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mohammed_ab

A competitor for Kiva? - 1 views

blogs.worldbank.org/...a-competitor-for-kiva

Kiva Crowdfunding Entrepreneurs Microfinance Mobile Movement

shared by mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • if someone doesn’t want to have that relationship but they want to microfinance, Kiva’s the best. For someone who’s interested in dialoguing and learning more and building relationships or having contact, this is where Mobile Movement becomes a new platform.
  • MobileMovement, a "next-generation microfinancing site, where donors and participants can communicate directly with young social entrepreneurs in the slums of Nairobi.
  • .if someone doesn’t want to have that relationship but they want to microfinance, Kiva’s the best. For someone who’s interested in dialoguing and learning more and building relationships or having contact, this is where Mobile Movement becomes a new platform.
  • chaimaa-rachid on 13 Feb 21
     
    Kiva has many competitors, but it still dominates the market for people who want to do microfinance.
  • mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21
     
    This article talks about the different competitors of Kiva. What got my interest is that in Kiva, there isn't the possibility to dialogue and build contacts with the entrepreneurs you want to invest in. I believe that microfinance should be more than just money and funding, communication and sharing knowledge with the entrepreneur is also very important.
sawsanenn

Frontiers | FinTech: A New Hedge for a Financial Re-intermediation. Strategy and Risk P... - 0 views

www.frontiersin.org/...full

FinTech Financial inclusion Strategies

shared by sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FinTechs and the Value Chains in the Financial IndustryIt is beneficial to remember how things worked before and after FinTechs and TechFins or big techs in the financial industry.Banking models are shifting significantly from a pipeline, vertical, paradigm, to modular solutions that pave the way to new banking paradigms that entail higher levels of openness toward third parties and a growing number of modular services bundled together.Value is created in platforms through economies of scope in production and innovation (Gawer, 2014). In order for platforms to work, adoption and network effects are essential. Models can go to mere compliance with the prescriptions of openness of PSD2, to the inclusion of new services, the opening of the banking core and data, and the aggregation of those within a platform experience. In particular, we assist both to the evolution of a Bank-as-a-Platform model and a tech-platform-driven model supporting banking and financial intermediation, which both constitute a new interesting field of analysis.Since the wave of digital transformation started entering the financial industr
  • , banking-as-a-business has started moving from a product/service perspective to more contextual solutions where providers are customer needs-driven. This is because customer-driven companies outperform the shareholder-driven ones, and this requires an outside-in approach.Having said that, it is beneficial to remember that digital transformation implies four main categories of innovation (product, process, organizational and business model) (Omarini, 2019, p. 340); all of them require rediscovering that a new strategy paradigm exists. This regards the concept of co-creation, and because of this no single firm can unilaterally carry out a process of continuous experimentation, risk reduction, time compression, and minimizing investment while maximizing market impact. Co-creation requires access to resources from extended networks (suppliers, partners, and consumer communities).Under these new market conditions, FinTechs have become an important piece of a bigger puzzle, each one in its own area of business (payment, lending, etc.), while at the beg
  • inning most of them started as mono-business companies. Only a few of them may become leaders in the market. On the one hand, there are those that make their strategy become international, and on the other, there are FinTechs which enlarge their services-scopes. However, the majority of them will become part of ecosystems where the direction could swing from banks to tech companies or to FinTechs as well, able to manage the network by developing kinds of conglomerate-as-a-service.Another interesting point to outline regards this recent period where all of us have experienced lockdowns around the world, and some effects have also impacted FinTechs as well. The valuations of most unicorns have crashed overnight, while on the FinTechs side there are different situations. Some of them have experienced a dramatic reduction in their
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • strategy development process, especially when the various units and individuals in the network must collectively execute that strategy. The key issue is this: balancing act between collaborating and competing is delicate and crucial” (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004, p. 197).If co-creation is fundamental to the industry, this needs to leverage on a wider customer perspective that requires introducing the idea of developing ecosystems where the customer is truly free to move and choose the best deal in more competitive markets able to let consumers' ability to make informed decisions against any possible market concentrations among market providers.A business ecosystem (Moore, 1996) reflects the new paradigm of competition in a better way. Traditional management models aimed at gaining competitive advantage, such as vertical or horizontal integration, economies of scale and scope, are not effective anymore. The value of today's companies is determined by the size of its ecosystem (Tewari, 2014). Business ecosystems consist in crossovers of a variety of industries, of which companies cooperate and embrace open innovation to satisfy new customers' needs an
    • samiatazi
      samiatazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      Digital transformation implies four main categories of innovation: product, process, organizational and business model. FinTechs have become a significant piece of a greater riddle, every one in its own zone of business. The victors are those that have sufficient liquidity and money to purchase great innovation. This is particularly valid for installments that will be progressively contactless. Individuals costs and per-client commitment edge are key elements, and important markers. The more wellsprings of incomes an organization holds, the better it is for it to be a FinTech.
  • evaluation, others were quite lucky and suffered less.There are many and different feelings on the way FinTechs will exit this situation, which as far as we understand has overall accelerated some strategic choices.First of all, there are many and different FinTechs in the market. What is critical is to look at the fundamentals of the business. All of them are about answering what society is going to look like in the future (attitudes, behaviors, habits, etc.), so that if we no longer need to go to retail stores anymore, why do we need some services based on this situation? This, again, underlines that banking is a people business (Omarini, 2015) and this requires a business to be resilient to become adaptive to consumer changes or moves into a different market where you can still apply the service because the society is not yet ready to shift somewhere else, which means the same business in different markets. Just think of the ongoing situation where the recent wave of people is rethinking and restructuring their finances, so that they have decided to switch rates to digital banks. In this scenario, the winners are those that have enough liquidity—or better still cash-rich—to buy good technology and invest in new directions, also taking the opportunity to use the pandemic to its advantage. This is especially true for payments that are going to be increasingly contactless. However, some more les
  • sons can be learnt from difficult times especially due to external factors such as the following:- People costs and per-customer contribution margin are key factors, and valuable indicators. They are valuable for incumbents too. When staff costs rise, then this becomes a burden if growth is not going to move on. Then, if we move on the per-customer contribution margin (revenue, minus variable costs including credit losses), then this makes a FinTech earn more money per bank account than the cost of running those bank accounts.- One more point has to do with the way a FinTech makes its revenues per customer, and net income is the figure to look out for here. This means that the more sources of revenues a company holds, the better it is for it. If we think of some of the best-known FinTechs, they gather their net income from interchange fees, ATM withdrawals, which can diminish during the pandemic, but gathering revenues from other sources such as lending, investing, or again from referring customers to third-party services, and earning commissions from these referrals.Under this oncoming market structure configuration, a focus on control and ownership of resources is giving way to the importance of accessing and leveraging resources through unique ways of collaboration. “The co-creation process also challenges the assumption that only the firm's aspirations matter. (…) Every participant in the experience network collaborates in value creation and competes in value extraction. This result in constant tension in the
  • One more point has to do with the way a FinTech makes its revenues per customer, and net income is the figure to look out for here. This means that the more sources of revenues a company holds, the better it is for it. If we think of some of the best-known FinTechs, they gather their net income from interchange fees, ATM withdrawals, which can diminish during the pandemic, but gathering revenues from other sources such as lending, investing, or again from referring customers to third-party services, and earning commissions from these referrals.
    • hichamachir
      hichamachir on 13 Feb 21
       
