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chaimaa-rachid

About | Kiva - 0 views

  • We do this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.
  • We do this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.
    • aminej
       
      Kiva is an interesting platform that offers very interesting funding access to people in different areas of the world. It would enable them to either start a new business or improve theirs. There are already 1.9 million lenders which is quite huge and a repayment rate of 95.9% so I believe that it is really developped.
  • We do this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.
    • kaoutarchennoufi
       
      Kiva is a very impactful organization since it financially helps students and women who want to start their own business. It is well known that these two categories usually face difficulties to contract loans or get any financial service. We need more organizations like Kiva all around Africa.
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  • Kiva started as a pioneer in crowdfunding in 2005, and is constantly innovating to meet people’s diverse lending needs. Whether it’s reinventing microfinance with more flexible terms, supporting community-wide projects or lowering costs to borrowers, we are always testing and learning.
  • We envision a financially inclusive world where all people hold the power to improve their lives.
  •  
    I love the concept of Kiva where you can see technology helping people in their lives. The company aims to link borrowers with lender in order to improve the lifestyle of the people interested in this service. I just like the way Fintech plays a big role in improving our life and Kiva is just a good example of it.
  •  
    Kiva provides attractive access to funding individuals to improve their lives.
nourserghini

SnapScan for business: Accept mobile payments in a snap - 0 views

  • Whether you do business in a store, online, at markets, or any other premises, we've got the perfect SnapScan payment solution for you. With our solutions you can easily add SnapScan to a variety of point of sale, ecommerce, and invoicing systems for simple payments. SnapScan is the smart, simple, and safe way to get paid in a snap.
    • tahaemsd
       
      Differents ways SnapScan can be used in a business
  • ut the boxSnapScan is providing a uniquely digital solution, where you can download as many SnapCodes as you like from the Merchant Portal and display these anywhere you want to accept contactless mobile payments. You also have the option to purchase a SnapScan Starter Kit when you successfully sign up your business. This includes a printed SnapCode in a stand, a double-sided sticker, and info flyers for first time app users. Display your SnapCode anywhere you want to accept mobile payments. You'll automatically receive confirmation of payment via SMS.
    • nourserghini
       
      This clearly states the process which customers have to follow in order to use the Snapscan services including mobile payments on the app and a starter kit for businesses as well.
nouhaila_zaki

M-Pesa: a Mobile Money success story from Kenya - Technology and Operations Management - 0 views

  • Given the up-front costs of acquiring agents, it is tempting for mobile money providers to want to take short cuts and minimize the agent-to-customer ratio. However, this does not set an individual agent up for success. If Safaricom were to recruit too few agents, customers would find M-Pesa difficult to use and difficult to access.. On the other hand, if there were too many agents, many of them would not be able to generate enough business to cover the cost of managing their e-cash and cash liquidity. As a result, they would stop maintaining their electronic money float and cash balances. M-Pesa’s success lies in the fact that they grew their agent network at the same pace as their customer base, keeping transactions per agent per month steady at around 1,000 / agent / month.
  • According to a McKinsey report on Mobile Money, proximity of nearest agent makes a significant impact on transaction volumes. “When a cash agent is more than 15 minutes away, mobile money has relatively little appeal, and customers use it once or twice a month. But when the agent is less than 10 minutes away, usage rises to 10 times a month—and for those within 2 minutes of an agent, to 30 times a month.” Safaricom spread its agents out across Kenya so as to truly enable network effects and enable Kenyans to send e-cash to their family members and friends even if they did not live in the same geography.
  • Customers who sign up for the M-Pesa service can convert between e-cash and real cash (these are called cash-in / cash-out transactions), and can transfer e-cash from their account to that of another account holder via SMS.
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      M-PESA gives people the option of converting their e-cash to real cash which is not the case in most services.
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  • Customers who sign up for the M-Pesa service can convert between e-cash and real cash (these are called cash-in / cash-out transactions), and can transfer e-cash from their account to that of another account holder via SMS. Cash-in / cash-out operations take place at one of many designated M-Pesa retail outlets, also known as “agents”. These agents are not employed by Safaricom, but are simply retailers / regular businessmen and women that are ‘authorized’ to trade e-cash for real cash.
    • ghtazi
       
      m-pesa is a company that allows its customers to convert between e-cash and real cash.
  • Although some of M-Pesa’s initial success could be attributed to a uniquely favorable context for mobile-payments (strong customer need, welcoming regulatory environment, support from banks, strong brand awareness of Safaricom), its rapid and sustained growth was only possible due to a thoughtful operating model design, particularly regarding M-Pesa’s “agent network.”
    • nourserghini
       
