Nov 2023: Love, Debt and Fans

[ssandino]

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Love, Debt and Fans

written by Aurélie

Love donates

Thomas, an incredible developer working with Social Income, recently married Corina! Instead of gifts, they have asked wedding guests to contribute to Social Income – and the generosity has been overwhelming. Thank you. Asking for donations instead of material gifts is exemplary - I plan to do the same for Christmas.

Tough but fair

Social Income, like any UBI project, has limited financial resources. Choosing who gets help and who doesn't is tough. We have partnered with drand (initiated at EPFL) to innovatively select recipients from impoverished communities through a random, unbiased process. The first draft was successful – with many more to come.

UBI for president

We have discovered a new UBI fan boy: it’s Barack Obama! He stressed the importance of UBI and the major impact it could have in a talk. One X user suggested: “Would've been a bit better if he'd had this revelation just a few short years ago?”

App for that

The growing number of people in poverty who own smartphones isn't surprising due to the fact that they can be acquired for just a few dollars, as mentioned previously. This is a trend we anticipated. In response, talented mobile developers Mikołaj & Verena have coded the SI app. This app enables recipients to confirm payments and complete surveys. Naturally, it's 100% open source.

Tea quotes

I hate those trite quotes some companies put on their tea bags, but today I stumbled upon one that actually made me think twice: “Learn to give.” I am convinced that the world would be a better place if more people sought to learn that skill. So let's raise a tea cup to generosity.

My World in Data

Stat of the month

10,491

Did you know there are currently 10,491 GitHub software projects (repositories) in Sierra Leone? This is a significant increase of more than 340% compared to about 2,000 repositories in 2020.

Debt dilemma

During the pandemic, African governments kept their nations afloat by taking on more debt. This turned out to be a very expensive life raft that led to increased interest rates. Africa’s debt repayments will surge to $62 billion this year, up 35 percent from 2022. This means the continent pays more in debt service than it should be investing in fighting climate resilience, which would be about $50 billion a year.

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My World in News

• Can UBI be an option if AI takes away all of our jobs and could it even help to still increase wealth? (The Guardian)
• Cash assistance is much greener than in-kind assistance. (CALP Network)
• Mobile money also has a dark side, such as fuelling the sports betting industry in Kenya. (MIT Technology Review)
• Good things keep going as the Denver UBI trial continues for a second year. (Vice)
• Mobile money helps millions of Africans gain access in areas where traditional banking networks don’t reach. (WEF)
• According to Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, tackling poverty and climate change cannot be separated. (YouTube)

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