      Pula can benefit so much from expanding its revenues streams. It lets the customers use the product or service in different ways which can't make them feel lazy to use a specific way.
  • The emergence of new technologies and players, along with a favorable regulatory framework (PSD2 Directive), is changing the banking industry. FinTechs and TechFins have allowed the introduction of new services and changed the way customers interact to satisfy their financial needs. The FinTech landscape is constantly evolving in the market. Different business value propositions are entering the financial services industry, moving from increasing the user's experience to developing a time to market framework for banks to innovate products, processes, and channels, increasing the cost efficiency and looking for a “partnering on order” to lighten the regulatory burdens for banks. The many businesses of banks are changing their value chains, and banks' business models should do the same accordingly. Strategists could no longer take their value chains as a given; choices have to be made on what needs to be protected and maintained, what abandoned and the new on coming to make banks evolve and become more resilient in doing their job. Banking is shifting significantly from a pipeline, vertical paradigm, to open banking business models where open innovation, modularity, and ecosystem-based bank's business model may become the ongoing mainstream and paradigm to follow and develop. Opportunities and threats for banks are many and new ones to re-gaining their role in the market throughout a re-intermediation process.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      FinTechs and TechFins have enabled new services to be launched and changed the way clients communicate to meet their financial needs. In the industry, the FinTech landscape is continuously changing.
  • They have brought to the traditional banking industry a wave of competition and broken pipeline value chains, unbundling them into different modules of products or services, which may be combined among themselves. These companies on the one hand and the BigTechs (Google, Facebook, Apple, Samsung, Alibaba, etc.) on the other have been forcing the industry to change, transform, and evolve in a set of new financial intermediation directions. Use of data and customer experience are both FinTechs' major assets and threats as well. On the one hand, they please the customers as individuals and introduce the paradigm of contextual banking. On the other, the two selling points are threatening both the incumbent players and regulators in different ways. For banks, it is even more urgent to react actively because their “no fee zone” is expanding, due to new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus (CFPB) and similar entities in different countries.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      Since the digitalization wave entered the banking industry, financial institutions has begun to move from a product/service standpoint to more semantic alternatives where suppliers are pushed by customer needs. This is because the customer-driven firms outclass the investor ones, and this necessitates an outside strategy.
sawsanenn