      M-pesa's success goes back to its advantageous situation in Africa as well as it successful operating model design.
  • Revenue from transaction fees that Safaricom collects via the agent during cash withdrawal operations and transfer operations (depositing money into mobile wallet is free). Reduce Safaricom customers’ churn, improve engagement, lifetime value etc.
    • sawsanenn
       
      This excerpt shows the business model that M-pesa follows and thier values
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it reports the two ways in which Safaricom makes value through M-Pesa: on the one hand revenues from transaction fees collected via agents, and on the other hand, the reduction of Safaricom customers' churn.
  • Safaricom pays commission to its “agents”, usually on a monthly basis, based on metrics such as transactions per branch, customers per branch, and quantities transacted, etc. Because it takes agents a couple months to ‘ramp up’ at their branch by attracting M-Pesa customers and convincing them to start transacting, the business model of M-Pesa incurs significant up-front costs and is one of the reasons many mobile-money deployments fail in the early days. Mobile-Money becomes profitable only when it goes viral. According to a McKinsey report, to make mobile money for the unbanked commercially viable, operators and telco’s like Safaricom “must sign up 15 to 20 percent of the addressable market.”
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt describes M-Pesa's business model, which consists of paying commissions to agents, incurring significant up-front costs and relying on mobile-money to become viral for success.
  •  
    I think that it's interesting to see that agents are playing a vital role in the success of M-Pesa in Kenya. The company knew about the costs related to acquiring agents, but they also knew that recruiting too few agents will kill the solution M-Pesa is providing. In addition to that, M-Pesa tried to spread its agents all over Kenya to make their solution available and easy to access anywhere in Kenya.
sawsanenn

When fintech met crowdfunding - AltFi - 0 views

  • It became clear that fintech companies began to prize crowdfunding three years ago. Monzo crashed our servers in 2016 when it raised £1m in 96 seconds. Last December, the now-serial crowdfunding neobank raised £20m from retail investors. 
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      Crowdfunding would be a beneficial strategy for EasyEquities to help young entrepreneurs raise money for their new investments.
  • The world’s leading fintechs are using crowdfunding to cement and enhance their relationship with their customers. The latest Unicorns report from Beauhurst, an independent analysis firm, identifies the UK’s 21 unicorn companies – those worth $1bn (around £760m) or more. Of the 21, six are fintechs, and two are digital banks: Monzo and Revolut. Both have turned to crowdfunding – at a time when they are the darlings of the tech scene and its investors – to raise capital. 
    • hichamachir
       
      Crowdfunding is becoming a very used strategy for fintechs because it's a concept that help entrepreneurs finance their projects. Also it's a concept that makes the community more connected
  • The staggering thing about Monzo’s raise – and it speaks volumes about where crowdfunding and fintech have reached – is that it did not need to raise the £20m from any of us on the street. In October – i.e. just two months shy of the raise – the bank had closed an £85m round led by VC firm Accel. Raising £20m is no walk in the park. You need to build a prospectus, which is a lengthy and expensive process. Monzo’s crowdfunding raise capped all investments at £2,000, meaning the team chose to have more investors to look after. 
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt uses the example of Monzo's fundraising through crowdfunding to show that the latter could be a great source of financing for fintech companies.
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  • Making consumers owners and giving them a say has become integral to how these companies run. Indeed, many are now building their own platforms to manage ownership. What does this tell us about the future? Here are businesses offering equity – not for money, not because they want to list, but to build an affinity with their customers. As these relationships evolve, both sides benefit: greater engagement – better products – more customers – growth – profit – both sides capitalise.  It could be called the democracy of building business. Technology is making this shift around the consumer possible not just in finance, but across markets. While the former has emerged as the vanguard, there are other non-tech sectors that have leapfrogged traditional ownership structures and cemented their own success. Food and beverage, historically underserved by the financial world, was an early adopter of crowdfunding. BrewDog is the poster child for this – a four-time Crowdcube funded brewery. It has 120,000 investors, aka Equity Punks, who, in its words, kick-started the craft beer revolution and, presumably, enjoy its beer. The prospect gets so much more exciting when you start to think of the markets that are hardest to disrupt, build a community around, and fight injustices: insurance, mining, the coffee industry, healthcare.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      Here the positive side of crowdfunding is presented and includes the ownership of customers over the businesses/brands they fo to. Crowdfunding here appears to be a great opportunity, which the article describes as the democracy of building business.
  • The world’s leading fintechs are using crowdfunding to cement and enhance their relationship with their customers. The latest Unicorns report from Beauhurst, an independent analysis firm, identifies the UK’s 21 unicorn companies – those worth $1bn (around £760m) or more. Of the 21, six are fintechs, and two are digital banks: Monzo and Revolut. Both have turned to crowdfunding – at a time when they are the darlings of the tech scene and its investors – to raise capital. 
    • ghtazi
       
