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nouhaila_zaki

Fintechs seize opportunities in Africa remittances market - African Business - 0 views

african.business/...-in-africas-remittances-market

Mukuru Lesotho African remittances market Pandemic

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Yet the pandemic and increasing competition have presented an opportunity for newer, nimble firms such as WorldRemit and Mukuru, who use disruptive online technology through smartphones, and often undercut the prices traditional remittance firms charge customers to send money to the continent. 
  • WorldRemit also partnered with OPay, a Nigerian financial services technology company, and Mukuru, an Africa-based remittances fintech business operating in over 20 African markets. The deal now means there will be no charges for Mukuru customers on cash collections for transactions with WorldRemit.  
  • For Mukuru, the weakening of the informal trade has meant growth has accelerated since April, says CEO Andy Jury, although the long-term impact of Covid-19 on labour migration is unknown. 
  • ...1 more annotation...
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      These excerpts reflect how by weakening the informal remittances sector, the pandemic has become a growth opportunity for Mukuru. Also, the excerpts reflect how the collaboration and partnership between Mukuru and other companies i.e. WorldRemit, helped Mukuru prosper.
nourserghini

Jobs and Careers at Capiter, Egypt | WUZZUF - 0 views

wuzzuf.net/...Capiter-Egypt-50922

Capiter Egypt Services

shared by nourserghini on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Capiter is a financial technology company that offers smart cash flow & credit solutions to businesses. Capiter empowers businesses to increase their sales, grow their customer base and improve their cash flow. We’re building and scaling our products in the F&B and agri sectors. We’re hiring top talents. We offer competitive packages, unique growth opportunities and an environment of a highly talented and diverse team. Specialities: Cash flow & credit solutions to businesses
    • nourserghini
      nourserghini on 13 Feb 21
       
      This is interesting because not only does it state that Capiter works with credit solutions and smart cash flows, but that it's also working on serving F&B and the agri-sector.
ghtazi

African fintech startup Jumo raises $12.5M more to fund Asia expansion | TechCrunch - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...jumo-raises-12-5m

Tanzania Jumo Loans

shared by ghtazi on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • African fintech startup Jumo has pulled in a fresh $12.5 million to add more fuel for its expansion into Asia Pacific.
  • Jumo specializes in social impact financial products, such as microloans, savings and insurance.
  • It started in Tanzania, and today claims to have originated more than $1 billion in loans.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      Jumo started in Tanzania and claims that it has originated more than 1 billion loans. Jumo specializes in financial goods with social effects, such as microloans, deposits, and insurance. it was fonded in 2014
  • hindelquarrouti on 13 Feb 21
     
    After being successful in the African continent, Jumo is now expanding to Asia as it seems being a good fit for a company that is offering microloans.
mehdibella

Goldman Sachs cash confirms Jumo as fintech heavyweight - 1 views

www.theafricareport.com/...ms-jumo-as-fintech-heavyweight

Jumo Fintech finance SouthAfrica

shared by mehdibella on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Created in 2015 in Cape Town by Andrew Watkins-Ball, the company, which specializes in savings, loans and insurance for people and small businesses far from the traditional banking system, has raised $55 million (50 million euro) in debt and venture capital from the American bank.
    • samielbaqqali
      samielbaqqali on 11 Feb 21
       
