS
Fintech start-up launches in South Africa
F
intech start-up SOL Wallet has announced
its launch in South Africa. The company
develops a bank-alike money management
platform for retail customers, where anyone
can deposit, save, invest, make payments
and manage their expenses via mobile and
web apps. SOL Wallet allows users to register
and create multi-currency accounts online,
buy and sell currencies at interbank rates,
trade crypto at the best market rates, pay
service providers and utility bills, send money
to friends, get a SOL card and pay in stores.
So, it’s time to disrupt traditional banks by
doing the same things easy and cheap with
the help of technology.”
SOL is conducting the closed beta testing in
South Africa and will launch its products for
the public in March.
SOL Wallet has launched in South Africa
“Traditional banks are good as custodians for
your money but are not that good in solving
your everyday payment needs,” said SOL
Wallet CEO Boris Frischter.
“They charge high commissions and
overcomplicated fees while not providing
customers with careful service. People are
spending hours on paperwork and queues to
understand their charges. We believe it’s not
fair and the bank should benefit its clients.
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Predictive Analytics and Machine
Learning to help health professionals
T
he Cloudera Foundation, which was set
up in 2007 because its founders believe
that the responsible use of data is a powerful
tool to make progress on the world’s
most challenging problems, is to award
US$640,000 to Terre des hommes to use
predictive analytics and Machine Learning
to help health professionals in West Africa.
It will support a project called Integrated
e-Diagnostic Approach (IeDA), which has
equipped hundreds of clinics in Burkina
Faso with computer tablets to help health
professionals diagnose and treat deadly
diseases such as pneumonia or diarrhoea
among children under the age of five. The
Ministry of Health will also be able to better
detect health threats and improve how the
government allocates resources to reduce
child morbidity and mortality.
“Collecting data can be extremely difficult
in West Africa, especially in remote areas,
and IeDA has made important strides in
overcoming this challenge,” said Riccardo
Lampariello, Terres des hommes’ head of
health programs.
“Our partnership with the Cloudera
Foundation will allow us to use such a
wealth of data in much more powerful
ways. Working with this sophisticated
technology and partnering with their data
scientists will help improve diagnoses,
spot trends, and upgrade health clinics
management with the ultimate goal to save
children’s lives.”
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