      what we can say is crowdfunding is the future for fintech. using Crowdfunding will helps the fintech to have a stronger and powerful relationship with its customers.
  • To answer that, I believe we have to go back to the financial crisis. After 2008, a chasm opened up in financial markets, encouraged by a profound lack of trust. We’re well-versed with the outcomes. The banks that survived had to change their ways, and new players came onto the scene. A decade later, it is the novel relationship between these latest entrants and consumers that gives us an idea of what the future looks like: a world where any business-to-consumer company knows that sharing ownership with its customers is fundamental to long-term success. This is the cooperative movement of the twenty-first century, and it is driven by technology.
    • sawsanenn
       
      This could imply that future companies are effective for a variety of reasons. Rather than capitalizing on cost savings, piling up high-quality products and selling them cheaply, or structural brands that are more myth-based than substance-based, they will be firms that effectively utilize network effects, concentrate on being a product first, and bake their clients into everyones brand
mehdibella

Nigerian fintech startup Carbon launches $100k entrepreneurship fund - Disrupt Africa - 0 views

  • “Common investor wisdom is to stay in your market and dominate. This assumes that you are expanding on your own but we believe that by collaborating and partnering deliberately, Carbon and other tech companies can scale faster and build more enduring platforms,” Chijioke Dozie, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Carbon, said. 
    • nourserghini
       
      This shows that Carbon is more interested in collaboration than in competition because it knows the power and innovation of tech companies.
  • Nigerian fintech startup Carbon has set up a US$100,000 pan-African fund to address the lack of funding and support holding back entrepreneurs on the continent.Consumer lending platform Carbon, which rebranded in April as parent company OneFi continues to transition into being a full digital banking platform after raising US$5 million in debt funding and acquiring Nigerian payments startup Amplify, has been busy expanding its offering, and has also moved into new markets with a Kenyan launch.Its “Disrupt fund” is the first of its kind by an African fintech startup, and will invest up to US$10,000 per startup for five per cent equity. Portfolio companies will also be given access to Carbon’s API, allowing them to leverage Carbon’s growing customer base and innovative technology platform to get to market faster. Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem, and is accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Egypt. Startups looking to apply for the fund must have a functioning product, be post-revenue, and be looking to operate in multiple countries. The fund has a wide investment mandate but target sectors include insurance, health and education.“There are many excellent companies across the continent looking for the kind of scale Nigeria offers and we are excited to partner with them to provide the support and financial investment they need. We are equally excited to expand beyond Nigeria and Kenya by working with a new generation of innovators across the continent and sharing our experience to tackle common obstacles to growth.”
    • samiatazi
       
      A pan-African fund was founded by fintech startup Carbon to resolve the shortfalls in financing and assistance. The Fund will spend 5 percent of its equity in up to US$10,000 per start-up. Carbon expects the program to promote more coordination and more spending to fuel growth. The applications of businesses in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast are approved.
  • Nigerian fintech startup Carbon has set up a US$100,000 pan-African fund to address the lack of funding and support holding back entrepreneurs on the continent.
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  • Consumer lending platform Carbon, which rebranded in April as parent company OneFi continues to transition into being a full digital banking platform after raising US$5 million in debt funding and acquiring Nigerian payments startup Amplify, has been busy expanding its offering, and has also moved into new markets with a Kenyan launch
  • Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem, and is accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Egypt. 
kenza_abdelhaq

Hello Paisa steps into conversational commerce: WhatsApp Business - 0 views

  • Hello Paisa’s solution to the problem is its easy-to-use money remittance app that enables customers to send cash to countries across the world in a manner that is affordable, fast and safe. With the Hello Paisa app, all you need is an active account and your mobile phone to easily create a transaction and send money home instantly.The high cost of data, however, remains a factor that prevents many customers from accessing the app.The solution: WhatsApp Business API. By using the WhatsApp Business solution, Hello Paisa customers can now initiate transactions via WhatsApp, thus taking a ground-breaking step into conversational commerce!From the comfort of an already utilised platform, Hello Paisa customers can now conveniently, easily and cost-effectively initiate transactions, obtain exchange rates, view transaction history, create or delete a recipient, and refer a friend.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      To enhance customers' experience, HelloPaisa incorporated WhatsApp Business API solution to its already existing application. New services and functionalities have therefore been made available to the platform's customers.
hibaerrai

WorldRemit launches new product for business payments to Ghana | Africanews - 0 views

