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Our Cropchain and LendIt platforms solve these two problems. Cropchain is our user-friendly integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that allows organizations to manage everything in the agricultural supply chain from outgrower schemes, logistics, traceability to digital trading, quality assurance and data analytics. LendIt, our financial inclusion platform enables farmers access digital services such mobile money payments for commodities sold, micro-lending/input financing, crop insurance and pension scheme for the informal sector.

Our Cropchain and LendIt platforms solve these two problems. Cropchain is our user-friendly integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that allows organizations to manage everything in the agricultural supply chain from outgrower schemes, logistics, traceability to digital trading, quality assurance and data analytics. LendIt, our financial inclusion platform enables farmers access digital services such mobile money payments for commodities sold, micro-lending/input financing, crop insurance and pension scheme for the informal sector.

Onboarding smallholder farmers onto the AgroCenta platform. Agents visit communities where smallholder farmers who deal in sorghum, rice, maize, millet and soybean are registered onto the AgroCenta platform to trade. Agents also work with farmer based organizations (FBOs) to carry out trading activities. 2 Facilitating trade deals on behalf of Smallholder farmers. Agents deal with buyers who wish to purchase directly from smallholder farmers. AgroCenta agents are trained in the field of technology, sales and marketing to effectively help smallholder farmers who have little or no knowledge of technology trade easily. 3 Gathering market information and statistical data. Agents are assigned to major trading markets across the country to collate data on market pricing for various commodities. This information is relayed to smallholder farmers via Voice technologies in languages they read and understand.

FarmDrive generates real-time credit reports for small farmers, allowing them to access loans from financial institutions and agricultural input providers via mobile phone. 

FarmDrive collects expense and revenue data from farmers via SMS and combines it with satellite imaging, remote sensing technology and alternative data points (e.g., soil analysis, weather forecasts) to create detailed yield estimates and assess credit risk.

Send payment links to your customers.For businesses with no online store.Take online card payments by sending your customer a payment link on WhatsApp, email, Facebook or Instagram.

The 2008 financial crisis has generated a confidence loss among financial institutions (banks), businesses, and customers. This erosion of trust is getting worse over time because of the financial services offered by their banks that have been deemed to be outdated by the clients. In our century, the march of technology, internet connectivity, and digital connectivity toward financial institutions are inevitable. This economic downturn leads financial institutions to turn to technology in order to improve their services vis-a-vis the clients, and prevent the spread of this trust crisis. In many financial service organizations, technology has moved from the back offices to the front. The industry has become the world’s most digitized one according to Strategy & Analysis; they say that 60 percent of all retail banking transactions now are done online. In Europe, more than 47 percent of ultra-high-net-worth individuals use Facebook and more than 40 percent of high-net-worth individuals under the age of 50 view social media as an important channel for communicating with their bank, according to a recent study by Assetinum. Similarly, a recent Deutsche Bank study finds that more than 33 percent of all new banking business with customers between the ages of 16 and 39 is conducted fully on the Web. Among these younger clients, online channels (including social media) have become one of the most important information sources for investment decisions

EthSwitch has an objective to work as international gateway for all banks. When the project is fully completed, over 50 e-Payment products and services will be supported in EthSwitch covering card delivery channels like ATM, POS, mobile, internet, and voice. EthioPay is the brand given to the National e-Payment Switch of Ethiopia.

Amongst the future activities is to include mobile as part of the financial inclusion policy. Another active area is the recent launch of the domestic card called EthioPay. Across a national population of 100 million, there are 2.5 million card holders and 40 million mobile users. Sufficient opportunity for Bekele and his team in the time to come.

Since May this year the number of inter-bank transactions has been growing. This is expected to increase as the Ethiopian population becomes aware of the interoperability and ease of use of using cards in any bank’s ATM machine. Along the way there have been some transactions declines due to connectivity failures and those limitations are being addressed

In its next phase of algorithm development, FarmDrive seeks to expand the environmental arm of the algorithm by incorporating more alternative data-sets, including satellite imagery and remote sensing data. They are currently engaging with Planet, a satellite company from Silicone Valley, and The Impact Lab, a Chicago-based data analytics firm to analyze the possibilities of using satellite images in predicting a farmer’s creditworthiness.In addition, FarmDrive also plans to use these environmental data-sets, in combination with crop cycle data to predict seasonal yield and influence agricultural insurance products.The startup also uses machine learning in generating the farmer’s profile by learning from the farmer’s input. Data points about the farmer’s behaviour, education level, and their interaction with the app are all analyzed to contribute to the farmers profile score.

Smallholder farmers, especially in Kenya face difficulties when it comes to accessing loans and financing from banks and other financial institutions. The agricultural sector is the backbone to Kenya’s economy, yet banks have very little incentive to work with farmers.

FarmDrive founded in 2014 has built an innovative solution that provides “detailed risk profiles of smallholder farmers to financial institutions”. FarmDrive does this through a credit score, generated by an algorithm developed by the team, in-house. The algorithm relies on data-sets collected from the farmers through their mobile phones, alternative data and machine learning.

