Ghana’s new financial inclusion strategy, and other news (9 Oct 2018)

Every Tuesday we highlight some of the international development stories from across the globe that have caught our attention.

• A National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy in Ghana is currently being considered by the cabinet. Among other targets, the strategy aims to increase access to formal financial services for excluded groups to 85% (from 57%) by 2023. Read more in Ghana Web.

• Up-to-date programmes and services for visually impaired students in Nigerian schools are often prohibitively expensive. Afeez Hanafi writes about the lack of learning facilities adds difficulties to lives of these students. Read more in Punch (Nigeria).

• A new mobile app to allow farmers to hire farm implements from each other has been launched in India. Developed jointly by Bihar Agricultural Growth and Reform Initiative and Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, the app (JFarm services), the app is part of a move to mechanise agriculture. Read more in The Telegraph (India).

• Research has shown that only 13% of people aged 15-65 used the Internet in Bangladesh. 67% of those surveyed who didn’t use the Internet said it was because they didn’t know what it is. Read more in The Financial Express (Bangladesh).

• Speaking at the Financial Sector Stability event in Nepal, the government of Nepal Rastra Bank said poorly regulated savings and deposit cooperatives and non-banking financial institutions are possible threats to the country’s financial sector – and thus economic growth. Read more in Kathmandu Post.

• The Sustainable Development Goals will only be implemented in Bangladesh if they are localised and inclusive, and incorporated into national planning. Read more in the Financial Express.

• A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has looked at the difference in impact between a 1.5°C and a 2°C rise in global warming, particularly looking at the effect on African countries. Read more in The Star (Kenya).