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mehdi-ezzaoui

This startup has a simple plan to de-risk small-scale African farming | The Optimist Da... - 1 views

  • African agriculture, especially small farms, have not had it easy over the past few years. Droughts, pests, floods, and local conflict have exacerbated challenges for many food producers. This is why insurtech startup Pula is working to provide small farmers with insurance to help manage the implications of climate change and other environmental uncertainties. The startup begins the farming season by sending representatives to farms to gauge the potential yield of the season. Pula then sends this estimate to insurance companies to generate a policy offer. According to Pula, the initiative has been so successful because in every African country they have worked in, there are insurance companies willing to support their initiative.
  •  
    "African agriculture, especially small farms, have not had it easy over the past few years. Droughts, pests, floods, and local conflict have exacerbated challenges for many food producers. This is why insurtech startup Pula is working to provide small farmers with insurance to help manage the implications of climate change and other environmental uncertainties.  The startup begins the farming season by sending representatives to farms to gauge the potential yield of the season. Pula then sends this estimate to insurance companies to generate a policy offer. According to Pula, the initiative has been so successful because in every African country they have worked in, there are insurance companies willing to support their initiative."
  •  
    Insurtech is one of the fastest growing fintech sectors. Pula recently raised $6 million in a Series A fundraising and plans to expand its innovative business model to Asia soon.
chaimaa-rachid

Badly needed, hard to deliver: the challenges of selling drought insurance to African f... - 0 views

  • WorldCover began with pilot programs in several African countries. Four years on, it has sold drought insurance to about 30,000 customers. Its largest customer base is in Ghana, and it recently expanded into Kenya. But the firm has also encountered some of the same market barriers that have hampered other African microinsurance programs.
  • WorldCover began with pilot programs in several African countries. Four years on, it has sold drought insurance to about 30,000 customers. Its largest customer base is in Ghana, and it recently expanded into Kenya. But the firm has also encountered some of the same market barriers that have hampered other African microinsurance programs.
  •  
    This article clarifies the various difficulties and goes to showcase the methodology that Worldcover has received to enter the African market. It's fascinating to see that the two fundamental difficulties looked at by the organization were showcasing and logistical problems.
ayachehbouni

Prime and SimbaPay partner to launch international money transfer service | Mobile Paym... - 0 views

  • "Businesses as well as Kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad send over $18 Billion to other African countries," Karanja said in the release. "Asia and Europe annually with several billion Kenya Shillings going through the SimbaPay network. Therefore, this service will offer Prime Bank's customers a world-class fully digital International Money Transfer service."
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is very important because it explains that $18 billion are transferred by businesses, other kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad to other African countries. Hence, the partnership between SimbaPay and Prime Bank is expected to improve international money transfer for these people, who represent a large market.
  • SimbaPay's head of operations, Victor Karanja, stated the service will provide a seamless platform for Prime Bank's customer base to send money abroad.
    • ghtazi
       
      I found the collaboration between Prime Bank and SimbaPay really smart because it will help them to extend their capacity and attract new customers. it is a win-win situation.
    • rayanbenabdallah
       
      Indeed the collaboration between Prime Bank and SimbaPay is a smart move for both compagnies. The joint force will enable a very important customer expansion.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is very important because it explains that $18 billion are transferred by businesses, other kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad to other African countries. Hence, the partnership between SimbaPay and Prime Bank is expected to improve international money transfer for these people, who represent a large market.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Prime Bank, a private bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based fintech, SimbaPay, to launch an instant international money transfer service via the bank's digital platform, PrimeMobi, according to a press releaseThrough SimbaPay, Prime Bank customers will now be able to instantly and securely send money directly to bank accounts or mobile wallets across 15 countries including Africa, Europe, Asia, India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Uganda.
  • Prime Bank, a private bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based fintech, SimbaPay, to launch an instant international money transfer service via the bank's digital platform, PrimeMobi, according to a press releaseThrough SimbaPay, Prime Bank customers will now be able to instantly and securely send money directly to bank accounts or mobile wallets across 15 countries including Africa, Europe, Asia, India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Uganda.
    • sawsanenn
       