      The company asked for a big amount from an American bank in order to perfect their investment.
  • Created in 2015 in Cape Town by Andrew Watkins-Ball, the company, which specializes in savings, loans and insurance for people and small businesses far from the traditional banking system, has raised $55 million (50 million euro) in debt and venture capital from the American bank.
  • The company has raised nearly $146 million since its creation from renowned players such as Google, which integrated Jumo into its accelerator in May 2017, the Mastercard foundation, development institutions such as Finnfund and Proparco (the private branch of the French Development Agency).
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Goldman Sachs cash confirms Jumo as fintech heavyweight
  • By entering Jumo's final $55 million round of financing, the US bank Goldman Sachs is raising the South African fintech's profile
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      the company has taken millions of dollars to secure the continuation of this project
  • Jumo is connected to continental telecom operators such as Tigo, Airtel, and MTN as well as traditional banks such as Letshego in Ghana and Barclays in Zambia, to integrate its offers with those of its partners.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      it made a lot of partnerships arround many companies that would make transactions easier
  • Since 2018, the start-up has partnered with Uber in Nairobi to provide drivers with access to loans for the purchase of cars based on their rating and with flexible repayment options.By 2019, the start-up, claimed to have provided more than $bn in loans to 15 million customers, and to employ 300 people across 11 countries.
  • Since 2018, the start-up has partnered with Uber in Nairobi to provide drivers with access to loans for the purchase of cars based on their rating and with flexible repayment options.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      this is once again a smart move from jumo, they diversify their activity, which can be more than benefic for them.
  • Jumo is already active in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia and has representation in Cape Town, New Delhi, London, Mumbai, Nairobi, Porto, and Singapore, where its founder is now based.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt introduces us to the geographical scope of Jumo, which appears to be pretty large (in Africa and Asia).
  • By 2019, the start-up, claimed to have provided more than $bn in loans to 15 million customers, and to employ 300 people across 11 countries.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it gives us a measurement of how active Jumo is in providing customers with loans (one of their products). It also gives us an idea about the size of the company (300 employees accross 11 countries).
  • Jumo is connected to continental telecom operators such as Tigo, Airtel, and MTN as well as traditional banks such as Letshego in Ghana and Barclays in Zambia, to integrate its offers with those of its partners. Since 2018, the start-up has partnered with Uber in Nairobi to provide drivers with access to loans for the purchase of cars based on their rating and with flexible repayment options.
  • With this new round of financing — its fourth since April 2018 — the company, which targets emerging markets and is part of the very select club of African start-ups active beyond the continent’s borders, now intends to conquer Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, as well as Bangladesh and India
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      this countries can bring new options to jumo, not only new customers but also new services. These new entrances can bring to Jumo high revenues as well
  • hichamachir on 12 Feb 21
     
    JUMO is opting for a good strategy which is doing a partnership with Google. Partnerships with giant companies like google are always beneficial because they offer you great technology and a big capital to improve your business.
  • mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21
     
    I like the way JUMO chose its partners in the telecommunication industry. Partnering with MTN that is the first telecom operator in Africa and also a big fintech advocate is a good decision for JUMO to grow.
aymanelmamoun

No cash needed using South Africa's SnapScan - 1 views

www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/...48525

NoCash SnapScan Africa E-Payment

shared by aymanelmamoun on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Customers, when purchasing, simply need to scan a QR (quick response) code in store using their phones. And the customer can use any MasterCard or Visa card to sign up. Ehlers added: “We tried to design a product which allowed absolutely everybody to be part of the formal side of the economy.”
  • In an interview with How we made it in Africa, Ehlers explained: “A sizable part of why we built the product the way we did really relates to how the economy of South Africa functions. So to give one example, we built SnapScan so the merchant selling the products doesn’t need any special hardware at all. No point of sales system is required.” Merchants who don’t have bank accounts can redeem payments at any Standard Bank ATM or selected supermarkets.
    • samielbaqqali
      samielbaqqali on 12 Feb 21
       
      SnapScan is a new app that aims to make it easier to make mobile payments, so I think this unique concept will drive potential entrepreneurs to develop and build new ideas that can enhance real digital services. It isn't always a major challenge to develop a new concept, but the problem may be how to view the idea or how to preserve it. SnapScan is a notion of a new concept that in South Africa revolutionized mobile payments so that this company could inspire us to build better ideas.
  • SnapScan’s partnership with Standard Bank has allowed the company to grow faster. But Ehlers and his team are still required to adapt to the differences between the corporate and start-up worlds. He explained: “A start-up can quickly make a decision and then two hours later start implementing, whereas in a large corporation there is a process, things move a lot slower. Politics are involved and different people – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, just the reality.”
    • aymanelmamoun
      aymanelmamoun on 13 Feb 21
       
