Top three benefits:
- Make better informed business decisions and improve the efficiency of daily business activities such as stock replenishment.
- Assist agents with customer creditworthiness assessments.
- Increase the efficiency of market expansion through targeting specific communities.
Top three challenges:
- Data points and algorithms might lead to unintentionally biased decisions that disadvantage certain customer demographics.
- The quantity and quality of data available to last mile distributors might be insufficient and lead to wrong business decisions.
- If companies lack IT capabilities, organising and analysing data can be difficult and time-consuming.
Credit: Practical Action and Edoardo Santangelo
Trailblazers:
- Nithio is an AI-driven platform for climate finance and a past GDC Innovation Challenge winner that helped Vitalite Zambia (GDC member) develop a data-driven underwriting service for their credit portfolio.
- Kambasco (GDC member) in Uganda collaborated with SACCOs and a Mobile Network Operator, allowing them to exchange data to better risk-assess their customers (watch the webinar).
- Maad and Optimetrik have developed remote agent management software that includes tools like agent route planning.
- Let us know who else should be on this list
Resources:
- Service providers such as VIDA and Fraym offer hundreds of unique population attributes to analyse and compare communities across the globe.
- CGAP‘s technical guide includes recommended data points and indicators for credit assessment.
- Prospect, A2EI and GET.invest’s open-source data platform, optimises real-time data collection, analysis, and visualisation to support sustainable energy stakeholders in providing affordable and clean energy access for all.
- Energy Access Explorer maps show the state of energy access in underserved areas across Africa and Asia.
- Open Data Cube is an open source geospatial data management and analysis platform with projects in Africa.
- Power BI is a popular tool for data visualisation
- Find more digital service providers in our GDC Digital Service Catalogue.