  • WorldRemit’s low fees and exchange rates are shown up-front and customers can send money easily via the company’s website and app. By extending its money transfer service to SMEs, WorldRemit will save businesses time and money when they make international payments.
    • hibaerrai
       
      WorldRemit transfer fees are quite low, and I believe that is caused by competition. In fact, banks provide the same services, however their fees are higher. So decreasing fees is a huge selling point for the fintech.
  • Today, we’re pleased to extend that service offering to businesses, and put an end to the steep fees that many pay, especially when sending to Ghana. We’re committed to making it quick, safe and easy for you to pay individuals across borders, leaving you to focus on growing your own business.”
    • hibaerrai
       
      Low costs strategy is a winning strategy.
kenza_abdelhaq

Robo-Advisors - Business Models and Strategies | ccecosystems.news - 0 views

  • As mentioned in the last article, it is not possible to define exactly what a robo-advisor is, as the individual providers offer a range of services of varying breadth. In fact, robo-advisors have long since ceased to offer mere recommendations or advice, and most providers are steadily expanding their services into a fully integrated solution. Accordingly, people now associate a robo-advisor with a platform that can also be used to make an investment directly (see [Bloch/Vins 2017, 114]). However, this service, for example, is linked to certain regulatory requirements, which are presented below. It should be noted here that this is the regulatory framework in Germany. In terms of regulation, four business models can be distinguished in the area of robo advisory services:
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      Since EasyEquities is about investment, having roboadvisors that provide financial advice would create more value to the company and would target more segments.
  • investment brokerage (german: Anlagenvermittlung),investment advice (Anlagenberatung),acquisition brokerage (Abschlussvermittlung), as well asfinancial portfolio management (Finanzportfolioverwaltung), also known as asset management.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt summarizes the business models that can be distinguished in the area of Robo-advisory services. The main difference between these business models lies in who is responsible for making the investment decision.
  • Robo-advisors can follow an active or passive investment approach not only in terms of their product range, but also in the composition of the individual products. In active management, for example, the market is constantly monitored and, on the basis of this, the securities that appear to be most advantageous at a given time are included in the portfolio. This targeted approach is described as so-called “stock picking” (see [Müller/Pester 2019, 229f]). Due to market fluctuations, there are thus regular purchases and sales of securities with the aim of achieving a higher return than the passive market. In the course of this, the percentage distribution of the asset classes in the portfolio can also be continuously adjusted and regular risk assessments carried out. As a result, the portfolio may be subject to constant change. The passive management approach is based on the strategy of maintaining the portfolio created at the beginning, including the asset allocation and the defined securities, unchanged and independent of market fluctuations. If a change in asset allocation should occur due to market fluctuations, the original state can be restored through various adjustment methods, also called “rebalancing”. In contrast to active management, this adjustment is not carried out on an ongoing basis, but at predetermined times or according to specific rules. In so-called “periodic rebalancing”, a restoration of the asset allocation is carried out as needed at the time of a previously defined temporal interval change. Another variant of rebalancing provides for an adjustment only if the portfolio value exceeds or falls below a previously defined mark, the threshold
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt distinguishes between Robo-advisors' active investment approach and passive investment approach, based on their product range but also on the composition of the individual products. Understanding the difference between the two approaches would allow us to better formulate strategies that incorporate Robo-advisory in them.
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  • Online asset management has been experiencing a rapid rise in Germany for several years. Since 2017, the number of users has grown by a factor of 7 from around 291,000 in 2017 to around 2.01 million in 2020 (cf. o.V. 2020), while the investment volume has increased more than tenfold from around 756 million euros to 8.068 billion euros (cf. o.V. 2020). Two factors in particular are key to this trend
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      robo-advising or online asset management has been growing rapidly during the past years due to loss of trust in personal banking advisors amid the 2007 financial crisis and the new generation that prefers digital interactions.
mehdibella

Microloans for Waco businesses the focus of new operation | Local Business News | wacot... - 0 views

  • Kiva, a nonprofit founded in 2005, has chosen to make Waco a “Kiva Hub,” the first city in Texas to receive such a designation
  • He welcomed small business needing a loan up to $15,000 to contact Startup Waco, headquartered at 605 Austin Ave.
  • The Waco City Council gave the local Kiva Hub a financial kick-start, awarding it a $50,000 grant. Passavant said he hopes to approach individuals and foundations about putting additional money behind Kiva.
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  • “I’m sure Austin, Dallas and Texas’ other larger cities will follow suit, but we moved quickly to make this happen in Waco. We were the first,”
kaoutarchennoufi

About Us - Fawry - 1 views

  • Fawry offers a convenient and reliable way to pay bills and other services  in multiple channels (online, using ATMs , mobile wallets and retail points)Fawry’s network of retailers includes small groceries, pharmacies and stationaries, and post-offices, all equipped with point-of-sale machines – the same ones used for credit card payments.
    • ghtazi
       
      Fawry that is the only technology company on The Egyptian Exchange currently offers over 250 electronic payment services through its network of over 105,000 service points across 300 cities in Egypt - that include ATMs, mobile wallets, retail shops, post offices, and little vendor kiosks
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      Fawry offers a variety of services from groceries, to pharmacies, to banking, etc. It's a platform that contains many services to facilitate operations.
  • Based on its own-patented technology, that is fully compliant with international security standards of the ISA 27001 and PA DSS certifications, Fawry performs more than 3 million financial operations daily.Fawry services for businesses include collection services, customer acquisition, electronic cash, payment facilitation, and business-to-business collection centers.
    • kaoutarchennoufi
       
      Fawry is a very powerful Egyptian Digital Transformation and E-payments platform thanks to its diverse services provided and its high performance that reaches 3 million financial operations daily. The impressive thing is that it has its own patent that respects the international security standards.
  • Fawry is the Leading Egyptian Digital Transformation & E-Payments Platform, offering financial services to consumers and businesses through more than 194,000 locations and a variety of channels.Fawry offers a convenient and reliable way to pay bills and other services  in multiple channels (online, using ATMs , mobile wallets and retail points)Fawry’s network of retailers includes small groceries, pharmacies and stationaries, and post-offices, all equipped with point-of-sale machines – the same ones used for credit card payments.
    • hibaerrai
       
      Fawry is the largest e-payments platform in Egypt. It proposes all financial services important for the daily life of citizens which makes paying bills and others easier.
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  • About Us - Fawry
  • Fawry is the Leading Egyptian Digital Transformation & E-Payments Platform, offering financial services to consumers and businesses through more than 194,000 locations and a variety of channels.
    • mehdibella
       
      Fawry offers a convenient and reliable way to pay bills and other services in multiple channels (online, using ATMs , mobile wallets and retail points)
aymanelmamoun

Get paid anytime, anywhere with the Snapscan app | Standard Bank - 0 views

  • Link your SnapCode to a cell phone number to receive SMS confirmation for a payment We can also integrate with a variety of POS and ecommerce solutions View your transaction history in real-time via the Merchant Portal
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      To make sure that customers are certain that they paid, they receive an SMS confirmation which is the alternative of a receipt.
  • We have a payment solution to suit you and your customers, just display your SnapCode anywhere you want to accept mobile payments.
  • Give your customers a quick and easy way to pay. No need for cash, cards or time-consuming EFTs. SnapScan can be tailored to your business’ needs and is the smart, simple and safe way to get paid in a snap. From small market vendors to big businesses or online ecommerce websites, SnapScan has a convenient payment solution for you and your customers.
    • aymanelmamoun
       
      Easy and efficient use.
  •  
    Snapscan did a good job focusing on their client by demonstrating to them that a basic application would accomplish the work that regularly is tedious and requires cards. By doing this, the company caught people's attention to try out their platform.
kenza_abdelhaq

AgroCenta CEO on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Ghana - 0 views

  • Does being an entrepreneur in Ghana – and in a developing economy in Africa – presents any ulterior challenges you had overcome?Being an entrepreneur in Africa and in emerging markets, in general, is quite difficult because of the lack of structure and supports put in place by the government. It requires a lot of courage and persistence to get the simplest things done. Any simple tech solution that you might want to build can end up being a very complex challenge because it relies on services that do not exist or don’t work properly. Access to funding also remains a big problem for many entrepreneurs who will need money to test, pilot and scale a platform or a solution. Many investors are quite held back when it comes to making investments in Africa for an obvious reason: corruption.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it reflects the challenges faced by AgroCenta in Ghana, i.e. corruption, lack of financing, lack of proper infrastructure, lack of government help, among other things.
  • Our business model is simple, we are a B2B business that generates commission fees on trade volumes from the businesses we work with.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is extremely important because it clearly states the business model of the company.
  • we are definitely improving the financial livelihood of smallholder farmers through fair trade. Many smallholder farmers are paid less than $1 a day and our objective is to increase it to $4 a day by 2020.
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      AgroCenta is an extremely important concept because it is helping to increase farmers' salaries. Going from $1 a day to $4 a day is already an improvement.
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  • AgroCenta focuses on 3 key impact goals for Ghana:No Poverty: Gender Equality: in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditions and land ownerships do not favor women, which ends up in many women being excluded from the agriculture value chain. By engaging the relevant stakeholders, AgroCenta rents arable agricultural lands to female smallholder farmers for free. Women are also given seeds, fertilizers, mechanized tractor services and extensive advisory information on farming best practices such as what type of seed to plant, when to plant, how to plant, etc.Decent Work & Economic Growth: we empower smallholder farmers to see agriculture as more than just a way to survive and position it as a viable industry that can be sustainable for their family.
    • mehdibella
       
      as you can see this company cares a lot about the livelyhood of their farmers and is trying to provide them only with the best features that would make life easier which in fact the main things that they tackle in the SDGs.
  • Seedstars Summit has been phenomenal. It has put AgroCenta on a pedestal and in the spotlight of a huge community in Africa. The experience after the Summit has been amazing: we received a lot of proposals from potential investors, partners and other service providers keen on working with us for growth and expansion.
  • Winning the vote of the entire jury, AgroCenta from Ghana was crowned the Seedstars Global Winner of the 5th edition of Seedstars Summit. At Seedstars, we are convinced that AgroCenta will shape the future of AgriTech in Africa. Indeed, the start-up’s mission is to improve the financial livelihood of smallholder farmers through fair trade.
    • aminej
       
      Agrocenta will have a great impact on farmers in Africa since it will enable them to protect their production and have an insurace in case of any risks. It will also help them regulate the market of agricultural products in order to set a price for each one
  • We identified a missing gap in the value chain that was the capacity to access the market for smallholder farmers after they have successfully cultivated their commodities. Access to the market was a huge problem for millions of smallholder farmers.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      AgroCenta is fulfilling a market gap that is the need for smallholder farmers to access the market.
  • AgroCenta focuses as well as Seedstars on achieving the Sustainable Goals set up by the UN
    • sawsanenn
       
      one of the main goals is to reach economic growth by empowering smallholders farmers to see agriculture not only as a survival solution but as an investment
  • Gender Equality: in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditions and land ownerships do not favor women, which ends up in many women being excluded from the agriculture value chain. By engaging the relevant stakeholders, AgroCenta rents arable agricultural lands to female smallholder farmers for free. Women are also given seeds, fertilizers, mechanized tractor services and extensive advisory information on farming best practices such as what type of seed to plant, when to plant, how to plant, etc.Decent Work & Economic Growth: we empower smallholder farmers to see agriculture as more than just a way to survive and position it as a viable industry that can be sustainable for their family.
    • hibaerrai
       
      Agrocenta main goals are the following: first and the most evident one no poverty especially for farmers who are not paid enough. second, gender equality and finally economic agricultural development within the country.
  • A great team for sure! Our major strength has been a team made of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences and a deep understanding of the agricultural value chain. This asset allowed us to save a lot of time we would have naturally spent on trying to fine tune and launch the AgroCenta platform. Thanks to that we avoided making the common mistakes many new and unexperienced founders make.
    • ghtazi
       
      what we can understand is that having a great team is the key asset that led to the rapid growth of Agrocenta. cross-cultural team has been a plus for the development of agrocenta. it helped the company to save time and avoid making common mistakes that many new and inexperienced founders make.
  • Many investors are quite held back when it comes to making investments in Africa for an obvious reason: corruption.
chaimaa-rachid

Fintech Startup, JUMO Raises $55 Million to Expand its Loan Facility Across Africa - 0 views

  • “I’m excited for our next phase. This backing will help us build a better business and break new ground. The strong vote of confidence, along with the world-class tech talent we now have in the business, means we can achieve exceptional outcomes for our partners and customers.” Andrew Watkins-Ball, CEO, JUMO.
  •  
    The startup has evolved in Asia through Pakistan and now plans to grow into new business sectors and dispatch new products in Africa and Asia.
hibaerrai

WorldRemit Announces Winners in Canada of Holiday Season Promotion to Help Filipino Ben... - 0 views

  • We’re so pleased to give recipients this great opportunity to start a business that will help them to support their families and become more financially stable. The franchisees have the option to expand these businesses and potentially create job opportunities for members of the wider community. This underlines our commitment to helping Overseas Filipino Workers to support those dearest to them back home," said Earl Melivo, Country Director for the Philippines at WorldRemit.
    • hibaerrai
       
      WorldRemit goes beyond remittances and e-payments and create opportunities for customers to start their own businesses. I believe that this is amazing and it encourages individuals to come up with new ideas. It will also increase the fintech's popularity and attract new customers.
mehdi-ezzaoui

Lending Marketplace Lendio Provides $500,000 in Microloans to Women Owned Businesses in... - 1 views