      SnapScan is cooperating with international banks in the aim of growing faster. Standard Bank is a example of alike partnerships, both companies adapt to the differences between the corporate and start-up worlds.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Why is this app so popular, and what does it do? In short it aims to replace the use of cash for both customer and merchant. What makes this unique for the merchant, is that they don’t need a bank account or a card machine to receive payments.
    • omarlahmidi
      omarlahmidi on 13 Feb 21
       
      SnapScan makes customer-s life much easier by providing many facilities.
  • SnapScan’s partnership with Standard Bank has allowed the company to grow faster. But Ehlers and his team are still required to adapt to the differences between the corporate and start-up worlds.
    • aymanelmamoun
      aymanelmamoun on 27 Feb 21
       
      Partnerships as important strength.
  • hichamachir on 11 Feb 21
     
    SnapScan is a new product that aims to make mobile payments easier, so I believe that this unique idea might push future entrepreneurs to innovate and create new ideas that can improve the actual digital services. Creating a new idea is not always a big problem but the problem might be how to interpret the idea or how to protect it. SnapScan is a concept of a new idea that revolutionized mobile payments in South Africa so this business might inspire us to create better ideas.
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.
hibaerrai

FarmDrive | WSA - 1 views

wsa-global.org/farmdrive

FarmDrive Agritech Kenya E-payments

shared by hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FarmDrive is a Kenyan ¬based social enterprise that is unlocking access to financial services for over 50 million smallholder farmers in Africa. Using simple mobile phone technology, alternative data sets, and sophisticated data analytics, FarmDrive is closing the critical information gap that keeps smallholder farmers from getting loans that would allow them to grow and diversify their businesses. Potentially creditworthy smallholder farmers are often denied loans because they lack the traditional credit profiles that lenders rely on to evaluate borrowers.FarmDrive bridges the funding gap between smallholder farmers and financial institutions in two ways. The first step is to bring together multiple streams of data to create yield-predictive agronomic algorithms specific to each farming vertical and geographical region. T hese streams of data can be classified into three categories: 1. Agronomic Data: crop portfolio, soil health, drainage, weeds, pests, etc. 2. Remote Sensing Data: vegetation, weather conditions, climate trends, etc. 3. Market Data: offtake security, price trends, etc. FarmDrive then creates credit profiles for farmers by combining the agronomic algorithm with behavioral data. The behavioral data is obtained from farmers through a simple SMS/Android mobile phone application. With this application, Farmers can track their revenues and expenses, and also send demographic information to FarmDrive.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive specializes in smallholder farmers businesses; it is not common in Africa. This Fintech helps farmers extract needed loans that will help them grow and expand. This initiative closes thus the gap between agricultors and financial services, and increases financial inclusion.
kenza_abdelhaq

FarmDrive - 0 views

farmdrive.co.ke/about-us

FarmDrive Kenya Specialized Farming

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • They did not have the capital to purchase the critical farming inputs that could increase their yields and revenues.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive fulfills the farmers' need to access funding in order to have a sustainable and growing agricultural activity.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "They did not have the capital to purchase the critical farming inputs that could increase their yields and revenues."
tahaemsd

Hello Paisa | Tracxn - 0 views

tracxn.com/...hellopaisa.co.za

Fintech Africa Payments modernization Service

shared by tahaemsd on 07 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Hello Paisa is a mobile based remittance service provider to and from South Africa. The service is based over HomeSend's mobile remittance hub. User can send and receive cash to bank account, wallet or at partnered locations.
    • nourserghini
      nourserghini on 07 Feb 21
       
      Hello-Paisa specializes in remittance sevices through HomeSend's mobile remittance hub in South Africa.
  • Founded Year2013LocationCenturion, South Africa
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 08 Feb 21
       