When fintech met crowdfunding - AltFi - 0 views

www.altfi.com/..._when-fintech-met-crowdfunding

FinTech Financial inclusion Strategies

shared by sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • 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
      kenzabenessalah on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      hichamachir on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      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.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • 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
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
hindelquarrouti

Integrated marketing communication and technology adoption : a case of Safaricom's M-PE... - 1 views

journals.co.za/...20421338.2013.829297

Integrated marketing Strategy Fintech M-pesa

shared by hindelquarrouti on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Safaricom had used IMC strategies befitting their target market compared to its competition to diffuse information on the M-PESA innovation
  • hindelquarrouti on 13 Feb 21
     
    Although There are a lot of companies in Africa, none of them was able to achieve the same success as M-Pesa. And this might be tracked back to the fact that it has incorporated the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategies which helped it capturing and exploiting customers information in order to use them in the most efficient way.
mehdibella

AgroCenta - Greentec - 0 views

greentec-capital.com/...agrocenta

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta brings all the stakeholders in Ghana’s agricultural value chain together to facilitate effective trading within its web and mobile platform. They target rural smallholder farmers and farmer-based organizations that have limited access to markets, logistics, or technology. AgroCenta works to improve the livelihoods of farmers by providing an all-in-one SMS based solution to access commodity pricing, offer goods for sale across Ghana, and an on-demand logistics service to ensure timely deliveries.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      I really admire the concept of AgroCenta because it is able to give smallholder farmers an opportunity to expand their business, which would then aid in providing for their families.
  • Agrocenta tackles some of the main market inefficiencies and challenges to growth for smallholder farmers within the agriculture value chain in Ghana and West Africa. Agrocenta works to improve the limited access to market information, to reduce the exploitative behaviour of local buyers and middlemen and to improve the transportation and logistics linkages between small rural sellers of agri production and the larger urban markets.
  • Business Model
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Agrocenta draws its revenue streams from the price difference between purchase prices (from smallholders) and prices sold to large off-takers. Agrocenta mobilizes a local network of agents and scouts, who work directly with the local farmer communities and engage in the pre/post-harvest process.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta's passion to change the face of agriculture in Africa is built on 3 core values, closely aligned with 3 SDGs. Agrocenta aims to create livelihood empowerement for smallholder farmers, help increase farmers' incomes and thus help reducing poverty.
  • Agrocenta’s passion to change the face of agriculture in Africa is built on 3 core values, closely aligned with 3 SDGs.
  • Agrocenta aims to create livelihood empowerement for smallholder farmers, help increase farmers’ incomes and thus help reducing poverty. Agrocenta aims to help ensure sustainable food security by working to reduce inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Agrocenta also aims to contribute towards gender equality by working with many female farmers.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is actively working on empowering small farmers, reducing poverty, ensuring sustainable food security, and contributing to gender equality.
  • Agrocenta draws its revenue streams from the price difference between purchase prices (from smallholders) and prices sold to large off-takers. Agrocenta mobilizes a local network of agents and scouts, who work directly with the local farmer communities and engage in the pre/post-harvest process.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      this excerpt is important because it shows how agrocenta encourages smallholders farmers to develop their businesses and face challenges by offering them many financial solutions.
  • Products and Services A comprehensive agricultural services platform including: AgroInfo: provides realtime agricultural information and market prices to smallholder farmers AgroTrade: online trading platform offering ability to buy and sell agricultural commodities TruckR: on demand logistics solutions to deliver agriculture goods from rural aggregation points to urban markets and buyers AgroPay: financial platform allowing farmers to transact digitally
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      these are the Products and services of agrocenta: agroinfo, agrotrade, truckr, and agropay.
mehdibella