  • Kiva is a non-profit lending platform well known for its microloan service targeted underserved markets globally. Lendio states that the program has now provided over $500,000 in microloans to business owners worldwide, 98% of whom are female. Lendio first launched the program in 2016. The company describes the program as part of its commitment to entrepreneurship and inclusivity. Lendio provides a microloan to a low-income entrepreneur for every new loan facilitated on its marketplace platform. This voluntary employee-contributed, employer-matched program reports a 94% participation rate among Lendio employees.
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    The importance of Kiva of empowering those business owners and knowing we're helping them keep their passion with offering microloans
aymanelmamoun

SimbaPay launches Kenya to China payment service over WeChat | TechCrunch - 1 views

  • The new product — which piggy-backs on WeChat’s messaging service — is aimed at Kenyan merchants who purchase goods from China, Kenya’s largest import source.
    • tahaemsd
       
      Simbapay developed a third party payment aggregator that enables funds delivery when the buyer and seller both use Wechat
  • Forging another link between Africa and China’s digital economies, the African-focused money transfer startup SimbaPay and Kenya’s Family Bank have launched an instant payment service from East Africa to China.
  • The new product — which piggy-backs on WeChat’s messaging service — is aimed at Kenyan merchants who purchase goods from China, Kenya’s largest import source.
    • aminej
       
      SimbaPay offers a new connection between Africa and China for people who buy their goods from there. Kenya is one of the biggest importers of products from China equivalent of 4 billion $ which is huge.
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  • SimbaPay transfers funds to 11 countries — nine in Africa then to China and India. “Early next year we’ll increase this to 29 countries,” said Sagini. This includes offering the WeChat China payment service elsewhere in East Africa.
    • ghtazi
       
      I like how simbapay finds its way through the African market and will increase the countries where customers can transfer funds from 11 to 29.
  • SimbaPay and Family Bank will generate revenues on the WeChat-based transfer service through a fee share arrangement on transactions. “We have a sliding scale of charges [for the service]. For example, to send the equivalent of $80 will cost $3.50,” said Sagini.This presents a significant reduction of fees and opportunity cost for Kenyan traders who import from China, according to Sagini and Family Bank.Current available payment methods to China for Kenyan businesses are less secure and more expensive options, such as traditional money transmitters (Western Union), SWIFT and off the grid services, according to Sagini and Family Bank Chief Operation Officer (COO) Godfrey Kamau Kariuki.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is very important because it explains how SimbaPay plans on promoting Sino-Kenyan trade: reduction of fees and opportunity costs for kenyan traders importing from China through a partnership with the chinese WeChat.
  • “Kenya imports about $4 billion goods from China. That’s the total market that we’re getting into. We’re looking at a single digit market share of the transactional volume around that,” SimbaPay co-founder Sagini Onyancha told TechCrunch.“The users [of the new product] are primarily small Kenyan businesses, that import phones, gadgets, electronics…small to medium size traders who import goods from China,” he said.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it explains the reasons underlying SimbaPay's decision to launch an instant payment service from East Africa to China. Indeed, exchanges between Kenya and China are huge, and SimbaPay attempts to capitalize on this market. The potential users of this service are expected to be Kenyan small to medium-size business owners who import electronics from China.
  • SimbaPay and Family Bank estimate over seven million customers and businesses will be able to access their China WeChat payment service, based on projections of Kenya’s current SMEs.
    • sawsanenn
       
      this estimation can be reached because of the huge customer portfolio that china has. Plus kenya is known to be one of the main importers from China
  • SimbaPay and Family Bank will generate revenues on the WeChat-based transfer service through a fee share arrangement on transactions. “We have a sliding scale of charges [for the service]. For example, to send the equivalent of $80 will cost $3.50,” said Sagini.
    • aymanelmamoun
       
      Reducing fees and opportunity cost for Kenyan traders importing from China is a very crucial step to Family Bank.
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    Forging another link between Africa and China's digital economies, the African-focused money transfer startup SimbaPay and Kenya's Family Bank have launched an instant payment service from East Africa to China.
mehdibella

South African lending startup Jumo raises $12.5 million - 0 views

  • CEO of Jumo, Andrew Watkins-Ball, comments: “We have a proven business model, evidenced in the strategic partnerships we have built with forward-thinking banks, mobile money operators and partners like Uber."
  • Since launch in 2014, more than 10 million people have saved or borrowed on the Jumo platform, with nearly 70% of these being micro and small business owners across Africa and Asia. To date, the company has originated almost US$1 billion in loans and maintained savings growth of over 50% month-on-month on its platform, which manages over 45 million customer interactions per month.
  • Jumo currently has offices in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Singapore and South Africa. It set up its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore earlier in the year and has plans to enter several new Asian markets in 2019.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • South African lending startup Jumo raises $12.5 million
  • Since launch in 2014, more than 10 million people have saved or borrowed on the Jumo platform, with nearly 70% of these being micro and small business owners across Africa and Asia. To date, the company has originated almost US$1 billion in loans and maintained savings growth of over 50% month-on-month on its platform, which manages over 45 million customer interactions per month.
    • mehdibella
       