      Hello Paisa was created in 2013 and is located in Centurion, South Africa. Hello Paisa is a Mobile money remittance provider to and from South Africa,
  • ince its commercial launch in March 2015, Hello Group has signed up 70 000 Hello Paisa customers, of which 29 000 have downloaded its Android app for remittances. Hello Paisa claims to charge less than 5% of fee. 
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 13 Feb 21
       
      Statistics of HelloPaisa customers
kenza_abdelhaq

How Africa's Tech Generation Is Changing the Continent - 0 views

www.nationalgeographic.com/...africa-technology-revolution

FarmDrive Kenya Specialized market

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Bosire and Kimani launched FarmDrive in May 2015. The digital recordkeeping platform serves as a basis for bankers to establish credit ratings and determine which farmers are best suited for small loans. FarmDrive’s pilot program consisted of 50 farmers. Today hundreds of thousands are in FarmDrive’s database; about 830 have received financing. In turn the banks pay FarmDrive for essentially functioning as their credit bureau for Kenya’s vast farming community. The two entrepreneurs have no intention of stopping there. “There are more than five million small farmers in Kenya,” Bosire says. “Throughout Africa it’s about 50 million. But when we started FarmDrive, we always had global ambitions. We’re building solutions for farmers in Asia too.”
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive is now among popular agritech in Kenya, and Africa. The two creators are not stopping here, and are planning to expand their business to Asia and the world. I believe that the fact that customers who have issues with IT can easily use the platform, shows how big the fintech will be. It is a huge selling point.
  • But if it’s true that Kenya’s relative stability has contributed to Bosire and Kimani’s success, it’s also true—and typical of the Kenyan entrepreneurial experience—that FarmDrive has succeeded with little encouragement from the national government. In sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have achieved tech preeminence more from venture capital flowing into those large countries than from government action.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      The main source of FarmDrive financing is venture capital investments. The company received very little help from the government.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "But if it's true that Kenya's relative stability has contributed to Bosire and Kimani's success, it's also true-and typical of the Kenyan entrepreneurial experience-that FarmDrive has succeeded with little encouragement from the national government. In sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have achieved tech preeminence more from venture capital flowing into those large countries than from government action."
kenza_abdelhaq

AgroCenta raises US$ 790k of Pre-Series A Working Capital & Development Funding From Sh... - 0 views

medium.com/...unding-from-shell-7db364912b9f

AgroCenta Ghana Specialized financing

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Francis Obirikorang, AgroCenta’s CEO and Co-Founder Michael Ocansey highlight the importance and criticality of this investment: “This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission. The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana, hence this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid”.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it highlights how the investments received by AgroCenta from investors and partners (UK charity Shell Foundation, the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), AV Ventures and Rabo Foundation) helped the company mitigate the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, and allowed for its operations to continue and frow.
  • This funding, secured from UK charity Shell Foundation, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), AV Ventures and Rabo Foundation, will enable AgroCenta to further develop its smallholder farmer inclusion programmes and procure crops at transparent and fair market prices to service offtake contracts.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta receives funding from diverse global institutions in order to invest in its inclusion programs.
  • In addition, lacking adequate infrastructure, logistics and transportation also limits their access to larger urban markets, where they could obtain much better pricing for their crops. Furthermore, the lack of basic data that enables KYC (Know Your Customer) and a limited or non-existent credit history means that smallholders have very limited access to finance. This prevents them from being able to utilise all of their land for growing crops or forces them to resort to using lower quality inputs — leading to stagnation at the bottom of the pyramid.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta doesn't only help smallholder farmers to have access to markets and financing, but it also supports them with logistics, transportation, and infrastructure.
kenza_abdelhaq

