WomenSave is empowering rural women through goal-based Digital Savings

Our Reporter.

Marie Mintalucci has spent a number of years supporting female-led groups across Sub-Saharan Africa to create self-sustaining ventures. However, during this time, she has mainly made two observations.

One, women often borrow huge sums of money for unprofitable purposes like sending children to school or putting a new roof on the house. However, they often motivate for this credit as money for improving their businesses to increase the likelihood of obtaining the loan.

Two, the group micro loans that these women qualify for are often risky and expensive. Moreover, those loans are typically not in line with individual needs.

“With this in mind and some exciting behavioral science, I developed the idea of WomenSave to empower these women to meet their own self-defined financial goals on their terms and conditions with personalized savings plans,”Marie Mintalucci, the WomenSave Executive Director noted.

WomenSave is a non-profit organization started in 2020 that empowers unbanked women in rural East Africa to meet their financial goals with personal savings plans and mobile money.

All participants are taken through one-on-one financial advisory services, financial literacy training, customized goal-based saving plans, and critical instructions on how to open and use a mobile money account.

Mintalucci stresses that her research proved that web-based saving has the power to give women a real voice and a risk-free tool to join the digital economy. The project, which was first piloted in Western Uganda, targets women who live below USD 2 a day.

“We started in 2020 and today we have reached approximately 1,300 clients in Western Uganda who collectively have deposited over USD 84,000,” she says.

But her biggest satisfaction comes from the 1,165 financial goals achieved including buying livestock, paying school fees, purchasing home goods, making home improvements, investing in businesses and covering healthcare expenses. In addition, clients have more than doubled their individual reserve funds.

“WomenSave itself is not a financial service provider. We are the bridge between existing mobile money services and this market segment (rural women),” she explains.

She however acknowledges that her initiative is just a drop in the ocean because globally, the state of female financial inclusion is still very bad.

“There are nearly one billion women unbanked globally and in Uganda alone, approximately five million,” she says, noting that there is need to address both demand and supply constraints.

“On the demand side, we need to build trust and onboard women on the digital financial system in a welcoming manner. On the supply side, we need to show banks that this segment can be profitable. WomenSave aims to tackle both of these challenges, to fundamentally change the way banks welcome women and moreover the way those women use financial services to make their goals a reality,” she says.

40 Days 40 FinTechs

WomenSave is the 18th participant in this year’s edition of #40Days40FinTechs.

Mintalucci applauded HiPipo for this initiative that is critical in raising the importance of what is being done in the financial inclusion space to inspire conversations, improve donations, investments and partnerships.

According to HiPipo CEO, Innocent Kawooya, WomenSave is a step in the right direction for women financial inclusion especially in rural Africa.

“The most beautiful thing is that WomenSave is run on a unique model. Many women crave things but lack proper means of making targeted savings. This model is the solution to that need,” he said.

Kawooya added that this year’s edition of 40 Days 40 FinTechs is cementing achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also building on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“Thanks to initiatives like 40 Days 40 FinTechs and Level One Project among others; DFSPs, and FinTech stakeholders across Africa will soon gain access to fully functional IIPS regulatory sandboxes to prototype, build and test innovative digital products while evaluating Mojaloop technology with the aim of solving data/infrastructure localization government regulations and directives,” Kawooya said.

The #40Days40FinTechs platform is run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa.

The platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

It also offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

EzeeMoney manages digital transactions of over UGX 30 Billion per Month

Our Reporter.

Launched in 2013, EzeeMoney is a technology company dealing in both financial and non-financial services that target people at the bottom of the pyramid. On the financial side, EzeeMoney runs an agent-based model where they give out point-of-sale terminals to agents to facilitate bill payments, bill collections and other mobile financial services.  

On the non-financial service side, EzeeMoney provides insurance tracking with Jubilee insurance that powers over 300, 000 cards in about 500 hospitals.

The company boasts of over 3000 agents across the country, handles about 2 million transactions and over UGX 30 billion transactions value per month.