GreenTec, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, will invest an undisclosed amount of money in Bismart to enable the company upscale its digital and online platforms to connect customers to insurance and investments solutions available in the African market.The agreement, announced in Frankfurt, will see Bismart benefit from GreenTec’s expertise and experience in funding start-ups in Africa through capacity building, and process optimization.GreenTec will also avail to the Kenyan company a team of international experts to help implement adapted latest technology to the model in order to extend its local value chain and have more impact.

GreenTec, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, will invest an undisclosed amount of money in Bismart to enable the company upscale its digital and online platforms to connect customers to insurance and investments solutions available in the African market. The agreement, announced in Frankfurt, will see Bismart benefit from GreenTec’s expertise and experience in funding start-ups in Africa through capacity building, and process optimization.

Kiva has promoted itself as a link between individual lenders in the developed world and individual borrowers in the developing world, allowing visitors to its Web site to learn about and lend money to people in poor nations seeking small loans for specific purposes.

the loans made by individual lenders through the Kiva site do not actually end up in the pockets of individual borrowers. Instead, those loans are aggregated and used to backstop microfinance institutions that have already paid out microloans to the borrowers featured on the site.

Kiva president Premal Shah said he could foresee a day when Kiva really did provide a direct person-to-person connection, once certain legal hurdles are cleared and as more individuals in the developing world began using mobile phones to access credit and make electronic payments. In the meantime, the organization has changed the wording on its homepage from "Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty" to "Kiva connects people through lending to alleviate poverty."

The strategy has two hallmarks: (1) it looks for relevant conditions that are both material and symbolic or ideational, and (2) it looks for relevant conditions arising throughout the course of the digital innovation’s developmental trajectory.

Kiva connects your American dollars with a female Palestinian farmer looking for capital to invest in fertilizer, or a Peruvian motorcycle business that needs money to buy tires to resell. On Kiva’s web site right now, Samar from Jordan is looking for a loan to buy a sewing machine to support her embroidery shop, and Julius in Kenya is seeking funds for flour and oil for his catering business. These are real people with real stories, and by investing in them, you help make the world a smaller place.

The country has seen skyrocketing mobile penetration rates, with subscriptions surpassing the total population amount by 12%, and FinTech innovations have followed. For example, the telecommunications giant Safaricom, which contributes 5% of the county’s GDP, led the push in 2007 with its M-Pesa money transfer service, which functions much like a limited mobile bank but without the need for an Internet connection. M-Pesa combines Safaricom’s mobile infrastructure with an agent model; Safaricom stores their balance and customers can go to one of 110,000 agents throughout the country to conduct transactions in person. The whole system runs on technology similar to text messaging, and has expanded to seven countries.

Recently the introduction of 5G to the world has got everyone interested to find out more about it.5G is the fifth-generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices

These inconsistent experiences frustrate consumers, who see each brand as a single entity. They don’t know or care that there are different teams putting together the advertising, working in the call centre, and looking after the mobile app. They want a consistent experience from each of these touchpoints. Increasingly, they demand a seamless and connected experience that uses the mobile phone as the hub of communication. Financial firms, especially, face competitive threats from digital disruptors such as Google, PayPal, Apple, and South Africa’s Snapscan.

Unlike a multi-channel approach, mobile should not be viewed as a silo by a brand that is committed to omni-channel experiences. With a sound mobile strategy integrated into an omni-channel approach, brands can use push messages effectively within their apps to send personalised messages to customers if they have their permission.

Our Story We help our clients automatically invest into the financial market either daily, weekly or monthly without ever needing to go to a bank What problem are we solving 70% of the Africans have no access to a formal financial institution, 92% have no access to investment accounts How are we impacting the world Our solution helps our clients build a sound financial future by investing from their mobile phone with or without an internet connection

Hello Paisa is brought to you by the same people behind Hello Mobile – a revolutionary mobile network service provider trusted by thousands of migrants across South Africa.Our track record guarantees the safety and efficiency of every cash transaction, because we’re passionate about your peace of mind.The service we offer is 100% legal and completely secure; we’re one of just a few international companies that’s been issued with an SA Reserve Bank license to do what we do.

When you’re living in a different country for work,the last thing you need to deal with is a complicated bank account.Introducing HelloPaisa: the fastest, easiest way to send cash to your loved ones.All you need is your phone!

STARTUP WATCH- E-commerce company Capiter plans to invest EGP 500 mn next year to expand its geographical presence and the network of its SME clients, CEO and founding partner Mahmoud Nouh said, according to Al Mal. The Cairo-based company, which was founded in May 2019, operates an app that connects small and medium companies to suppliers.

Lumkani is a small fire alarm that registers the rate at which heat rises within a small residence indicating when there might be a fire risk. It then connects with neighboring devices, setting off a chain of alarms so that neighbors can intervene. Newer versions also communicate with home owners via SMS, as well as with local emergency services.