      This excerpt shows different countries that simbapay is working with.It shows that the app is not only limited to kenya and china but to other countries which will allow simbapay to acquire more customers worldwide
  • Prime Bank, a private bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based fintech, SimbaPay, to launch an instant international money transfer service via the bank's digital platform, PrimeMobi, according to a press releaseThrough SimbaPay, Prime Bank customers will now be able to instantly and securely send money directly to bank accounts or mobile wallets across 15 countries including Africa, Europe, Asia, India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Uganda.
    • hibaerrai
       
      Simbapay partnership with Prime Bank has allowed it to launch an international branch in the fintech in which you can transfer money to different other countries.
  • Prime and SimbaPay partner to launch international money transfer service
    • ayachehbouni
       
      This partnership is fruitful for both sides as it will increase both parties reach and customer base.
hibaerrai

Mukuru expands to more African countries - 0 views

  • The remittances services were declared an essential service during the lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.South Africa moved to level 3 lockdown late in December after the country breached the one million mark of confirmed Covid-19 cases while Zimbabwe went into a hard lockdown as the entire country was declared a coronavirus hotspot as the infection rates drastically surged in all the country’s regions.“We remain cautiously optimistic we can continue in the year ahead to layer new products and services onto our platform to unlock value and move our customers up along the financial inclusion curve.“We will also constantly look to build our network and footprint across Africa and beyond, which will allow us to grow our business not only in terms of the breadth of relevant products and services we offer, but in the depth of customer markets we serve,” said Jury.
    • hibaerrai
       
      Mukuru use increased in the Covid-19 as it is easier to transfer money online. This fintech needs thus to present new services that will make a difference from other fintechs in the country. Also associating with WorldRemit was very important to develop within the country.
mohammed_ab

Top 5 African FinTech Startups to Keep Your Eyes on in 2019 - 2 views

  • Since its inception, about 7.5 million customers have used the platform to either save or source credit. Of this number, about 75% are small business owners. All eyes will be watching to see what big deals come next this year for Jumo.
  • Jumo facilitates digital financial services such as credit and savings in emerging markets. The startup, founded in 2014 by Watkins-Ball is already active in seven African countries — South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as in Pakistan and Singapore.
    • samielbaqqali
       
      JUMO is used by most small business owners because they feel that their business can be strengthened by this business. JUMO has found small business solutions and these small companies will become big businesses, so it would be good for the organization to be part of this improvement.
  • Last year, the Cape Town-based fintech startup became the first South African startup to be selected by Google for its Launchpad accelerator. Since its inception in January 2015 to April 2017, the company has grown from just seven to 300 employees.
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    Most small business owners use JUMO because they believe that this company can improve their business. JUMO found solutions for small businesses and these small businesses can become big businesses, so being part of this improvement would be beneficial for the company.
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    I like the idea that a South African company is competing with a lot of fintech companies and has been selected by Google for an accelerator program. I think that the company could learn many insights from this accelator.
mbellakbail69

Prime Bank launches a international money transfer service, SimbaPay - Intelligent CIO ... - 0 views

  • “Through our digital platforms, we aim to make available a one stop solution to our customers in terms of funds transfer and with the inclusion of SimbaPay, our customers will now send money to friends and family across the world at the comfort of their mobile phones,” added Kantaria.
    • tahaemsd
       
      Customers need only to log into the bank's mobile banking app "primemobi" and click on international money transfer icon. After that, the sender's bank account will be debited and money credited to the beneficiary instantly.
  • “Businesses, as well as Kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad, send over US$18 billion to other African countries, Asia and Europe annually with several billion Kenya Shillings going through the Simbapay network. Therefore, this service will offer Prime Bank’s customers a world-class fully digital international money transfer service,” added Karanja.
    • ghtazi
       