EzeeMoney is the 17th participant in season three of the annual 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative. Our team had a chat with Flavia Eleanor Kasenge, the EzeeMoney Chief Operations Officer. Here is what she had to say.

QN: On top of agent banking and insurance tracking, what else does EzeeMoney do?

ANS: We are also aggregators. We do third-party aggregation. We get people on board; anyone who does not have a platform and they want to start a digital financial system, we are able to give this aggregation so that they can take on services like bill collection, and bill payments. Our agents earn a commission through charging a customer.

QN: Tell us about your smart card that helps churches to facilitate collections!

ANS: Ohh yes. That’s our auto collections service.  We built a mobile application where this service can be run. So, a client is given the auto collection card. This card is mainly used by Saccos and faith-based organisations. For instance, if you are collecting money for offertory on Sunday or tithe or your first fruit, we schedule and personalize the card whereby your offerings can be automatically deducted daily or weekly or monthly. We just do a schedule. This card is linked to your mobile money wallet and whenever the scheduled time comes, the money is deducted automatically and disbursed to the intended beneficiary.

QN: How is your market penetration in terms of figures?

ANS: Our customer is the agent. So, we have over 3,000 agents and our volume is above two million transactions and UGX 30 billion in transactions value per month.

QN: The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is organized with a view of including everyone, especially women, youth and PWDs. How is your gender rating?

ANS: EzeeMoney mainly targets women at the bottom of the pyramid. We want them to enjoy digital financing. Most of our customers and employees are women. We believe that when women are in the business, things grow. More than 80 percent of our agents are women. We want women to come out of their shells and compete favorably with men.

QN: How did the outbreak of Covid-19 affect your operations?

ANS: Covid-19 ushered in a new way of working. Most businesses that could not adopt the digital way had to unfortunately close shop. So, Covid has opened up the FinTech space and innovation has increased; and the fact that we are regulated now by Bank of Uganda, people have become confortable to use FinTechs.

On our side, our revenue dropped by 40 percent during COVID-19 as people struggled to convert from traditional to digital. Nonetheless, we are now in recovery and seeing great things happening. We are going back to where we were before COVID-19.

QN: What are the major challenges you face as EzeeMoney?

ANS: The biggest challenge is the lack of awareness for people to appreciate digital financing. We must sensitize people. This is something we have to do daily. Once we do that consistently, people will appreciate it. We also have to be patient so that people at the bottom of the pyramid get on the same page with us. We will then be able to penetrate the market. Within a year or two, you won’t see paper money. People are slowly learning to shop using digital means. Digital orders and deliveries are increasing. We just need to sensitize people.

QN: What is your take on the 40Days40FinTechs initiative?

ANS: The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is a very good platform for all of us. HiPipo has come up with a way for FinTechs to know each other.  Because of you, we are able to know what others are doing and we can link up together. We know what to collaborate and compete on. These are things that we should not give up on. Ultimately, we have to look at ourselves as partners not competitors.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. It is organized by HiPipo in partnership with Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies and generously supported by the Gates Foundation.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to HiPipo CEO, Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition is cementing the achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also building on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is bringing together DFSPs and stakeholders (including regulators and development partners) to drive discussions on building instant and inclusive payment systems that will solve the most emerging challenges that limit low-income users from onboarding onto formal financial platforms,” Kawooya said, adding;

“Thanks to initiatives like 40 Days 40 FinTechs and Level One Project among others, DFSPs, and FinTech stakeholders across Africa will soon gain access to fully functional IIPS regulatory sandboxes to prototype, build and test innovative digital products while evaluating Mojaloop technology with the aim of solving data/infrastructure localization government regulations and directives.”

Ends.

Numida has disbursed over USD 16 million worth of credit to 25,000 Small and Medium Enterprises

Our Reporter.

In Africa, the sources of business capital are usually personal funds, family, friends and loans. The first three are usually the ideal sources while the fourth is the most realistic.

As such access to affordable and readily available credit is key to the success and sustainability of businesses. Big and well-established businesses easily get funds from financial institutions because they have the required documentation and collateral security.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of start-ups, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It even gets worse for informal businesses, which are the majority.