GSMA | Meet our portfolio start-ups: AgroCenta, Ghana | Mobile for Development - 0 views

www.gsma.com/...olio-start-ups-agrocenta-ghana

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The start-up provides access to truck delivery services and real-time market information via SMS and IVR. Building on this platform, AgroCenta now enables farmers to receive mobile money, build their credit score and access financial services (like crop insurance) through its latest mobile product, AgroPay.
  • In a country where agriculture is the primary economic occupation of many — employing 52 per cent of Ghana’s labour force — the AgriTech start-up launched AgroTrade, an online platform that connects smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain to a wider online market.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it reflects the importance of agriculture in Ghana, and which products/services offered by AgroCenta serve to do: AgroTrade connects smallholder farmers to a wider online market & AgroPay allows farmers to receive money, build their credit score and access financial services i.e. crop insurance through their mobile phones.
  • In Ghana, AgroCenta has set up a mobile money API integration partnership with MTN and Vodafone to pay smallholder farmers directly and seamlessly via mobile money through its AgroPay platform.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This part reflects the collaborations engaged by AgroCenta with mobile operators MTN and Vodafone to support financial literacy and facilitate the transfer of mobile money.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Both mobile operators will also be supporting AgroCenta farmers with financial literacy training on-the-ground. AgroCenta has also strengthened its partnership with Vodafone Ghana to allow smallholder farmers on its platform to access free voice calls between farmers and discounted mobile devices and bundles
  • Both mobile operators will also be supporting AgroCenta farmers with financial literacy training on-the-ground. AgroCenta has also strengthened its partnership with Vodafone Ghana to allow smallholder farmers on its platform to access free voice calls between farmers and discounted mobile devices and bundles
  • Through this partnership, Vodafone Ghana can liaise with the AgroCenta team to onboard AgroCenta farmers on its Small Office/Home Office (SoHo) packages.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      As of July 2019, AgroCenta had registered 46,100 smallholder farmers on the AgroTrade platform across four regions and 640 communities.
  • As of July 2019, AgroCenta had registered 46,100 smallholder farmers on the AgroTrade platform across four regions and 640 communities.
  • lack of access to structured markets, which leaves them at the mercy of predatory brokers or middlemen who buy at exploitative prices, and lack of access to finance, which means they may never move beyond smallholder farming to middle-level or even commercial farming.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      The inability of smallholder farmers to access markets pushes them to sell to middlemen with exploitative prices and the incapacity to get loans also prevents these farmers to grow.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "lack of access to structured markets, which leaves them at the mercy of predatory brokers or middlemen who buy at exploitative prices, and lack of access to finance, which means they may never move beyond smallholder farming to middle-level or even commercial farming."
mehdibella

AgroCenta Aims At Going beyond the Ghanaian Borders by 2018 - Tech In Africa - 0 views

www.techinafrica.com/2711-2

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Given the fact that the startup did well in 2017 by guiding the Ghanaian small-scale farmers to a larger market, it now wants to expand further to Nigeria. At the same time, the startup is planning to launch piloting program in Ghana within 2018. According to AgroCenta CEO and co-founder Francis Obirikorang, the startup will have an initial 100,000 smallholder farmers in Nigeria. The farmers will be connected to almost six, small, medium and large-scale market to sell directly.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is relevant because it reflects AgroCenta's future plans of expansions beyond the Ghanaian borders. This would be helpful in later steps of the capstone and could help with getting ideas about strategies to adopt.
  • AgroCenta was recently selected by Seedstars World for its Seedstars Growth Program. Seedstars Growth Program offers high growth startups $50,000 with access to business advisory and marketing services on top.
  • The company has got some investors like Greentech Capital Partners, Isebaltic Trust, World Trade Organisation and SANAD Technical Facility in Jordan among others. Currently, the startup has an ongoing agreement with various companies that include Guinness Ghana Breweries and is hoping to bring Nestle Ghana on board within 2018.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      It was noted that logistics alone makes Ghana to either gain or lose around $200 million potential revenue. The company is currently being funded by close relatives and friends with the founders investing $20,000 which caters for various issues
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The company has got some investors like Greentech Capital Partners, Isebaltic Trust, World Trade Organisation and SANAD Technical Facility in Jordan among others. Currently, the startup has an ongoing agreement with various companies that include Guinness Ghana Breweries and is hoping to bring Nestle Ghana on board within 2018.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      Building relationship and partnership with companies from other countries will allow agrocenta to bring more customers from other countries
  • AgroCenta was founded by Michael Ocansey and Obiorikorang in 2015 who by then were working at an agricultural information communication service Esoko. The founders realized that the farmers were losing almost 40% of their income to middlemen. Although the aim was to develop a trading plan, they, later on, saw the need of working on logistics.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      the company was founded in 2015 by Michael Ocansey and Obiorikorang. they were working at an agricultural information communication service Esoko. the founders then realized that the farmers lose almost 40% of their income. so they decided to create Agrocenta in order to help the smallfarmers.
kenza_abdelhaq