Ghana: Pan-African Savings and Loans Supports Small Holder Farmers - allAfrica.com - 0 views

allafrica.com/...202008180272.html

AgroCenta Ghana Specialized Partnership

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The facilities are being made available by the Pan African Savings and Loans Limited in partnership with AgroCenta, under their Financial Inclusion for Small Holder Farmers in Africa Project (FISFAP) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta partners up with different entities as part of projects and alliances to provide loans and financial advisory services to small holder farmers.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "The facilities are being made available by the Pan African Savings and Loans Limited in partnership with AgroCenta, under their Financial Inclusion for Small Holder Farmers in Africa Project (FISFAP) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)"
hibaerrai

Ghanaian agri-tech startup AgroCenta closes $650k seed round of funding - 0 views

disrupt-africa.com/...ses-650k-seed-round-of-funding

AgroCenta Agritech Fintech Ghana Africa Investment

shared by hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Founded in 2015, AgroCenta is an online sales solution for smallholder farmers, with two offerings – supply chain platform AgroTrade, and financial inclusion service AgroPay.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta has two different platforms; a supply chain one specialized in agricultural storages, seed sales, elevator services and basically the supply of primary elements. The fintech has also a financial services platform Agropay which is basically about loans and e-payments.
  • Disrupt Africa reported yesterday AgroCenta was one of six African startups awarded non-equity funding by the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator. Though the startup’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Francis Obirikorang declined to disclose the breakdown of equity versus grant cash, Disrupt Africa can confirm that the GSMA input is worth around US$250,000. Obirikorang said the funds will be used to scale up AgroCenta’s operations in Ghana, while the GSMA grant is more specifically geared towards the AgroPay platform, which provides any smallholder farmer who has traded using AgroTrade with a financial statement they can use to get access to finance.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta was granted about 650000$ in order to grow its activities as its potential is clear. The agritech was granted 250K from GSMA ecosystem only as well.
mbellakbail69

WSA IMPACT STORIES AGROCENTA | WSA - 0 views

wsa-global.org/...wsa-impact-stories-agrocenta

shared by mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Since 2017, AgroCenta has successfully completed two rounds of funding to the tune of $750,000 to expand operations in Ghana. In 2017, AgroCenta won the Seedstars Global Competition against other 72 startups from emerging markets across the globe. AgroCenta has grown its farmer base to 45,000 providing additional services of access to finance for smallholder farmers, bringing smallholder farmers onto the financial sector to enjoy services such as crop insurance, micro lending/input financing, mobile payments through mobile money and finally pensions schemes targeted at farmers and beneficiaries in the informal sector with special attention to women and youth. Since 2017, AgroCenta has helped over 28,000 farmers sell over 20,000MT of commodities to large, medium and small scale buyers across the country.   In December 2018, AgroCenta won a grant of $250,000 from GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Fund to further build its financial inclusion platform AgroPay targeted at rural smallholder farmers.
    • mbellakbail69
      mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21
       
      This start-up in agriculture has an impact and works towards zero starvation. Farmers make more profits by directly selling the goods to the off-taking companies and the company agrees to bring the products in a record time from point A to B, by passing intermediaries and paying wide price ranges.
ghtazi

AV Ventures Invests in AgroCenta, Supporting Digital and Financial Inclusion of Ghanaia... - 0 views

www.acdivoca.org/...f-ghanaian-smallholder-farmers

Agrocenta COVID19 Security

shared by ghtazi on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AV Ventures, ACDI/VOCA’s impact investing subsidiary, recently completed its investment in AgroCenta, a technology-driven agricultural platform provider in Ghana. The funding made by AV Ventures is part of a US$790,000 pre-Series A investment round with other participating international institutions, including Shell Foundation, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Rabo Foundation, with support from AgroCenta’s strategic advisor, Qbera Capital.
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 12 Feb 21
       
      With the newly secured funding, agrocenta will widen the reach of its smallholder farmer financial inclusion programs
  • The digital services AgroCenta provides along the selected cereals value chain also improve the repayment of loans by smallholder farmers. The services provide farmers with an end market through the offtaking of produce and through facilitating the provision of high-quality agricultural inputs, which maximize their yields and productivity. To date, the average farmer on CropChain has increased their income by 35 percent and their crop yields by 40 percent, while reducing their food waste by 25 percent. AgroCenta has also made strides to promote gender and social inclusion; nearly half of its CropChain users and more than half of its microloan borrowers on LendIt are female smallholder farmers. 
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it introduces the results of using AgroCenta on smallholder farmers, ranging between the maximization of productivity, of income, reduction of food waste,to gender and social inclusion.
  • Founded in 2016, AgroCenta operates two integrated digital platforms in Ghana, CropChain and LendIt, to help address challenges related to smallholder farmers’ access to markets and financial services.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      Since 2016, AgroCenta operates 2 digital platforms: - CropChain: integrated agricultural supply chain management platform. - LendIt: allowing access to financial services like mobile payments, microloans, crop insurance.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Poor infrastructure and logistics prevent many smallholder farmers in Ghana from accessing large, urban markets where they could obtain better prices for their crops. Many of these farmers lack information on fair market prices, which leaves them susceptible to selling at low prices to middlemen. Without a strong credit history, many of them also have limited access to finance for purchasing high-quality agricultural inputs that would enable them to scale beyond subsistent production.  
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      this excerpt shows reasons why smallholder farmers should consider agrocenta to increase their profitability and their revenues
  • For AV Ventures, the investment is part of its long-term strategy of providing innovative and catalytic capital to support growth-oriented small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) like AgroCenta that make up the “missing middle” of investment — too large for microfinance but too small or too early-stage to attract private equity investors. These SMEs are often the backbone of economies and potential drivers of innovation, but too often they miss out on financing that could enable their growth and longevity.  
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta attracts more investors as it is considered among small and medium businesses that promote innovation. In fact, the fintech is specialized in agricultural loans, something not that common in the country.
  • CropChain is an integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that provides smallholder farmers with access to markets. Farmers use the platform to advertise their produce, while large offtakers or buyers of selected cereals use it to make purchases or enter long-term offtaker purchase contracts with AgroCenta. AgroCenta leverages the platform to source cereals directly from smallholder farmers to supply to large offtakers who have contracts with the company. This allows AgroCenta to earn margins between the price it pays farmers and the contractually agreed upon price with offtakers.
    • mbellakbail69
      mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta draws even more investment amongst SMEs that promote innovation. This extract shows some of the reasons why smallholders should consider Agrocentra for increasing the profitability and income .
  • “This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission. The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing, and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana. Hence, this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid.”
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      in this excerpt, we can see how agrocenta takes the pandemic situation and what are the solutions that the company adopts to face it.
mehdi-ezzaoui

Entrepreneurs from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe now fundraising... - 0 views

vc4a.com/...babwe-fundraising-on-vc4africa

Belcash banking payments

shared by mehdi-ezzaoui on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Belcash provides an ICT platform to banks and coordinates the roll out, with special focus on rural areas. LOI with local banks are signed for implementation. The project is advised by a former CEO of a large Dutch Development Bank and 2 international banks sit in the advisory board.
  • mehdi-ezzaoui on 13 Feb 21
     
    Participation of Belcash in the foundraising
mehdibella

FWRY.CA - Fawry for Banking Tech and Elec Pay SAE Profile | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...FWRY.CA

Kiva kenya Nairobi Fintech finance

shared by mehdibella on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payment SAE Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting
  • The Company allows users to pay bills in multiple channels, such as online, using automated teller machine (ATMs), mobile wallets and retail points. The Company provides operations services specialized in systems and communications, management, operating and maintenance of equipment and computers networks services and internal systems of banks, networks, and centralized systems. The Company also establish operating systems for banking services through the Internet, phone and e-payment services. The Company’s network of retailers includes small groceries, pharmacies, stationaries, and post-offices, among others.
omarlahmidi