But with increasing uptake and advancement in technology, the future is looking brighter. Already, a few institutions are offering affordable digital loans to individuals and SMEs.

One of such organizations is Numida; a digital platform that provides convenient and unsecured working capital loans to African start-ups and SMEs. It doesn’t ask for paperwork, no collateral and the loan is processed within 24 hours. Since 2017, it has so far lent out over USD 16 million to SMEs. That is about UGX 60 billion.

Numida is the 16th participant in the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.

We had a detailed conversation with Ana Grajales, the Numida Uganda Country Director. Below is what she had to say about Credit, FinTech, supporting Small Businesses, Women Empowerment and Financial Inclusion.

QN: To those hearing about you for the very first time, what is Numida and what do you do?

ANS: Numida provides unsecured working capital loans to micro and small businesses through our mobile app. Our loans require no paperwork, no field visits, no collateral, and are disbursed quickly.

We are working to be the first and largest mobile platform in Africa focused on offering digital, convenient, and responsible financial services to semi-formal African micro and small businesses. Our ambition is to enable at least 1 million small business owners on the continent to achieve their dreams by 2030.

QN: Who is eligible for your credit facilities? What does one need to access your credit?

ANS: The people eligible for Numida loans are those that follow in this category;own a business and have some kind of proof of ownership, have a National ID (or Passport or Driving Permit), and have mobile money numbers in their names.

If you meet these requirements, then the next step is to download the Numida APP and fill in details about your business and upload some photos. Numida staff will then contact you and follow up. The loan is then sent to your phone through Mobile Money.

 QN: Tell us more about how you are supporting informal and undocumented businesses.

ANS: Our clients are businesses and business owners with different degrees of formality. From the mobile money shop around your corner; to your tailor or your favorite clothes shop or your local pharmacy. We lend them 30-day, working capital loans; starting from UGX 200,000 to UGX 10M; with flexibility that really matches the needs of the business.Our service is all about convenience. First time borrowers can get a loan within 48 hours of applying, and repeat customers can get their loan disbursed to their mobile money account in seconds; due to our efficient operations and proprietary technology.

QN: For the time you have been in business, how many Ugandans and local businesses have you extended credit to? How much credit have you given our so far?

ANS: We started lending to businesses in 2017; since then we have lent to more than 25,000 micro and small businesses.  We have disbursed more than USD 7 Million worth of credit to this segment of customers and we are excited to keep helping micro and small businesses grow.

There are 1.1 million micro and small businesses in UG and they contribute about 75% of GDP, so it is about time that micro businesses have the right tech and financing to match their needs.

QN: How is Numida enhancing Women Financial Inclusion?

ANS: Because we tailor our requirements to the business needs, we have been able to serve more informal and undocumented businesses, which are also more likely to be owned by women. Currently women make up 48 per cent of our portfolio, and this has been intentional.

In terms of staff, we are 54 percent female and similarly split on managerial positions. We intentionally seek diverse team members and build an environment that can retain diverse talent and help them thrive.

QN: As an entity actively involved in the FinTech space, are you implementing Level One Project Principles which are Industry Best Practices such as Tiered KYC, Accessibility on Low-Cost User Devices, Real-time/Immediate funds transfer, Same-day settlement, Pricing Transparency and Irrevocability?

ANS: We use the same principles to design our product; though we apply them differently. Tiered KYC is allowing customers to engage with you with minimum requirements or less of a KYC burden; and our whole philosophy is lending to informal businesses that may not have all of the documentation or requirements needed by commercial banks.

Same day settlement is a core principle of our product; we give convenient loans and services, within 24 hours or within seconds; we settle transactions on a near-instantaneous basis. Our application shows customers their outstanding balance, at any time, as well as up-to-date information about their business and maximum loan quote.

QN: In your opinion, how does the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative support the industry?

ANS: The 40 Days 40 Fintechs initiative showcases the diversity and innovation in our space; visibility is important in facilitating attention, creating support and nurturing potential collaboration and partnerships. We are happy to take part.

40 Days 40 FinTechs.  

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that HiPipo partners – Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

“The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.” Noted Innocent Kawooya, HiPipo CEO.

Ends.

Pivot Payments is saving Migrant Workers from Fraudsters and Funds Misappropriation

Our Reporter.

One of the biggest challenges faced by Ugandan migrant workers working in the Diaspora is money remittance. The cost of sending money is very high, ranging between five and ten dollars for transferring little amounts. On top of this, many have been defrauded of their hard-earned money – sometimes by their own relatives and friends who misappropriate it.

Imagine coming back home after two years of hustle in the Middle East and you realize that the house or business you were funding was all a hoax! That’s why we have lots of cases of depression and suicides among ‘returnees’.

It is ‘these’ depressions that Pivot Payments came to heal through an online banking system that allows one to conveniently manage their money without using a third party.

“The person just needs to download our mobile application and they will be able to save, send or spend money. This application is good for the Kadamas (Migrant Workers), as they are known. When they access Pivot Payments; they can save their money there because we have got a wallet; they are able to spend because they can pay bills directly from wherever they are for the people back home such as water and electricity bills or school fees; they can as well send it to the bank or mobile money wallet,” says Princess Shamirah Kimbugwe, the Founder and CEO Pivot Payments.

Born during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pivot Payment has received tremendous uptake because of the increasing demand and adoption of digital financial services.

“We were born in Covid. So, we were born out of fire….Covid in a sense shaped our resilience as a company. You have to fight to get a customer. Covid gave us a way to address the digital needs of that particular customer. Most businesses are closing, downscaling…but we have had to strengthen, we are going into other markets. We are expanding. So, Covid has harnessed our business…” says Kimbugwe.

According toKimbugwe, close to 170,000 people are banking with them with more than 16,000 using the mobile application. The platform has so far handled about 14 million US dollars in transactions. 

“Migrant workers from other countries are calling for our services. We are soon opening shop in Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana. Our ambition is to be in 10 markets across Africa by the end of next year,” she says.

Given that they primarily target migrant workers in the Middle East, Kimbugwe says more than 70 percent of their customers are women, since many are there as domestic workers.

Prohibitive laws.

Kimbugwe notes that while Uganda’s FinTech industry has lots of promise, there are still many regulatory bottlenecks.

“The FinTech industry in Uganda is still in the infancy stage. If you have over 70 FinTechs in Uganda, how many of them are licensed? Only 14! What does that tell you about us? Availability of FinTechs is there but maturity is not there. When you come to regulation, there is a new regulation that is being operationalized. But the enforcement has gaps,” Kimbugwe notes, adding;  

“The law is financially prohibitive.  When you say the minimum capital requirement for a FinTech to be licensed is UGX250m, money supposed to sit in the bank, then there is a grey area. FinTechs are run by young people who can’t afford to raise such money! Uganda has attracted just about 250m US dollars in FinTech investment but Kenya is close to 1bn dollars and Nigeria 2bn dollars. What are they doing right that we are not? It goes down to the environment, the laws. Let’s look at regulation; how we attract players. If Google and Amazon are setting up in Nairobi, why not in Kampala. Why? Let’s revise our tax regime. Regulation regime.”

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space.

That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration from the project partners – Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

“Knowledge is power. The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has given us knowledge of the existing players and what they are doing. You have opened a door for information and collaboration. If you realize that someone is doing something, you can partner and achieve more,” Kimbugwe says.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya appreciated Pivot Payments for simplifying banking and managing finances.

“Convenience is a very strong pillar for the success of any business and that is exactly what Pivot Payments is providing for our migrant workers. They can now comfortably be in Dubai and pay schools fees for their children back in Iganga, Masaka or Luweero without hustle. That is an ultimate financial inclusion model,” he said.

Kawooya added that this year’s edition is cementing achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also building on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” he said.

Tawaza Diva is helping over 1,000 women and youth access digital loans

Our Reporter.

