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Sydney South NSW 1235, Level 11, 227 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000

Telephone: 1800 812 164

© 2024 Opportunity International AustraliaABN 83 003 805 043

Gates Place Big Bet For The Future

By Stephanie Hristovska

Late last month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released their 2015 Annual Letter, and with it, a ‘big bet’ for the future.

In the letter, Bill and Melinda forecast that:

The lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than in any other time in history. And their lives will improve more than anyone else’s.

The key to achieving this rapid progress? Innovative technology.

Through innovation in technology, the Gates’ project that people living in poverty will experience four breakthroughs in their lives over the next 15 years:

  1. Health – child deaths will go down by half, and more diseases will be eradicated than ever before
  2. Farming – Africa will be able to feed itself
  3. Banking – mobile banking will help the poor radically transform their lives
  4. Education – better software will revolutionise learning.

Once again, financial inclusion (access to banking and financial services) is at the forefront of poverty alleviation, particularly in the build up to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Agenda this September where so much talk has been had on the subject already.

For Bill and Melinda, it’s the opportunities that mobile banking provides that will pave the way forward. While “small loans to businesswomen in poor countries” have helped give women income and assets they didn’t have before, assets are of no value if they can’t be used effectively. As illustrated in the table below, the old methods of banking can be time-consuming, costly and unsafe.

I’ve seen this firsthand. In 2013, I met a loan officer at one of our local partners in Cebu, Philippines who prayed for safety every time she collected loans to take back to the branch. Mobile banking offers a quick, flexible and secure means of distributing funds, allowing all parties to make the most of their time and money.

One of Opportunity International Australia’s key projects is delivering innovative technology to people living in poverty, especially to those who live in rural areas and can’t access the tools they need to leave poverty behind. In countries like India, this means helping families access their savings on their mobile. In the Philippines, we're exploring how digital technology could help provide additional financial services like remittances. The Australian Government has also visited our work in the Philippines to see how digital money is giving mothers with small businesses a hand up. 

The Gates predict:

By 2030, 2 billion people who don’t have a bank account today will be storing money and making payments with their phones.

And it’s a bet you can get behind, too. Bill and Melinda end their letter encouraging readers:

“To take a few minutes once in a while to learn about the lives of people who are worse off than you are… To act on your compassion, whether it’s raising awareness, volunteering your time, or giving a little money.”

I’m in. Are you?

Sources:
http://www.gatesnotes.com/2015-Annual-Letter

At Opportunity International Australia, Stephanie Hristovska is the Communications Coordinator, supporting the organisation in a range of communications activities.

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