      Having a world-class fully digital international money transfer will be a plus for the African countries. Since businesses, Kenyans, and expatriates with family and friends abroad, send over 18 billion US dollars. With the collaboration of the two companies, people will feel more secure to send their money.
    • mbellakbail69
       
      A complete online international money transfer would be a bonus for African countries to have a world class. Since Kenyan businesses and expatriates send out over US$18 billion with family and friends abroad. The partnership of both businesses will ensure that people are safer in sending their money.
  • Prime Bank’s Director for Business Development, Vijay Kantaria, said the tier 2 lender has embarked on investment in technology through partnering with various FinTechs to accelerate its digital integration plan.
    • sawsanenn
       
      it is a good initiative to extend the digital world and bring more people into it
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • To access the service, customers will need to log in to the bank’s mobile banking app – PrimeMobi, then click on International Money Transfer icon on the homescreen. After confirming the amount to be sent, the sender’s bank account will be debited and money credited to the beneficiary instantly.
    • aymanelmamoun
       
      The easy access allows customers to transfer money internationally using a single account in homescreen.
    • mbellakbail69
       
      A complete online international money transfer would be a bonus for African countries to have a world class. Since Kenyan businesses and expatriates send out over US$18 billion with family and friends abroad. The partnership of both businesses will ensure that people are safer in sending their money.
hindelquarrouti

M-Pesa: Most Innovative Company | Fast Company - 0 views

  • Like many parts of the developing world, Africans are significantly less likely to have bank accounts and credit or debit cards. But mobile phones have penetrated the African market, and in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, the majority of people have a workable phone.
  • M-Pesa is a Kenyan mobile payments platform, one of the first of its kind in Africa (
  • he service has been a runaway success since launching in 2007, operating in 10 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and earning Safaricom 19.4 billion shillings (about $190 million) in the first half of 2015. It seems likely that as cell phone use continues to proliferate on the African continent, M-Pesa's transactions will grow, too.
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    As mentioned in the article, Africans are less likely to have bank accounts, so it is a very good idea to create such a service. In addition, almost everyone has a cell phone, so it will be easier for them to use this platform to send and receive money than to set up a bank account.
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    M-pesa has made the smart choice of opting for the African continent since there is a considerable number of unbanked people, yet it is experiencing an increase in the use of mobile phones.
mbellakbail69

South African fintech JUMO scooped up $55 million in funding - 0 views

  • JUMO offers a wide range of services to users in emerging markets via partnerships with other financial institutions
    • nourserghini
       
      Jumo delivers services to third parties in emerging markets using partnership with other financial institutions.
  • JUMO offers financial services infrastructure to third parties and has served over 15 million customers across countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, and Tanzania, and it plans to use the fresh capital to launch new products and expand into new markets: It's set to launch in Bangladesh, India, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria soon, per its website.
    • nourserghini
       
      The article shows that Jumo specializes in financial services infrastructure to third parties. It operates in African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania.
  • South African fintech JUMO scooped up $55 million in funding
    • nourserghini
       
      Jumo's original location is in South Africa.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • And while JUMO is focused on serving customers in emerging markets, it should use the fresh captial to offer more consumer products, like loan products, to better close the financial inclusion gap in these regions.
  • JUMO's partners include Telenor and Telenor Microfinance Bank, with which it launched its first commercial product in Asia in 2018, and Tigo, Airtel, and MTN with which it offers short-term loans in Kenya, Zambia, and Uganda. With help of the latest funding, JUMO will be able to further boost such partnerships, and become a more dominant player in the financial services industries in emerging markets.
    • mehdibella
       
      jUMO is focused on serving customers in emerging markets, it should use the fresh captial to offer more consumer products
  • JUMO offers this technology stack to partners, including telecommunication firms and other financial institutions, to power their financial products and serve consumers via their respective platforms.
  • The fintech's technology stack includes a lending product that gives entrepreneurs quick access to funds or asset finance, and JUMO has so far disbursed over $1.8 billion in loans. It also provides savings options to clients, including short-term, structure, and long-term products, and works together with underwriters and insurers to create standalone insurance products to "safeguard incomes, families, assets, and businesses".
    • ghtazi
       
      JUMO has already distributed 1.8 billion USD loans, it gives also the possibility to its users to have savings options to clients, including short term, structure, and long-term products. The company also ensures the creation of standalone insurance products.
  • JUMO's debt and equity round included participation from both new and existing investors, like Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management, and Leapfrog Investments, per TechStartups.com.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it reflects the nature of funding that Jumo secures whether through debt or equity; new or existing investors.
  • JUMO's business model of working with third parties helps it to diversify its distribution channels, and allows for quicker expansion — which is likely boosting investor interest in the fintech. To further diversify its offering, and make a bigger impact on serving the financially excluded population in emerging markets, JUMO should look into offering more consumer products, including loan options and bank accounts, as most of its offerings currently focus on serving entrepreneurs and businesses.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because first it clearly states the business model of Jumo. Then, it discusses the possibilities of (geographical) expansion and diversification of offerings (more consumer products, loan options, bank accounts etc).
  • JUMO's business model of working with third parties helps it to diversify its distribution channels, and allows for quicker expansion — which is likely boosting investor interest in the fintech. To further diversify its offering, and make a bigger impact on serving the financially excluded population in emerging markets, JUMO should look into offering more consumer products, including loan options and bank accounts, as most of its offerings currently focus on serving entrepreneurs and businesses.
    • sawsanenn
       
      this excerpt included the services that jumo offers, the business model, and some recommendation that the company should consider improving the platform
  • Additionally, only 27% of the population in Southeast Asia has a bank account, leaving a financial inclusion gap of around 438 million consumers. And we've seen fintechs that aim to close this gap attract significant investor interest in the past year: Investment in African fintechs increased by 155% from $111 million in 2018, to $283 million, while Southeast Asian fintechs saw funding surge of 69% from $588 million to $993 million over the same period, per CB Insights.
ayoubb

Yes, Africa Can - 0 views

  • Drawing on the existing knowledge of African development from previous publications, Yes Africa Can: Success Stories from a Dynamic Continent takes an in-depth look at 26 economic and social development successes in Sub-Saharan African countries?twenty from individual countries and six that cut across the region. These stories manifest at the project, provincial, sub-national, national, or regional level and across themes, programs, and sectors. The book aims to address how Sub-Saharan African countries have overcome major development challenges. The main components of each case study include: (i) a description of the achievement and the elements that qualify the outcome as successful; (ii) an assessment of the main policies, interventions, actions, and other factors that contributed to the positive outcome; (iii) a presentation of the lessons learned and the contribution to the discourse on African development; and (iv) insights on the usability or applicability of the achievement in terms of the potential for scaling up the interventions and actions. Individual case studies also examine the role of the key stakeholders?the government, donors, or private investors?in facilitating and promoting the achievement. The studies are classified into four categories: overcoming or avoiding massive government failure, rebuilding or creating a government, rationalizing government involvement in markets, and listening to the people.
    • ayoubb
       
      MPESA
ghtazi

Mukuru CEO - Using technology to serve the underserved - Intelligent CIO Africa - 0 views

  • Biometrics is another sort of key differentiator in the space for increased security and ease of sign-up. Africa is ready for digitisation, and we have already seen good traction in SA with our Mukuru Card product. Mukuru is investing in technology to support customers as they digitise in the coming years, across our footprint.
  • Ensuring that the core stability and functional capability brought about by the technologies and coding languages mentioned earlier is of paramount importance. We are relaunching our app and that’s been built on the Flutter framework. The app is important because it allows for content rich customer engagements.It will also enable us to ingest/scan customer documents in real-time, process card payments securely so that customers can create and pay for orders in one step as opposed to two, as well as allowing for a host of additional customer facing services and capabilities to be deployed.The core DNA of our business is making sure that it’s super simple and that somebody with a feature phone is not precluded from using the service, because that is the essence of where our customer base is at, so we want modular technological capabilities that we can use in any conditions.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This article is important because it touches upon different facets of Mukuru, but the highlighted excerpts are very interesting because they enumerate the different technologies in which Mukuru is investing and the reasons behind such investmnents.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Mukuru has been at the forefront of technology launching a multitude of cutting-edge initiatives designed to solve problems for the African migrant diaspora.This year has seen it launch Mukuru Groceries – a service that is giving SADC based customers the ability to send groceries to their families and communities back home in Zimbabwe.At a time when many families are struggling to obtain basic commodities, Mukuru Groceries will help support Zimbabwe’s large diaspora in their quest to send critical financial resources to families back home.
    • hibaerrai
       
      Even if Mukuru operates only in Africa, it creates new concepts that will make their services essential in the country. Mukuru groceries is a smart strategy, and it will help attracting more and more customers as it supports one of their vital needs.
  • Through our partnerships we have over 300,000 pay-in and pay-out points across Africa. We’ve partnered with major banks in all the territories we operate in – if we don’t have a licence, particularly at the outset of a product or service offering, in the country, then we have to use an authorised dealer bank. We work with the big retailers in South Africa, that have been exceptional at making their branch infrastructure with their footprint available to digital services. So we work with all the big retailers in South Africa and similarly so in other territories, so companies like Shoprite, Pick n Pay,Boxer, Spar, PEP, Massmart, complemented by mobile wallets like mPesa – a range of key names.
    • sawsanenn
       
      Working with different partners across Africa can be beneficial to Mukura since they can expand their business in other countries besides the ones that they are already working with.
  • The company has also formed a partnership with WorldRemit, a leading global online money transfer service, to facilitate money transfers to Zimbabwe from across the globe. The partnership will be instrumental in bringing world-class financial services to Zimbabweans and generating new synergies for African financial inclusion
    • ghtazi
       
      in this excerpt, we can see that the company has a partnership with WorldRemit, which is a leading global online money transfer service, in order to facilitate the transfer of money for Zimbabwe from across the globe. which in my humble opinion will create and generate new synergies for African financial inclusion.
mehdibella

South African fintech startup Jumo raises second $50M+ VC round | TechCrunch - 0 views

  • South African fintech startup Jumo closed a $55 million round from a diverse group of investors, the company confirmed.
  • Nigeria, in particular, has become Africa’s unofficial capital for fintech development, surpassing Kenya in 2019 for drawing the most fintech specific and overall VC on the continent
  • Jumo joins a growing list of African digital-finance startups raising big money from outside investors and expanding abroad.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Jumo is active in six markets and plans to expand to two new countries in Africa (Nigeria and Ivory Coast) and two in Asia (Bangladesh and India).
    • mehdibella
       
      Jumo joins a growing list of African digital-finance startups raising big money from outside investors and expanding abroad.
  • “I’m excited for our next phase. This backing will help us build a better business and break new ground,” Jumo founder Andrew Watkins-Ball said.
    • ghtazi
       
      the company has closed around 55 million USD from many investors, which will help the company to expand its products and reach new objectives
  • Founded in 2015 and based in Cape Town, the venture offers a full tech stack for partners to build savings, lending, and insurance products for customers in emerging markets.This week’s funding follows a $52 million raise by Jumo in 2018, led by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, that saw the startup expand to Asia.“This fresh investment comes from new and existing…investors including Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and LeapFrog Investments,” Jumo said in a statement —  though Goldman told TechCrunch its participation in this week’s round isn’t confirmed.After the latest haul, Jumo has raised $146 million in capital, according to Crunchbase.With its latest raise, the company plans to move into new markets and launch new products in Asia and Africa.
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it describes first what Jumo proposes as product/services offerings. Thereafter, it tackles the history of funding secured by Jumo in addition to the list of investors that support the company. Finally, the excerpt explains how Jumo intends on investing the money raised, namely expansion in new markets in Asia and Africa in addition to the launch of new products.
  • Nigeria, in particular, has become Africa’s unofficial capital for fintech development, surpassing Kenya in 2019 for drawing the most fintech specific and overall VC on the continent
    • sawsanenn
       