Many Ugandans are full of business ideas but their biggest bottleneck is the lack of capital and inability to access credit. For a financial institution to give your business a loan, they will ask for a trading license, national ID, bank statement, tax report among others.

They therefore get stuck in the informal sector where growth and expansion is very limited.

This is one of the reasons why Tawaza Diva was formed, to, first, provide affordable finance to women and youths in the rural and informal sector but also to transition them into the formal sector.

According to Winfred Nandawula, the TAWAZA Program Director, Tawaza Diva is a product of Tawaza Initiative, a development solutions hub established in 2018 currently operating as a non-deposit-taking financial institution. Tawaza has so far changed lives of more than 1000 women and youth in the rural and informal sector by giving them micro loans.

Nandawula says her passion for financial inclusion dates back to 2012 when she harbored the idea of teaching women some financial literacy, especially how to save for the future.

“The idea didn’t pick up at all,” she says, noting that she realized that the problem was actually bigger than financial literacy; it was financial inclusion

“As women, the social-cultural norms do not allow us to step out there and access finance because we need collateral, guarantors and sometimes banks would ask us to have our husbands sign for us…so, access to finance was difficult. We realized the actual problem was the limited penetration of banks. There were no branches in rural areas. That is when mobile money started and we were excited. We said this will increase financial inclusion.”

But although mobile money significantly improved financial inclusion, people took time to accept it, especially in the villages.

“They were skeptical about storing their money on the phone…what if it gets lost? That is why they chose to keep money at home or in kiosks and they end up losing it all in case of a fire outbreak or break-in. So, we had to teach people about technology and how these platforms work, safely.”

Since inception in 2018, Nandawula says Tawaza has picked pace, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. The platform now boasts 86 individual borrowers and more than 600 people clustered in women and youth groups.

She, however, acknowledges the challenge that borrowers are finding it difficult to repay the loans, due to the bad business environment posed by the post-Covid effects.

“Our target now is to onboard these women and youths from the informal sector into the formal sector. This will help us access bigger credit/stimulus from partner banks or even Uganda Development Bank,” she says.

“There is not much that can be done if we don’t get women and youth into the formal sector…So, we are trying to formalize them without creating much tax burdens and other requirements.”

Meanwhile, Nandawula appreciates #40Days40FinTechs initiative for being an advocate for the adoption of financial technology because there is an urgent need to demystify the bad attitude towards Financial Technology. She, however, wants better laws that protect both the customers and providers of digital financial services.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Tawaza is the 14th participant in Season Three of the #40Days40FinTechs initiative that seeks to shine a light on the unique stories about innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space.

The initiative is run under HiPipo in partnership with the Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies with support from the Gates Foundation.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, Tawaza’s focus to bail out women and youths is core to HiPipo’s Include Everyone program.

 “Women and young people are the drivers of the next generation. We must do everything possible to fully include them in the digital financial value chain,” he said.

He further called on digital innovators and FinTechs around East Africa to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Kawooya added that this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

The #40Days40FinTechs platform is run under HiPipo’s broader Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa.

The platform offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

Zofi Cash is using FinTech to help Employees Access Salary Advances within minutes

Our Reporter.

Almost everyone has ever received a phone call or text with the person on the other side saying that s/he has an emergency and urgently needs financial assistance.

Such communication takes a lot of guts, and somewhat courage on the side of the requester because reaching out for help is never a guarantee that you will get that help. And usually, when you get a negative response, it is followed by personal embarrassment. 

Because emergencies happen daily, employees are always asking for short-term loans and salary advances. Unfortunately, most of these take days before they are processed thus defeating the reasoning behind asking for them, while others are never acted on at all.

Having gone through such predicaments in the past, Paul Kirungi wouldn’t wish to see others go through the same. As such, together with a team of young innovators, he developed Zofi Cash, a digital financial platform that takes care of employees’ financial emergencies before payday.

“We know very well that across Africa, most people are paid once a month. The challenge is emergencies happen every day and most of the time, those emergencies cannot wait for that payday to come at the end of the month. People always need to access financial services that can help them bridge the emergencies – payday gap. So, basically that is the gap we are filling today with Zofi Cash,” Kirungi, the founder and CEO of Zofi Cash, explains the motivation behind this platform.

He adds: “We started working on Zofi Cash in 2019 and then COVID-19 hit. We continued to work on the platform until October 2021 when we launched our maiden product. Since then, we have been serving and people love our services because of our fast turnaround time. People are able to access salary advances in about two minutes.”

Zofi Cash offers salary advances at a very low-interest rate based on the number of days one holds his/her loan before their payday.

“Banks and other financial players are not an option during emergencies as they are stuck in the old ways of requiring security, banking history, and lots of paperwork. Honestly, very few people can pass this sieve. Having experienced this firsthand, we thought to ourselves, what if we made every day a payday? Access to earned wages without waiting for the month’s end to take care of those emergencies that can’t wait for the end of the month. With Zofi Cash, in just two minutes, a salaried employee can access a salary advance. We do this by partnering with employers who extend this service to their employees as a benefit,” Kirungi elaborates.

Zofi Cash is the 13th participant in the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative organized by HiPipo in partnership with Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies and generously supported by the Gates Foundation.

Now in its third edition, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to Kirungi, Level One Project principles such as Same-Day settlement, Real-Time payments and Accessibility on Low-End Devices are non-negotiable at Zofi Cash because they are best practices for Financial Inclusion.

“We are already working on USSD-enabled lending for employees in rural areas that need access to our services on low-end devices and feature phones. We are gathering data that will continue to guide us on how to effectively build robust financial systems and one of such systems will be USSD based.”

Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO applauds Zofi Cash for using technology to innovate a solution that touches on real day-to-day problems that affect thousands of employees in East Africa and beyond.

“I thank Zofi Cash for coming up with a solution that has the capacity to transform Africa’s Salary and Wages payment system. As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” he said.

Merchandise Uganda is offering an online market with free stalls

Our Reporter.

Anyone doing business in Uganda will tell you that paying rent is one of their biggest nightmares. Whether you have made profits or not; whether you have spent the month sick or away attending to a patient, or whether you were in a Covid-19 lockdown; the landlord will always want their rent paid in full and on time!    

Failure to pay rent has actually been identified as one of the biggest reasons for the high turnover of businesses, especially in city arcades and malls.

It is against this background that Merchandise Uganda – an online marketplace – was formed.

Nurudin Busingye, the Merchandise Uganda General Manager says prevailing trends call for cheaper ways of doing business, and nothing beats online trading in cost-effectiveness.

“We realized that there is a lot of inequality in business where people don’t have money to rent at strategic locations. So, we said you can have your stock at home or you can import products and put them in a warehouse and open up an online shop on Merchandise Uganda to showcase your products to both local and international markets,” Busingye said.

On top of this, there is an estimated 20 million Ugandans who don’t have access to markets yet they have products to sell. And the rest of the population is looking for those products.

“So, at Merchandise Uganda, we developed this system to ensure that sellers have access to buyers and vice versa with just the use of their phones or computers,” he adds, noting that the main focus is on women SMEs.

“We see ourselves as a revolutionary company transforming traditional trade to global trade. People now work from home and have adopted technology; our goal is to ensure that Ugandan products are known not only to the local market but also the global market.”

HOW IT WORKS

When you have a business or products to sell, you just visit www.merchandiseuganda.com and open up a shop. A seller/trader is required to provide their name or business name, location, contact details, good photos of products and videos of how the products work (if need be).

When someone wants a product, they go to the website or download the Merchandise Uganda app and search for the product they want. Then people with such a product will be listed and the client can contact them directly.

“We have a partnership with delivery companies. All our suppliers are assigned to these logistics companies. So, when the client makes an order, the delivery company is notified to pick the product and deliver it,” he says, noting that clients use mobile money and banks to make payments.

“We are working on creating e-wallets to create a complete eco system…”

Started in 2019, Busingye says the Covid-19 pandemic saw a huge rise in the number of users with numbers jumping from less than 200 to more than 600 in just one year and more than 10 million product views.

