For Ripple Labs, 2014 was the year in which we not only clarified our strategy for building the Internet of money but also made large strides in turning that vision into reality. From breakthrough partnerships to ecosystem expansion to the continued evolution of the underlying technology, 2014 has been a banner year.

Islamic finance is expected to expand substantially in 2015, from 2014’s total of $2.1 trillion to $2.5 trillion, according to figures released last week by the Al-Huda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics. In 2011, the industry had assets of about $1 trillion. Islamic microfinance, the segment of Sharia-compliant services targeting clients at the base of the pyramid, only occupies a small slice of the pie, at 1 percent of all Islamic finance globally. However this uptick in Sharia-compliant finance, as well as encouraging recent support for the 650 million Muslims living on less than 2 dollars a day, suggest a rising tide for Islamic microfinance.

In the interview, Anabela Chambuca Pinho, PCA/CEO, Bolsa de Valores de Mocambique discusses:

• The main challenges African Capital markets are facing
• How exchanges can play a key role in tackling those challenges
• The future of the Mozambican market
• What Anabela believes can and should be done to attract SMEs in her market
• A preview of the interactive brainstorming session Anabela will be part of in March

Across the emerging world, innovative financial institutions are realizing the potential of alternative data to transform lending. Data from online social networks, mobile phone records, and psychometrics are helping to illuminate the potential of borrowers where traditional credit information is scarce, enabling new lending and greater control over risk. But as these alternative sources of data find traction, it is important to recognize that not all data sources are created equal. Rather, they possess important strengths and weaknesses with major implications for financial institutions and the clients they serve.

Apply to 2015 Innotribe Startup Competition! The successful applicants will be announced in April 2015. 

Launched by SWIFT (www.swift.com), the Innotribe Startup Challenge (http://www.innotribe.com/startup-challenge) introduces the world’s brightest startups to over 10,500 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers over the world. 

• Applicants to the Startup Challenge enjoy online exposure and get introduced to a panel of industry experts, SWIFT's community members, investors and VCs, who will judge their application
• Semi-finalists are selected by this top-quality judges to be invited to one of the four Regional Showcases taking place in London, Cape Town, Singapore and New York, where they gather for fast-paced company pitches, insightful discussions on emerging trends and innovation opportunities, and social networking events
• The 20 most promising companies selected by the audience from across the four Regional Showcases - automatically secure their place as finalists in the Innotribe Startup Challenge Grand Finale, taking place at Sibos (www.sibos.com), the world's premier financial services event organised by SWIFT. The event represents their unique chance to convince the banking sector at large to take on their innovative products and services
• The early-stage startup selected as winner by the Sibos participants wins a $50KUSD cash prize

The challenge is open to early-stage and growth-stage startups working in financial technology or technology-enabled financial services (no consulting or outsourcing) such as payments, securities, trading, big data/data analytics, compliance, security, b2b or b2b2c mobile, small business apps and services and/or IT infrastructure.

To learn more and apply, visit http://www.innotribe.com/competition

Etisalat Nigeria, the telecoms company is partnering with First Bank to provide Firstmonie on the Etisalat Easywallet SIM application solution. Easywallet is one of Etisalat’s strategies of facilitating financial integration of the Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises.