How Nigeria's $428 million ICT backbone project is enabling rural financial inclusion

A rural county in Texas brought broadband access to locals with the help of internet service provider Nextlink, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service and Tarana Wireless. Following a $2.6 million investment, over seven months, the partners built infrastructure that offers download speeds of 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of 20 megabits per second.

The Woloo mobile app helps women locate and access clean and hygienic restrooms at restaurants and cafes. The app partners with 10,000 restaurants and cafes across 50 cities that allow women to use their restrooms free of charge. “Hygiene officers” from the app also evaluate the restrooms to ensure their clean and suitable for use. There are currently about 1,200 certified restrooms on the app and 30,000 users.

In a country where the prevalence of blindness for all ages is 4.2% of the population, Zions Assistive Tech Solutions (ZATS) trains people who are blind on how to effectively use technology like phones and computers.

Via teams up with public transit agencies like Metro to offer low-cost rides on demand by using an app to catch a ride. Via aims to address transit deserts, where people don’t have ample access to public transportation stops.

Entrepreneurs and startups in Kenya and India are finding success creating products that meet the needs of poorer citizens in those countries. This episode includes a story about a mobile phone app that tackles the difficulty of finding locations in Nairobi using GPS coordinates and a photo, a startup near Bengaluru, India that uses human ATMs to help rural residents access cash via mobile phones, and a Kenyan company building devices that create free public wifi.

The way cities are built in the United States makes getting around without driving a car difficult. This means that, for an increasingly aging population, mobility can be a significant issue, leading to challenges such as missed medical appointments and loneliness that can actually decrease lifespan. But in the age of the sharing economy, ride services such as Lyft and Uber reach out to the demographic that arguably needs them most, partnering with medical centers and hospice providers to get smartphone technology - or more "old school" alternatives such as hotlines - into the hands of senior citizens.

Point-of-sale-based agency banking helps make digital finance more accessible and inclusive, allowing small businesses to act as banking agents, offering services like cash withdrawals and bill payments through fintech platforms. This integration has been particularly impactful in regions without bank branches. The integration of fintech throughout Nigeria has not only led to more autonomy in personal finance but has also created significant employment opportunities.

The volunteer-run nonprofit Futel operates free public phone booths in Portland, Oregon, that people can use to be connected with services, make calls, or simply chat with an operator. Each call is directed to all of the volunteer operators’ phones, and whoever picks up first addresses the needs of the person on the other end of the line.

Black Churches 4 Digital Equity partners with local congregations and clergy members to connect people with internet access helping them get signed up with the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounted internet access and a one-time discount for laptop, desktop, or tablet purchases for those whose income is less than 200% of the federal poverty line. Through community outreach and events, local clergy have helped more than 230,000 households enroll in the program.

The Red Cloud smart city project is greatly improving local residents’ quality of life and leading to reduced crime rates in the city. The project installed new LED streetlights with AI-enabled overhead cameras, Wi-Fi access in homes that didn’t have access previously, as well as air quality monitoring devices. Since the new improvements were made, morale in the city has significantly improved and there are plans in place to scale the program and improve neighboring cities, as well.