“This is a good number. Remember these people don’t go to Merchandise Uganda to chat; they go there to do business,” he says.

Going International.

Merchandise Uganda is the 12th participant in this year’s 40 Day 40 Fintechs initiative by HiPipo.

Now in its third edition, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

Busingye is full of praise for the 40 Day 40 Fintechs initiative for having given them free publicity in last year’s edition which is already paying dividends.

“We recently had a partnership with a European company which wants to do business with Ugandan suppliers. We also got contacts in South Africa who want us to open a branch that side. All this was a result of the 40 Days 40 Fintechs 2021 edition,” he says.

And for Innocent Kawooya, the CEO HiPipo, this revelation is testament to their mission of connecting the global markets.

“The beauty about the digital market is that it has no barriers, and no borders. Merchandise Uganda’s story gives us the satisfaction our goal of Including Everyone is taking shape,” he said.

Busingye however calls for more sensitization of Ugandans about the use of technology and digital tools.

He adds that they introduced a program to support women get online shops for free.

“We are conducting trainings for women. We have over 65% women-led businesses on our platform. Our aim is not to make money, but to support the communities, especially women,” he says.

Meanwhile, Kawooya says Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

He added that this year’s edition seeks to cement achievements of the previous editions – such as Merchandise Uganda – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” he said.

PayLater; Uganda’s Online Shop That Allows Installments

Our Reporter.

Many young corporates harbor dreams that would satisfy their heart’s desires. They would like to have nice cars, trendy phones, beautiful TV sets, durable furniture, name it! But their meager salaries are only enough for the daily essential needs. So, they keep dreaming!

However, PayLater Uganda has come to make these dreams a reality by introducing an online buy-now pay-later model of property acquisition.

Started in 2021, this e-commerce platform has made it easy for Ugandans to purchase commodities ranging from electronics to kitchen appliances to smartphones to furniture, car tyres to beauty products at their own pace and convenience.

“It is a fact that most Ugandans cannot afford to buy genuine commodities in one go. So, we introduced this digital lease-to-own platform where they can pay in installments and acquire the property of their dreams,” says Aaron Kasozi, the PayLater CEO.

Convenient

Kasozi says that they have about 15 approved suppliers of genuine branded products. So, if someone wants a product, they just visit www.paylaterug.com  where all product categories are listed.

The customer just needs to create an account, generate password and then apply for a product of their choice. Then the system picks customer details such as employment, how much they earn, next of kin, residential address, among others.

“Once the application is received, we have to vet the customer through the Know-Your-Customer system where they are asked for a copy of national ID, bank statement and other documented income sources and work ID. If a customer passes the credit rating process, then we can go to the next step,” he says.

Once vetting is done, the customer is contacted and written to formally to tell them that they qualify for a product or not.

“If they qualify, we sign a contract with the client and we engage the supplier and the customer pays the initial deposit. We break down the value of the product into six equal installments to ensure that the client pays up within six months,” Kasozi says, noting that only digital payments are accepted through FlexiPay, Visa, Mastercard and mobile money. They don’t accept cash at all.

Kasozi further explains that they work within a 30% rating whereby if someone earns Shs 1m per month, they should only qualify for a product where they will need to make monthly remittances of Shs 300,000.

To reduce risks, Kasozi says they work hand-in-hand with the credit reference bureau but also mainly focus on people in employment where due diligence can easily be done.

So far, more than 300 people have been able to own different products through this platform.

“It is very promising. We have had over 190,000 website hits and every month we get over 800 applications. Unfortunately, most of them do not qualify,” he said, before complimenting the 40Days40FinTechs initiative for extending a helping hand to startups that normally do not have the resources for marketing, customer education and awareness.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

PayLater is the 11th participant in Season Three of the #40Days40FinTechs initiative that seeks to shine a light on the unique stories about innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space.

The initiative is run by HiPipo in partnership with the Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies with support from the Gates Foundation.