Lumkani - 0 views

www.accion.org/otect-families-in-south-africa

Lumkani South Africa Insurtech

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 10 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Lumkani, a Johannesburg-based startup that leverages proprietary hardware and a tech-enabled agent network to provide customers living in informal settlements within South Africa with insurance products that protect against loss of life, shelter, and assets in the case of a home fire. Lumkani, which means ‘be careful’ in Xhosa, originally began as a hardware company, deploying its first fire detector in late 2014. Within the first 18 months, they were able to prove that their technology “in 73 percent of cases was able to reduce the spreading of fires [beyond] the first home.” But it was not enough just to alert the community and stop the spreading of fires.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 10 Feb 21
       
      Starting off as a hardware company that helped low-income families and informal settlements, Lumkani quickly shifted to the new technologies and partnered up with the insurance company Hollard to not only detect fire but to have access to fire insurance.
  • Destructive fires are a regular, and potentially devastating, occurrence for the approximately 10 million South Africans that live in informal settlement communities. These townships are particularly susceptible to the threat of fires due to the use of flammable building materials, the ubiquity of open flame fires, limited space between dwellings, and a lack of road infrastructure for adequate emergency response.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      Such devices are a must have in regions where fires are regular. It was smart to present such a device in South Africa because almost 10 million South Africans are affected by such tragic events.
  • With that problem in mind, Lumkani, partnered with Hollard, a South African-based insurance company, to develop the world’s first hardware-enabled fire insurance specifically designed for informal settlements. To serve clients that had been ignored by traditional financial service providers previously, the company has created an efficient, engaging, and easy to manage experience for its low-income customers.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      Lumkani developed hardware-enabled fire insurance to detect fires in informal settlements and partnered up with the insurance company Hollard to provide this segment with solutions and experience that was not made available to them by traditional financial service providers.
nourserghini

Abacus - VC4A - 0 views

vc4a.com/abacus

Abacus E-trade Africa Kenya

shared by nourserghini on 10 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Abacus allows investors, locally and in the diaspora, to invest in equities, fixed income, unit trust, real estate and unlisted securities in Kenya.
    • ayachehbouni
      ayachehbouni on 10 Feb 21
       
      Abacus builds web and mobile software to help investors across the globe access African financial markets. It makes it possible for both local and international investors to research and invest, any time, any where.
  • We are looking to cover at least 50% of Africa’s financial markets by 2019. We are an e*trade for Africa.We provide real time data and news, research, analyses and insights, technology driven advisory and community forums with investing leaderboards where you can see, copy or follow other investors’ activity. 
    • nourserghini
      nourserghini on 13 Feb 21
       
      This article states that Abacus Kenya is planning on covering about 50% or more in the African financial market these past years, by providing significant data and insights as well as community forums with investors.
tahaemsd

Start-up Spotlight: Shack fire early-warning systems save lives - EE Publishers - 0 views

www.ee.co.za/...arning-systems-save-lives.html

FinTech Africa Service modernization protection

shared by tahaemsd on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Lumkani has always had the dream of making communities more resilient to the devastation of shack fires. Having the opportunity to cover an additional 20 000 South African homes with our early warning system has been a big step towards realising this,” says Francois Petousis, Director of Humanitarian Projects at Lumkani. “Every week we hear stories of people who have heard our fire alarms ringing in a neighbourhood, or have received our SMS saying that their house is on fire which has helped them to race home to put out a small fire before it caused any damage. That is huge motivation for us to reach even more homes across our country.”
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 13 Feb 21
       
      this sytem creates a community -wide alert in the early phases of a fire and then send text messages to all residents
sawsanenn

Addis host Ethiopia Banking, Information Communications Technology Summit - New Busines... - 1 views

newbusinessethiopia.com/...mmunications-technology-summit

FinTech E-payments ethiopia Africa modernization

shared by sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • he other presenter was Mr. Bizuneh Bekele, CEO of EthSitch Share Company introduced EthioPay under a title, “EthioPay – the uplifting e-payment platform for Ethiopia”.
  • he other presenter was Mr. Bizuneh Bekele, CEO of EthSitch Share Company introduced EthioPay under a title, “EthioPay – the uplifting e-payment platform for Ethiopia”.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      Ethio-pay was introduced as the best e-payment platform and the best solution for all the disputes arising around ATMs. Plus a quick way to pay since the normal paper-based is time-consuming.
sawsanenn