      this excerpt is important because it shows us how jumo expending not only in Africa but also in Asia making fintech grow all over the world
  •  
    JUMO is attracting investors and that means JUMO is doing a great job. Investors are believing in this business and they want to be part of it. That's what happens when you believe in an idea and work hard to improve it.
nourserghini

Cultural, religious barriers: Practitioners canvass indigenous approach to grow Africa ... - 0 views

  • From a larger context, Eunice Maina, the CEO of Bismart Insurance in Kenya, associated the low penetration of insurance in the east African country to the traditional nature of insurance practiced in Kenya.  She asserted that the largest economy in east Africa practices informal insurance resulting in the low penetration of the market.“Kenya practices informal insurance in the form of crowdfunding and that has affected the penetration rate,” she said. However, Maina is of the view that rather than adopting the European pattern, traditional insurance should be developed without having to deviate from the African model. She, therefore, solicited for the use of African perspective in developing insurance in the region as techniques to tackle cultural and religious barriers in the insurance industry.
    • nourserghini
       
      This article helps in understanding the reason behind the low penetration of the insurance market which is the practice of informal insurance and also shows that Bismart's CEO prefers to afix the problems of the African insurance rather than following the European model.
mohammed_ab

Kenyan insurtech startup Pula raises $6M Series A to derisk smallholder farmers across ... - 1 views

  • Another startup is Apollo Agriculture which raised $6 million Series A, akin to Pula. Not only did the pair raise the same round, Apollo Agriculture and Pula both deal with providing financial resources to smallholder farmers.
    • nourserghini
       
      Apollo Agriculture is another rival in the industry that is also considered as a partner and complement in the industry.
  • Pula is solving this problem by using technology and data. Through its Area Yield Index Insurance product, the insurtech startup leverages machine learning, crop-cut experiments and data points relating to weather patterns and farmer losses, to build products that cater to various risks.But getting farmers on board has never been easy, Goslinga told TechCrunch. According to her, Pula has understood not to sell insurance directly to small-scale farmers, because they can suffer from optimism bias. “Some think a climate disaster wouldn’t hit their farms for a particular season; hence, they don’t ask for insurance initially. But if they witness any of these climate risks during the season, they would want to get insurance, which is counterproductive to Pula,” said the founder in a phone call.
  • Pula, a Kenyan insurtech startup that specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, has closed a Series A investment of $6 million.The round was led by Pan-African early-stage venture capital firm, TLcom Capital, with participation from nonprofit Women’s World Banking. The raise comes after Pula closed $1 million in seed investment from Rocher Participations with support from Accion Venture Lab, Omidyar Network and several angel investors in 2018.
    • aminej
       
      Pula has managed to raise over 6 million $ which is good for them since they will be able to help more farmers get insurance on their products. Keeping in mind that Agricultural insurance costs 4$ in Africa compared to other places where it costs at least 1000$
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Agriculture insurance has traditionally relied on farm business. In the U.S. or Europe with typically large farms, an average insurance premium is $1,000. But in Africa, where smallholding or small-scale farms are the norm, the number stands at an average of $4.It is particularly telling that the value of agricultural insurance premiums in Africa represents less than 1% of the world’s total when the continent has 17% of the world’s arable land. 
  •  
    Pula studies the risks that they might find with small scale farmers. I like this kind of behavior because you need to study every possible problem so you can outcome it the best way possible.
  •  
    What got my attention in this article is the disparity in insurance prices (premiums) between European and African countries. We see that the premiums for insurance for African farmers are only 1% the price of insurance for European farmers. This shows the big difference in purchasing power between African and European countries.
sawsanenn

