Flutterwave, a US-based business-to-business (B2B) payments service that focuses on Africa, recently began collaborating with Alipay, a payments unit of the Chinese technology conglomerate Alibaba Group, to provide digital payments from Africa to China and
Search Results for: nigeria
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AfDB Launches Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility in Effort to Bring 332m People – Mostly Women – into Formal Economy
The African Development Bank (AfDB), a multilateral institution providing loans and grants to governments and private companies on the continent, recently announced the launch of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion (ADFI) facility, a “financing facility designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion across Africa, with a goal of ensuring that 332 million more Africans, of whom 60 percent
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Global Outreach & Financial Performance Benchmark Report – 2017-2018;” By Mohita Khamar, MIX
By Mohita Khamar and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) operations team; published by MIX; May 2019; 42 pages; available at https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/publications/global-outreach-and-financial-performance-benchmark-report-2017-2018
This report presents outreach and financial performance data provided to MIX by 762 financial service providers (FSPs) worldwide for FY2017. Year-on-year analysis of the data shows an increase in gross loan portfolio to USD 112 billion
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GreenTec Capital Partners Launches Foundation to Promote Impact Investment in Entrepreneurship in Africa
GreenTec Capital Partners, a Germany-based investor in Africa, recently created the GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation to generate
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Angaza, Mastercard Collaborating on Pay-as-you-go Solar Electricity, Water Pumps, Cook Stoves in Africa, Latin America
Angaza, a provider of “pay-as-you-go” metering technology that has offices in Kenya and the US, recently partnered with US-based payments firm Mastercard to create a digital payment service to help low-income people purchase equipment over time. Anzinga has worked with 100 distributors to enable 1 million households in 30 countries to buy products such as solar power systems, water pumps and low-pollution cookstoves. The two companies have successfully pilot-tested their collaboration in Nigeria, confirming that it can provide
MICROFINANCE EVENT: L’Afrique Numérique: Secure Digital Innovations for Mobility, Identification and Payment; March 12-14, 2019; Abidjan, Ivory Coast
This first conference by l’Afrique Numérique Limited is intended to address telecommunications, payments, e-government and other digital solutions in French-speaking Africa as well as to encourage integration between English-speaking and French-speaking African countries by bringing together public and private entities from across Africa and other parts of the world.
SPECIAL REPORT: Advans Cote d’Ivoire Wins $113k European Microfinance Award for Inclusive Finance Through Technology
Last 
night, Advans Cote d’Ivoire (CI), a microfinance institution in Cote d’Ivoire, won the European Microfinance Award 2018, which was themed “Financial Inclusion through Technology” and includes a cash prize of EUR 100,000 (USD 113,000). Advans CI, a member of the Advans Group, offers payment, saving and credit services that can be linked to MTN mobile money accounts. The cocoa farmers who are customers of Advans CI were having trouble with traceability and safety issues related to being paid by cooperatives in cash. They were also having trouble saving money from harvest time until the school year begins, resulting in low school enrollment. Advans CI responded by creating a
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: South Africa’s MFS Africa Lands $14m in Equity from Equator Capital’s ShoreCap III Fund, FSD Africa, Goodwell Investments, Lun Partners to Boost Mobile Financial Services in Rural Areas
South Africa-based financial technology (fintech) company MFS Africa recently raised equity totaling USD 14 million to expand its mobile financial services (MFS) into additional rural areas in Africa. The investors, which are participating in undisclosed portions, are US-based impact fund manager Equator
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Microfinance Summit; January 24-25, 2019; Istanbul, Turkey
The 3rd Global Microfinance Summit will address topics influencing the microfinance industry such as: (1) Digital Transformation: The Next Big Leap in Microfinance; (2) Impact of Microfinance on Sustainable Entrepreneurship Development; and (3) Green Microfinance: A Tool for Sustainable Business and Climate Action. Additionally, attendees will participate in open discussions on topics such as
MICROFINANCE EVENT: SME & Financing Africa Forum; November 6-7, 2018; Johannesburg, South Africa
Organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, a multilateral institution based in Côte d’Ivoire, this event is focused on the transformation and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa via facilitating access to finance, improving access to larger contracts, providing corporate connections and building leadership skills. Presentation titles include the following: (1) Innovative Instruments to Improve SMEs’ Access to Finance in Africa; (2) The Impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on SME Growth in Africa; and (3) Using Social Media to Increase Your Sales and Build Your Brand.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oradian Deploys Microfinance Software-as-a-service (SaaS) Instafin in Kenya
Oradian, a Croatia-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, recently won a contract with Jirani Smart, a microfinance institution (MFI) that has been active rural Kenya since 2016. As of 2018, Jirani Smart serves approximately 15,000 clients from seven branches.
Oradian’s flagship product is Instafin, a core
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Investing in Responsible Finance and Innovation for Africa’s Digital Economies; October 2, 2018; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Summary of Event: The Ninth Annual Responsible Finance Forum brings together investors, policymakers, practitioners, and innovators to discuss opportunities for growth as well as risks of abuse relating to digital financial services in Africa. Participants will learn about technology solutions and business models for accelerating
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $7.1m to Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK); Advans Group to Refinance in DRC, Myanmar
The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing loans to: (1) Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK) in the amount of EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) Loans $7m to Trustbank of Uzbekistan to Launch Shariah-compliant Services for Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a unit of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, recently loaned USD 7 million to Private Joint Stock Trustbank, a commercial bank in Uzbekistan, for it to roll out Shariah-compliant financial products
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Letshego of Botswana Borrows $26m to Lend More in Africa
Letshego Holdings Limited, a provider of financial services in 11 African countries, recently raised the approximate equivalent of USD 26 million, accessible via foreign-exchange hedges in Botswanan pula,
SPECIAL REPORT: “Aadhaar: Lessons for the African Continent?”, by Edmund Higenbottam of Verdant Capital
In 2009, India launched the world’s largest IT project, i.e. the Aadhaar biometric identification program. The program is intended to drive social and financial inclusion, reform public-sector service delivery, improve fiscal management, increase convenience, etc. An Aadhaar number can be viewed as a permanent financial address. Considering that almost the entire Indian population is now enrolled in Aadhaar – the underprivileged as well as the rich – it also can be viewed as a tool for justice and equality.
The program consists of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branch International Raises $70m in Debt, Equity from Trinity, Victory Park, IFC, Andreessen Horowitz, CreditEase to Expand Digital Financial Services in Africa, India
Branch International, a for-profit lender to 1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, recently raised USD 70 million with the goal of expanding within Africa, entering the Indian market, and launching savings and transfer services. US-based Trinity Ventures led the fundraising round, and its general partner, Schwark Satyavolu, will take a position on the board of directors of Branch. While the amounts invested by each entity have not been released, the other investors are US-based Victory Park Capital, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, US-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and China-based CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. Branch’s other shareholders are listed at https://www.branch.co/about.
Branch evaluates the creditworthiness of applicants by harvesting data from their phones: GPS data, contact lists, type of phone, data from social networks, and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Opera Charging 1% Daily Interest on Short-term Loans in Kenya via OKash Mobile App, M-Pesa
OPay, a digital payment service developed by Norway-based technology firm Opera Software, recently began offering loans as small as KES 1,500 (USD 15) in Kenya via OKash, an app that works on Android smartphones. The minimum interest rate for initial loans is 1 percent per day, with a maximum term of 14 days. Repeat borrowers may apply for loans as large as