7 Best Practices for Aligning Fintech With Your Business Strategy - 0 views

www.ncontracts.com/...ch-with-your-business-strategy

FinTech Financial inclusion Strategies

shared by sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Fintech is one of the buzziest trends in financial services right now, and no financial institution wants to be left behind. But with seemingly boundless opportunities, how do you know which fintech partnerships make sense for your FI? Here are seven tips for making sure your fintech activities align with your business strategy: Start with a clearly defined business strategy. Strategy, not technology, should drive your fintech decisions. Before considering any fintech partnerships, make sure you have a clearly defined and communicated business strategy that aligns with your FI’s objectives. Don’t get on board with a promising technology and then build a strategy around it. Don’t blindly jump into opportunities that fall in your lap—seek out partnerships that will support your goals. Don’t just sign on for a fintech partnership because it sounds cool. Only experiment with fintech if you have a goal and purpose in mind. Think about what you’re trying to accomplish. Don’t spread your focus too thinly. Not every new initiative needs to have ties to a fintech partnership. Only experiment in areas that are important to your business. Use your limited resources to explore fintech that can make a significant contribution to your FI. Experimenting with fintech partnerships that do nothing to drive bottom-line results may not be a good use of time and effort.
    • samiatazi
      samiatazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      Considering all the 7 steps to align the Fintech with the business strategy will add value to the company. The whole process is important, and all the business pillars should work together for the good sake of the organization.
  • A lot of times an FI will direct IT staff to develop fintech partnerships. While IT has a lot of insight to offer, they don’t have all the information to drive the decision. Business and IT need to work together to find and deploy fintech partnerships that make sense. It shouldn’t be a strictly business or tech initiative.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      in order to have a Successful fintech, Business and It need to work hand in hand to climb the rungs.
  • Fintech is one of the buzziest trends in financial services right now, and no financial institution wants to be left behind. But with seemingly boundless opportunities, how do you know which fintech partnerships make sense for your FI? Here are seven tips for making sure your fintech activities align with your business strategy: Start with a clearly defined business strategy. Strategy, not technology, should drive your fintech decisions. Before considering any fintech partnerships, make sure you have a clearly defined and communicated business strategy that aligns with your FI’s objectives. Don’t get on board with a promising technology and then build a strategy around it. Don’t blindly jump into opportunities that fall in your lap—seek out partnerships that will support your goals. Don’t just sign on for a fintech partnership because it sounds cool. Only experiment with fintech if you have a goal and purpose in mind. Think about what you’re trying to accomplish. Don’t spread your focus too thinly. Not every new initiative needs to have ties to a fintech partnership. Only experiment in areas that are important to your business. Use your limited resources to explore fintech that can make a significant contribution to your FI. Experimenting with fintech partnerships that do nothing to drive bottom-line results may not be a good use of time and effort.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it shows how designing and planning a strategy in a fintech is cruicial to build an effective fintech business
mehdibella

FarmDrive - EWB Canada - 0 views

www.ewb.ca/farmdrive

Fintech Farmdrive kenya

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FarmDrive - EWB Canada
  • FarmDrive uses data analytics to connect smallholder farmers with financial institutions and credit, enabling crops and farmers to flourish. And all through a mobile phone.
  • FarmDrive uses data analytics and mobile technology to create financial profiles for farmers through a credit scoring model. When the financial institutions can view comprehensive profiles of a farmer’s economic performance, they are more likely to approve loans.By unlocking access to credit, FarmDrive enables smallholder farmers to access: Loans to purchase vital tools and assets. Insurance to bolster to protect against the natural seasonal vulnerabilities of farm work. Comprehensive financial profiles of their farming operations: a useful resource in scaling to service multiple partners or larger supply chains.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 12 Feb 21
       
      As a result, farmers can: Grow their businesses. Provide additional business opportunities for local communities. Promote local employment. Create more food, health and education.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • FarmDrive uses data analytics and mobile technology to create financial profiles for farmers through a credit scoring model. When the financial institutions can view comprehensive profiles of a farmer’s economic performance, they are more likely to approve loans.By unlocking access to credit, FarmDrive enables smallholder farmers to access: Loans to purchase vital tools and assets. Insurance to bolster to protect against the natural seasonal vulnerabilities of farm work. Comprehensive financial profiles of their farming operations: a useful resource in scaling to service multiple partners or larger supply chains.
    • samiatazi
      samiatazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      As a result, farmers can: Grow their businesses. Provide additional business opportunities for local communities. Promote local employment. Create more food, health and education.
kaoutarchennoufi