Inside SnapScan, SA's app of the year - TechCentral - 2 views

techcentral.co.za/...43230

Africa SnapScan E-Payments

shared by omarlahmidi on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The company makes its money by charging a small transaction fee to the retailer on each purchase. This fee varies. “We take a small transaction fee, much like the acquiring component to merchant transactions,” Ehlers says. SnapScan has a partnership with Standard Bank, which means it can process transactions at “competitive rates”, he adds. In addition to transaction fees, SnapScan offers its customers the option of accessing analytics or running loyalty programmes, both of which are billed as add-ons.
  • SnapScan co-founder, 28-year-old Kobus Ehlers, says there are a number of benefits to this approach for retailers. “It takes about 30 seconds to sign up. We issue a QR code, which you print, and you’re done.” Merchants without bank accounts can cash out their takings at the end of the day. “Customers can pay with the app, the retailer can then get a voucher code at the end of the day that they can punch in at a Standard Bank ATM — or hand over at a Spar — and get cash.” If customers don’t have the app installed, scanning the QR code will take them to the relevant app store where they can download it.
    • samielbaqqali
      samielbaqqali on 12 Feb 21
       
      Low transaction fees are often a strong opportunity to draw customers and this technique is perfectly executed by SnapScan. SnapScan, in my view, plays smart because they deliver a fast and digitalized service with a special QR code technology, so they deserve to win the South African app of the year.
  • If customers don’t have the app installed, scanning the QR code will take them to the relevant app store where they can download it.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • To use SnapScan, consumers download the app for Apple, Android or BlackBerry, and add their credit card details by taking a picture of their card and creating a Pin. They can then use the app to scan a QR (quick response) code — a type of barcode — in a store and can make payments.
  • The company makes its money by charging a small transaction fee to the retailer on each purchase. This fee varies. “We take a small transaction fee, much like the acquiring component to merchant transactions,” Ehlers says. SnapScan has a partnership with Standard Bank, which means it can process transactions at “competitive rates”, he adds. In addition to transaction fees, SnapScan offers its customers the option of accessing analytics or running loyalty programmes, both of which are billed as add-ons. The company offers three products. The first is an “instant merchant product” aimed at informal retailers who want their takings in cash. The second is the “standard” product that settles into a bank account like a traditional point-of-sale (POS) unit. The third is an “enterprise solution” designed to integrate with existing POS systems.
  • SnapScan works with debit cards and credit cards, and there are no sign-up, setup or installation fees. There is also no monthly fee payable.
    • aymanelmamoun
      aymanelmamoun on 13 Feb 21
       
      SnapScan enters the market by offering many facilities to attract new customers. The application supports both debit and credit cards, no sign-ups or installation fees, and payments are made monthly.
  • SnapScan falls under FireID, the company that now houses six start-up technology businesses, SnapScan being the most recently launched. FireID started life as an information security company specialising in “two-factor authentication” technology for mobile phones. It was funded by billionaire Johann Rupert, through Reinet. Justin Stanford, one of FireID’s co-founders, was instrumental in securing the initial capital injection. However, Stanford was unable to convince Reinet’s investment committee to continue investing and in 2011 it pulled its funding of FireID, forcing the company to lay off its 40 employees.
    • omarlahmidi
      omarlahmidi on 13 Feb 21
       
      To attract customers, SnapScan uses many facilities such as accepting credit and debit cards.
  • hichamachir on 11 Feb 21
     
    The low transaction fees are always a good incentive to attract customers and SnapScan are implementing this strategy perfectly. In my opinion, SnapScan is playing smart because they offer a fast and digitalized service with a unique technology which is QR code, so they deserve to win the app of the year in South Africa.
  • chaimaa-rachid on 13 Feb 21
     
    SnapScan offered a digital service. The company has created efficiency and security with its QR code techniques.
  • hindelquarrouti on 13 Feb 21
     
    It is interesting and encouraging to customers the fact that they don't need to pay any sign-up, setup or installation fees in order to benefit from snapscan
mehdibella