Vodacom and Safaricom in the driver's seat for M-Pesa - 0 views

  • M-Pesa, the mobile-money platform that helps millions of people on the continent to make financial transactions, is now under stronger African control. This follows the successful conclusion of the acquisition of M-Pesa by South Africa’s Vodacom and Kenya’s Safaricom from the UK’s Vodafone, the chief executives of the three companies announced on Monday.
  • The transaction has been in the works since 2019, when Vodacom and Safaricom announced they had formed a joint venture through which they planned to acquire the full suite of M-Pesa services.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      Vodacom and Safaricom engaging in a joint venture to acquire M-Pesa.
  • The platform is available in Kenya, Tanzania, Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mozambique and Egypt. The acquisition will enable a more aggressive expansion strategy to other markets on the continent where the platform is not available.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      Large network around Africa.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • In 2019, M-Pesa users conducted 11bn transactions worth R2trn ($107.1bn), while the platform contributed R3.1bn to Vodacom’s revenue. M-Pesa is a big part of Vodacom’s plans to diversity into fintech.
    • ghtazi
       
      m-pesa is a competitive advantage for Vodacom's plan to diversify into fintech. the platform is now available in 7 African countries. this will also allow an aggressive expansion strategy to other markets in Africa when the platform is not yet available.
  • A key impediment to M-Pesa gaining traction was the fact that the country has a well-established banking sector and most adult South Africans have bank accounts.
    • sawsanenn
       
      besides that, these banks have their own fintech services that are not as developed as M-Pesa, but the fact they are produced from the bank, it makes them more trustworthy than M-Pesa This kind of bank services make the market highly competitive
  •  
    This acquisition will allow M-Pesa to expand to other African markets more easily. It will also give the company stronger market power as all subscribers of Vodacom's will have easy access to M-Pesa services.
  •  
    "The transaction has been in the works since 2019, when Vodacom and Safaricom announced they had formed a joint venture through which they planned to acquire the full suite of M-Pesa services."
sawsanenn

M-Pesa revenues recover after charges reinstated - Business Daily - 0 views

  • Average monthly M-Pesa transactions, including Safaricom, was $24.2 billion (Sh2.6 trillion) and represented a growth of 57.8 per cent.
  • Revenues from the global mobile financial service M-Pesa have recovered following the reinstatement of fees on person-to-person transactions on the platform.
  • Vodacom says revenue from the international M-Pesa business, excluding Kenya, rose 10 per cent to Sh8.5 billion in the quarter ended December compared to Sh7.7 billion a year earlier.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Kenya and other African countries suspended charges on certain transactions on M-Pesa to offer financial relief to their citizens besides seeking to reduce use of cash to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • ghtazi
       
      it is very vigilant on the part of Kenya and other African countries to reduce some fees on M-Pesa in order to reduce the use of cash and to prevent the spread of the COVID 19 virus.
  • Kenya and other markets also allowed M-Pesa charges to resume in January, brightening the outlook for the financial platform’s revenue growth.
    • sawsanenn
       
      because of the pandemic, M-Pesa had to remove fees on a person to person transaction which reduce revenues last year. However, starting this year the government reallowed the fintech company to reinstate the fees so they can regain the revenues that they ve lost last year
  •  
    We can see from this article that M-Pesa has been growing exponentially and will keep this growth for the future as more and more people will rely on mobile money transfers.
  •  
    Because of the appearance of covid-19 Kenya among other African countries eliminated charges on some specific transaction on M-pesa with the hope of helping their citizens. This did not stop M-pesa from recording a 10% increase in revenues in the last quarter of 202O.
aymanelmamoun