Impact | Kiva - 0 views

www.kiva.org/impact

Community Worldwide Impact

shared by kaoutarchennoufi on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • At Kiva, we are constantly working to reach new countries and communities, with loans that better serve the needs of borrowers and their families. Kiva lenders crowdfund an average of $2.5 million in loans each week, creating a unique, renewable pool of funds that is reshaping access to financial services around the world
    • kaoutarchennoufi
      kaoutarchennoufi on 12 Feb 21
       
      Kiva truly has a huge impact on improving people's lives. Providing 2.5$ million in loan each week is such an incredible and unique achievement. The special thing is that these loans are distributed across different countries around the globe and are given to different categories of people.
kaoutarchennoufi

Our partners | Kiva - 0 views

www.kiva.org/...our-partners

Partners LoansFunds Equipments WideRange

shared by kaoutarchennoufi on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Kiva receives a broad range of support from a diverse set of corporations and foundations. From discounted services and free software, to grants and financial backing, Kiva is grateful for each partner that helps us achieve our mission of expanding financial access to help underserved communities thrive. (Please note that the corporations and foundations listed have made contributions of either grants, loan funds, equipment or services in the last 30 months.)
    • kaoutarchennoufi
      kaoutarchennoufi on 12 Feb 21
       
      Kiva has a wide and diversified community of partners which will allow it to have a better problem solving and decision making, better reputation, higher engagement, and of course increased creativity and innovation. Also, thanks to this diversity, the partners don't only give loans, but they also contribute with equipments.
mbellakbail69

Why South African brands really should adopt an omni-channel model - Ventureburn - 0 views

ventureburn.com/...eally-adopt-omni-channel-model

Strategy South Africa

shared by mbellakbail69 on 27 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • These inconsistent experiences frustrate consumers, who see each brand as a single entity. They don’t know or care that there are different teams putting together the advertising, working in the call centre, and looking after the mobile app. They want a consistent experience from each of these touchpoints. Increasingly, they demand a seamless and connected experience that uses the mobile phone as the hub of communication. Financial firms, especially, face competitive threats from digital disruptors such as Google, PayPal, Apple, and South Africa’s Snapscan.
  • Unlike a multi-channel approach, mobile should not be viewed as a silo by a brand that is committed to omni-channel experiences. With a sound mobile strategy integrated into an omni-channel approach, brands can use push messages effectively within their apps to send personalised messages to customers if they have their permission.
kenza_abdelhaq

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

www.seedstars.com/...llenges-entrepreneurship-ghana

AgroCenta Ghana Specialized market

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • 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
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      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
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      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
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      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.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • 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
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      aminej on 12 Feb 21
       
      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
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      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
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      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.
nouhaila_zaki

The future of Africa's Agriculture rests with the youth | E-Agriculture - 2 views

www.fao.org/...80%99s-agriculture-rests-youth

Demographic Technological African Youth Digital Literacy Agriculture Unemployment

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 16 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The youth in the study said that their biggest obstacle to a career in farming was learning the digital and technical skills needed in todays’ market. Technologies such as cloud computing, soil sensors, drones have changed food production and processing – digital literacy is now a must!
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 16 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it emphasizes on how digital literacy could contribute to the creation of jobs in Africa, which are most needed.
  • he second important reasons they raised was land ownership, most youths who receive farming land get smaller pieces of land parceled out. The challenge is that young farmers must produce more yields from smaller spaces, without innovative technologies In some countries for example in Kenya, some youth are innovatively establishing youth-driven innovations which sadly do not receive political or financial support that allows for viability and scalability.
  • Africa is in the height of a crisis and an opportunity. Africa’s population stands at 1,2 billion people and over 60% are below the age of 25. Yet most African youths are not employed, and according to the World Bank by 2035, 350 million new jobs will be needed. Africa’s population is growing faster than jobs are created. There is a potential for agriculture to create employment, however, African youths in Sub-Saharan Africa do not realize agriculture as a profitable opportunity for livelihood. There is a growing notion that the best way to entice young people back to the farms is through making youths access information and communication technologies tailored for agriculture.
nouhaila_zaki