Standard Bank snaps up major stake in SnapScan maker | Fin24 - 1 views

www.news24.com/...of-snapscan-developer-20161212

Fintech finance SouthAfrica snapscan

shared by mehdibella on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The company will continue to develop and expand its offering to provide a range of product development and payments services.Kobus Ehlers, Firepay CEO, said: “Our team is looking forward to building out our payments platform to solve the real-world payments problems we have always focused on, and to provide customers with the best experience possible. We’re excited to work with Standard Bank in our mission to achieve this both in South Africa and across the continent.”
  • “We are excited about working more closely with the Firepay team and think that there is an excellent strategic fit between their capabilities and Standard Bank’s vision for a truly universal bank, both in South Africa and throughout the African continent,” said Wendy Pienaar, SBSA Head of Emerging Payments.“Firepay’s experienced team and industry know-how will be used to bolster Standard Bank’s emerging payments strategy,” she added.In addition to SnapScan, the Firepay team’s technology platform already enables payments for several clients, including WeChat and Masterpass.
    • samielbaqqali
      samielbaqqali on 12 Feb 21
       
      SnapScan's plan for expansion seems very important to me. They will accomplish enormous things on the African continent with the financial aid of Standard Bank and the special service that SnapScan offers.
  • “We are excited about working more closely with the Firepay team and think that there is an excellent strategic fit between their capabilities and Standard Bank’s vision for a truly universal bank, both in South Africa and throughout the African continent,” said Wendy Pienaar, SBSA Head of Emerging Payments.“Firepay’s experienced team and industry know-how will be used to bolster Standard Bank’s emerging payments strategy,” she added.In addition to SnapScan, the Firepay team’s technology platform already enables payments for several clients, including WeChat and Masterpass.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Johannesburg - South African financial services provider Standard Bank has acquired a majority share of Firepay, the company behind the quick response code payment app SnapScan.
  • Firepay launched the SnapScan app in partnership with Standard Bank in 2014 and today has 32 000 physical and online merchants.The app, which is connected to a bank account or mobile wallet, allows users to make payments from their mobile device by scanning a QR (quick response) code.
  • “We are excited about working more closely with the Firepay team and think that there is an excellent strategic fit between their capabilities and Standard Bank’s vision for a truly universal bank, both in South Africa and throughout the African continent,” said Wendy Pienaar, SBSA Head of Emerging Payments.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      I find that Contributing to students wellfare is amazing by this parternship.
  • hichamachir on 11 Feb 21
     
    SnapScan expansion strategy seems quite interesting for me. With the financial help of Standard Bank and the unique service that SnapScan provides, they can achieve huge things in the African continent.
mehdibella

EWB Canada announces new investment in Kenyan fintech startup FarmDrive - Ventureburn - 0 views

ventureburn.com/...wb-canada-investment-farmdrive

Fintech Farmdrive kenya

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The startup aim to deliver productive digital loans and lay away savings products to smallholder farmers and EWB Canada said the investment will allow the startup to scale to $13 million of loan
  • EWB Canada’s acting director of investments Elena Haba said the startup has the potential to fill the credit gap between creditors and underserved small business owners like smallholder farmers.
  • FarmDrive’s Bosire said the startup intends to create shared value by increasing agriculture portfolios in Africa from its current four percent of total lending to 25% and onwards.Said Bosire: “We are going where banks haven’t reached and are creating a trust ecosystem in the most unstructured sector in sub Saharan Africa – Agriculture”.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      The startup aim to deliver productive digital loans and lay away savings products to smallholder farmers and EWB Canada said the investment will allow the startup to scale to $13 million of loan
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Kenyan fintech FarmDrive has received a new investment from Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB Canada). It follows a $50 000 investment the startup received from EWB Canada and others in 2016 and an undisclosed investment by Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund in 2017.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      I believe that it is amazing having investors from around the world supporting FarmDrive. Promoting these kinds of fintechs will help in creating more specialized ones, and I believe that it is necessary.
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