      JUMO secured another funding round of US$55 million to support market and product expansion.
  •  
    The business model is one of the bases of a company success, and making a partnership with a brand name like Uber would increase the number of customers.
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    Through this article, we notice a lot of people have used the JUMO platform and they are happy with it. The company is ready to enter many new Asian markets since it has been successful in different countries.
mehdibella

Fintech for Financial Inclusion & Empowerment | JUMO - 0 views

  • JUMO partnered with Uber to create JUMO Drive, a first-of-its-kind digital vehicle asset finance product for rideshare drivers.
  • JUMO partnered with Telenor and Telenor Microfinance bank to launch the first commercial product in Asia.
  • The first funding partner was introduced to the operating platform. JUMO’s partnership with Letshego Bank in Ghana enabled payment and capital providers to work together to build products.
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  • The use of digital savings, by JUMO in Tanzania and Zambia, grew rapidly.
    • mehdibella
       
      JUMO partnered with Telenor and Telenor Microfinance bank to launch the first commercial product in Asia.
  • JUMO secured another funding round of US$55 million to support market and product expansion.
  • JUMO is powering a new wave of financial tools, enabling hundreds of millions of people to prosper, build their businesses and drive economic growth
  • JUMO was founded in London by Andrew Watkins-Ball, with a vision of reimagining finance in emerging markets. The founding team started working to prove that data can be used to predict the financial behaviour of millions of people without access to finance. Credit risk, engineering and other capabilities were developed with industry-leading talent. The first ecosystem partnerships were established with Tigo, Airtel and MTN to bring short-term loan products to people and small businesses in Kenya, Zambia and Uganda.
    • ghtazi
       
      JUMO is a British company founded by Andrew Watkins- Ball, and its vision is to reimagine finance in emerging markets. the goal of this company is to show that Data can be used to forecast millions of people's financial activity without access to finance.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is really great at introducing Jumo, its initial partnerships, the products/services offered by Jumo.
  • Timiza Akiba, a JUMO-powered savings product, grew 30% in 3 months despite COVID conditions.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt reports on the impressive performance of Timiza Akima, a Jumo product, despite covid-19 conditions, which reflects the company's resilience despite the pandemic.
  • A funding round of $52m USD was closed. The round was led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from Proparco, FinnFund, Vostok Emerging Finance, Gemcorp Capital, and LeapFrog Investments. A further $12.5m USD was secured from Odey Asset Management.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it reports on how Jumo obtains financing for its operations from external sources i.e. Odey Asset Management.
  • Fast Company SA named JUMO one of the most innovative companies owing to advanced data science and Machine Learning capabilities.
    • sawsanenn
       
      Jumo is powering new waves of financial tools that can help entrepreneurs to build and grow their business
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    Parentships always help a business to improve and grow. Jumo is expanding its service to satisfy everyone.
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    At the beginning Jumo started by a founding team that was mainly working in order to prove that data are essentials and that they can predict the future financial behaviour of millions of people that originally didn't have access to finance. So, Jumo's main asset can be considered to be its data analysis that forecasts financial behaviours.
hibaerrai

Niche Market: What Is It? - 0 views

  • A niche market is a segment of a larger market that has its own demands and preferences. Companies focus on niche markets to better cater to a specific consumer than competitors who target a broad audience. Catering to the unique demands that mainstream providers aren't addressing, businesses pursue niche markets to build loyalty and revenue with a largely-overlooked audience. For example, rather than offering a general cleaning service, an entrepreneur might pursue a niche by offering floor polishing services exclusively. Another business in the same city might occupy a separate niche, specializing in solely biodegradable cleaning products. 
    • hibaerrai
       
      Niche strategy: Helps knowing exactly what customers and what services we are dealing with for better decision making.
chaimaa-rachid

Kiva City: Using Microloans To Revitalize Small Businesses In Struggli - 0 views

  • Microfinance platform Kiva has proven many times over that people are willing to give $25 microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Now the platform is bringing its microfinance savvy to small business owners in struggling areas of the U.S. with Kiva City, a program launched this past June. The program has already proven successful in Detroit and New Orleans (the two launch cities), where 19 initial loans have been fulfilled by microlenders. That’s over $135,000 in loans.
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    It appears to be truly interesting how KIVA has utilized microloans in order to revitalize small companies that are battling in American urban communities.
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