AgroCenta - 0 views

www.globalinnovationexchange.org/...agrocenta

AgroCenta Ghana Competitive Advantage

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta's innovation focuses on the post harvest value chain. The suite of services within AgroCenta provides an end-to-end solution that ensures that it provides a win-win situation for the smallholder farmer and all active players in the value chain. If a smallholder farmer wants to know the latest market price of maize in the nearest market to enable him price competitively, he uses AgroInfo to request for information via SMS and Voice solutions. After the farmers has made a decision on how much to sell, the farmer's commodity information are uploaded onto the AgroTrade platform to connect him to buyers. When a trade agreement is reached between the farmer and a buyer, the farmer requests for TruckR, which is the truck delivery service component of AgroCenta, in real time using mobile phone. After the commodities are sold to the buyer, the farmer is paid via the AgroPay solution, which is the financial inclusion platform within AgroCenta
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      The important message to take from AgroCenta is that it gives win-win situations for all players. Smallholder farmers as well as those active in the value chain are taking advantage of this concept.
  • AgroCenta targets about 10 million smallholder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa within the next 5 years to help them trade fairly. Over 90% of these smallholder farmers live under $1 and are not able to make enough money from sales proceed to take care of their families and re-invest a percentage of the money raised back into their farms.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta's value proposition lies in the advantage of providing the last mile market access for smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain through extensive collaboration with many partners who play an active role in the value chain.
  • AgroCenta's value proposition lies in the advantage of providing the last mile market access for smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain through extensive collaboration with many partners who play an active role in the value chain.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • AgroCenta provides an end-to-end solution for smallholder farmers in the post-harvest value chain from farm to market, leveraging on technology to create impact. AgroCenta's services include a market linkage platform (AgroTrade) linking farmers directly to buyers and removing exploitative buying, TruckR which is an on-demand trucks and logistics services (uber for trucks), AgroPay which is a financial inclusion plaform for the rural unbanked smallholder farmer.
  • AgroCenta has launched and piloted its Smallholder Farmer Integration Platform (AgroTrade) and has currently signed up over 7500 smallholder farmers in the staple food (rice, maize, soybean, sorghum and millet) value chain and connected them to a larger market (offtakers) to trade fairly. Also AgroCenta has recruited the services of 30 agents who work in close collaboration with smallholder farmer and farmer based organizations in 30 communities. Agents are responsible for signing up smallholder farmers onto the AgroCenta platform, uploading trade deals on behalf of farmers and collecting market price information from major markets across the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions in Ghana.
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 12 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta provides an end to end solution for smallholder farmers in the post-harvest value chain from farm to market
  • Competitive AdvantageAgroCenta's value proposition lies in the advantage of providing the last mile market access for smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain through extensive collaboration with many partners who play an active role in the value chain. Secondly the provision of an on-demand access to trucks (uber for trucks) enables commodities to be moved from farms to markets etc in real time, reducing food glut and ensuring food security.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it highlights the competitive advantage that Agrocenta enjoys. This advantage relies upon two components: 1- The company's partners who are crucial actors in the value chain, 2- The provision of on-demand trucks that allow for the smooth and swift movement of goods.
  • AgroCenta is currently operating in 3 out of 10 regions in Ghana. Our expansion plans are to rollout the platform in the remaining 7 regions of Ghana by end of 2018 and sign up a total of 70,000 smallholder farmers to connect them directly to a market to trade and eliminate exploitative buying. Also AgroCenta plans to scale into immediate countries in West Africa (Ivory Coast & Nigeria) by end of 2020. The long-term goal of AgroCenta is to create the first of its kind commodity exchange and aggregations platform in sub Saharan Africa.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta wants to expand in the rest of Ghana's region before scaling into immediate countries in West Africa and finally moving to a Pan-African approach.
aminej

DabaDoc: Overview | LinkedIn - 0 views

www.linkedin.com/...dabadoc

Doctor Healthcare Morocco Algeria Tunisia Online Platform Services Mobile

shared by aminej on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • DabaDoc.com, an internet company, has a mission of improving access to healthcare in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. DabaDoc is the most convenient, free way to find a nearby health practitioner, instantly book an appointment online and ask the community of doctors all types of medical questions !
    • aminej
      aminej on 11 Feb 21
       
      I love this concept because it is very innovative and practical for people who urgently need an appointment with a doctor. In Morocco, most of the nurses who work with doctors are the one charged with taking appointments, unfortunately they do not answer the phone and people end up without appointments so I believe it can resolve this issue since you will not need to go through the nurse to take your appointment.
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