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

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

TPAY | Helios Investment Partners | Helios Investment Partners - 0 views

  • Helios completed the acquisition of a 76% stake in TPAY, a fast growing direct carrier billing provider in the Middle East and North Africa from A15, a leading tech investment fund based in Egypt. With offices in Cairo and the UAE, TPAY currently operates across 16 countries with almost half of its total transaction volume coming from African markets such as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
    • mehdibella
       
      here we notice that TPAY is ruling over the MEA region
  • TPAY provides a much-needed mobile payment solution in markets with low banking penetration and high mobile adoption.
    • mehdibella
       
      we can clearly understand that it is providing a huge solution for those in need of a banking system and cannot access it.
  • Helios completed the acquisition of a 76% stake in TPAY, a fast growing direct carrier billing provider in the Middle East and North Africa from A15, a leading tech investment fund based in Egypt. With offices in Cairo and the UAE, TPAY currently operates across 16 countries with almost half of its total transaction volume coming from African markets such as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
    • samiatazi
       
      here we notice that TPAY is ruling over the MEA region we can clearly understand that it is providing a huge solution for those in need of a banking system and cannot access it
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Helios completed the acquisition of a 76% stake in TPAY, a fast growing direct carrier billing provider in the Middle East and North Africa from A15, a leading tech investment fund based in Egypt. With offices in Cairo and the UAE, TPAY currently operates across 16 countries with almost half of its total transaction volume coming from African markets such as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
mehdibella

JUMO Empowers Asian And African Market With Over $2.5 Billion, Eyes Nigeria, 2 Others - 2 views

  • JUMO also has a mobile wallet technology that offers an easy-to-use service that is accessible via mobile devices.Watkins-Ball commented on the cost-effective technology used to collect information which strengthened the business model, He said: “When we founded JUMO, we were always clear that we can only achieve our mission by leveraging sophisticated information technologies at really low cost.
  • JUMO Empowers Asian And African Market With Over $2.5 Billion, Eyes Nigeria, 2 Others
  • JUMO is one of South Africa’s next-generation fintech companies offering emerging market entrepreneurs financial services.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The tech startup was built as a unique platform to help facilitate digital financial services such as credit, and savings in emerging markets, and has handed out over $1.8 billion prior to date since its founding in London in 2015.
    • mehdibella
       
      it has partnered with telecommunications companies, funders, and banks, to create accessible financial tools, and insurance products targeted at entrepreneurs in emerging markets, and also offers accessible financial services to both Asia and Africa's unbanked populations.
  • “We’re optimistic about the  possibilities in these markets and continue to see huge growth  opportunities in Africa, with the potential to replicate our successes  in other markets over the longer term.”
    • mehdibella
       
      Jumo also hopes to explore the Indian, Nigerian, and Ivorian markets in no distant future.
  • JUMO Empowers Asian And African Market With Over $2.5 Billion, Eyes Nigeria, 2 Others
  • JUMO is one of South Africa’s next-generation fintech companies offering emerging market entrepreneurs financial services.
    • samiatazi
       
      Jumo won many awards all over the worlds and grants that will help it as a company to grow and expand its business into other countries
  • The tech startup was built as a unique platform to help facilitate digital financial services such as credit, and savings in emerging markets, and has handed out over $1.8 billion prior to date since its founding in London in 2015.
  •  
    I like the way that JUMO is clear about delivering a great technology with a low cost! I think that Fintechs must act based on this logic.
mehdibella

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

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

African Fintech: Growth, Profit and Forecasts - FurtherAfrica - 0 views

  • Investment in African Fintechs nearly quadrupled in 2018 to $357m USD, with startups in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa accounting for the largest share, according to The Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan Africa 2019 report from the GSM Association.
  • MTN announced in July that it had been granted a full Super Agent Licence in Nigeria for its Yello Digital Financial Services Limited subsidiary. This will enable the scale launch of MTN Nigeria’s Fintech strategy.
  •  
    I liked this article as it shows the exponential growth of fintech investments in African countries. These investments have increased by 300% in 2018 compared to the previous year. It's interesting to see that the group believes that mobile will be at the center of financial inclusion in Africa.
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