The Netherlands Development Finance Company, which is also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, recently issued a loan of USD 10 million to the unit of Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc that operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to increase its financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigerian Fintech Firm OPay Raises $120m in Equity Funding for Digital Payments, Ride Hailing, Food Delivery
OPay, a Nigerian mobile platform for making payments, arranging car rides and ordering deliveries from restaurants, recently raised USD 120 million in equity from 10 investors to scale up in Nigeria and expand to countries such as Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. OPay’s transportation arm, ORide, facilitates up to
SPECIAL REPORT: SheInvest to Deliver $1.1b to Women in Africa, Access Bank’s “Beta Friends” Bringing Digital Savings to Market Sellers, Women Move Slowly to Mobile Money: All at European Microfinance Week
At
Friday’s session on gender and financial inclusion during European Microfinance Week, Enrico Pini of the European Investment Bank (EIB) argued that, “It’s smart business,” to boost opportunities for women. Such is the motivation for EIB’s SheInvest program, which is scheduled to mobilize EUR 1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) to invest in entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, digital inclusion and climate-resilience efforts for African women.
Njideka Nwabueze of Nigeria’s Access Bank described her company’s product, “Beta,” which translates as “Good” in the local language. She said that many poor women use informal savings schemes because they do not believe that banks offer products that meet their needs. One of these women’s priorities is easy access to funds. Women who sell products in a market, for example, risk losing a good selling spot if they leave during the day to visit a bank. Also, bank lines can be very long.
This is why, six years ago, Access launched Beta, an interest-bearing savings account that leverages mobile money but is
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: Remittance Africa 2018: “Unlocking Opportunities in Money Transfer and Payment Systems in Africa;” October 23-24, 2018; Lagos, Nigeria
Event Summary: Themed “Unlocking Opportunities in Money Transfer and Payment Systems in Africa,” this event is intended is “to create a continental dialogue on deepening the remittance and payment ecosystems in Africa.” Attendees representing electronic payment providers, financial service providers,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria, Service Providers Partner to Establish 500k Financial Service Points via Shared Agent Network Expansion (SANE) Program
Under Nigeria’s new Shared Agent Network Expansion (SANE) program, the Central Bank of Nigeria, mobile-money operators, retail banks and “super agents” – organizations of 50 or more financial services agents – have agreed to create a network of 500,000 agents to offer services such as transferring funds to and from family members, vendors and the government. As part of the scheme, 50 million people will acquire biometric-based
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
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Access Bank, FMO Launch Female Leadership Programme in Ghana
Access Bank Ghana, an affiliate of Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc, recently partnered with the Netherlands Development Finance Company, a government-backed institution also known by its Dutch acronym FMO, to launch a Female Leadership Programme for entrepreneurs in Ghana.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Cashless Africa: The Future of Finance; March 22 – 23, 2017; Lagos, Nigeria
Event Name: Cashless Africa: The Future of Finance
Event Date: March 22 – 23, 2017
Event Location: Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria
Summary of Event: This year’s theme for the Cashless Africa Conference is “The Future of Finance.” It will highlight
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA, First Access Partner in Africa on Alternative Credit Scoring, Incorporating Mobile Phone Usage
FINCA Microfinance Holding Company, an arm of US-based nonprofit microfinance network FINCA International, and First Access, a US-based financial technology company, recently partnered to create an alternative credit-scoring system to serve the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. This system aims to “establish credit scores for low-income clients who lack sufficient formal credit history to secure small loans to build businesses or support emerging personal needs.” Specific information on exactly how this system works is unavailable, but First Access typically analyzes demographic, geographic, financial and social aspects of clients’ mobile phone usage to predict credit risk.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SimbaPay Enables Remittances to Kenya, Nigeria from 5 Additional European Countries
SimbaPay, a UK-based digital money transfer service, recently announced it is expanding its money transfer service to France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Grants National Microfinance Banking License to Fortis Microfinance Bank (Fortis MFB)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently granted a microfinance banking license to Fortis Microfinance Bank (Fortis MFB), a privately owned microfinance institution in Nigeria [1].
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Global Findex Database 2014; PEP Report on Female Entrepreneurs in Nigeria; YouthSave Research Report 2015
“The Global Findex Database 2014: Measuring Financial Inclusion Around the World;” by Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer and Peter Van Oudheusden; published by the World Bank; April 2015; 88 pages; available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex
The World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2014 indicates that between 2011 and 2014, 700 million people became accountholders for the first time at banks, via other financial institutions and with mobile money service providers, reducing the number of unbanked individuals by 20 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Grooming Centre to Issue Microloans on MasterCard Pre-Paid Cards
The Grooming Centre, a nonprofit provider of loans and deposit services to women in Nigeria for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has partnered with MasterCard, a US-based payments company, to replace the NGO’s cash- and check-based loan disbursals with prepaid MasterCard-branded payment cards.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Econet’s EcoCash, MasterCard to Provide Debit Cards to Mobile Money Users in Zimbabwe
EcoCash, a mobile money service offered by South Africa-based mobile communications company Econet Wireless, and MasterCard Incorporated, a US-based payments and technology company, reportedly have reached an agreement to issue approximately 3 million MasterCard debit cards to EcoCash customers in Zimbabwe over the next five years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gemalto, GSM Association to Provide Mobile Services to Support “Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative” for Mothers, Children
Gemalto, a publicly traded digital security firm located in the Netherlands, reportedly has announced its support of the Pan-African Mobile Health Initiative (PAMI), which uses mobile phones to address issues in nutrition and maternal and child health in seven African countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Econet Wireless Accused of Monopolistic Practices Regarding Mobile Money Service
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of the South Africa-based telecommunications company Econet Wireless Group, reportedly is being investigated by Zimbabwe’s Competitions and Tariffs Commission (CTC), the authority charged with regulating trade in the country, over allegations of monopolistic business practices [1][2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rebtel Partnership with TransferTo Adds 50 Additional Countries to International Airtime Remittance Mobile App “Sendly”
Swedish telecommunications company Rebtel has partnered with Singapore-based TransferTo, an airtime remittance company that “interconnects mobile operators’ prepaid systems”[1], to expand by 50 the number of countries in which it offers cross-border top-up services to users of its mobile application, Sendly.