According to the HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, initiatives such as PayLater are testament to the rising cases of adoption of online trading and other digital financial services.

“PayLater is a well-thought-out initiative because it touches the nerve of many young people. Many people are looking out for genuine products that they can acquire conveniently and PayLater provides just that,” Kawooya said.

He further called on digital innovators and FinTechs around East Africa to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Kawooya, further noted that this year’s edition is cementing achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also building on this success to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.

He added: “It is exciting to see what the participants have to offer. And again, various stakeholders are on hand for more discussion and debate, with this time round extra insight from the likes of banks and MNOs. We are already having extensive discussions on Instant and Inclusive Payment systems, Central Bank Digital Currencies(CBDC), advancing convenience for users, cross-border payments and on micro-lending products (especially those offering facilities to persons and communities that are still on the bylines of finance and trade for example; women, PWDs and other SIGs),”

The #40Days40FinTechs platform is run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa.

The platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold. It also offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

Her Duuka is helping over 500 women businesses survive Covid-19 hangover

Our Reporter.

The past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic literally placed everyone in their right place – for both good and bad reasons. On the bad side; businesses closed, people lost jobs, families were broken, education stagnated and the economy crumbled.

Like they say, in every challenge, there is always an opportunity. The pandemic, especially the lockdown, sharpened people’s minds to pave way for creativity, innovation and enterprise. Such terms as ‘working from home’, ‘new normal’ and ‘online trade’ became common and are now being put to good use.

For example, it was during the lockdown that Felix Balitumye realized the need to digitally empower women entrepreneurs whose businesses were on the rocks. Together with his team at Computing Palace Technologies, Balitumye created a digital e-commerce platform and named it Her Duuka where women would register their businesses and connect to customers digitally.

“The 2020 lockdown mostly affected women because they dominate the small retail businesses. We realized that there is need to empower them to stay afloat. Many had closed shops and their stock was just wasting away,” says Balitumye.

On the other hand, he says, people were all stuck at home but in great need of supplies, thus the need to connect suppliers to consumers. Her Duuka is a convenient online platform where one just needs to visit www.herduuka.com and register their business with specific product details, prices, location and contacts. Supplies range from home appliances, beauty, machinery, beverages, to foods and furniture.

“Our role is to register suppliers. All things on Her Duuka are owned by different people with independent businesses. If a person wants to buy, they go straight to Her Duuka and tap on the product and they are prompted to put details of where they want it delivered, payment mode, etc, and submit,” he says, noting that clients can pay using mobile money, cash on delivery or bank transfers.

Balitumye says this digital product has been a revelation to many women who had lost hope following the 2020 lockdown. To date, more than 500 businesses have registered on Her Duuka.

Because most women entreprenuers are either illiterate or semi-literate, Balitumye says that all entrants are taken through digital literacy trainings to ensure that they can ably use the platform.

“We then create a portal for every supplier which helps them manage daily transactions to track income and expenditure. In other words, it has an inbuilt financial management platform to help empower women in financial inclusion,” he says.

While they primarily enroll people with conventional businesses, Balitumye says they are now looking into incorporating people without physical shops or workshops. For instance, there are some students in hostels and even housewives who would want to register and sell their merchandise and make money.

“Even men are asking to join the platform but, for now, we want to maintain the brand, making sure that women are taking the front lead,” Balitumye says.

There is no business without challenges. Balitumye says they still face resistance from some people with a negative attitude towards e-commerce platforms because some have been previously duped by scammers.

“The other problem is financial empowerment… these businesses take long to make profits. So, you have to keep investing. It needs a lot of resilience…and massive investment,” he said before applauding the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for the massive awareness and advocacy for FinTechs.

40-Days 40-FinTechs.

Her Duuka is the tenth participant in the 2022 40-Days 40-Fintechs initiative.

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond. “As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.

JUMO World is extending digital loans to more than 2.5 million Ugandans

Our Reporter.

With the worsening economic situation in the country, on top of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, most Ugandans have resorted to seeking short-term loans from friends and family to make ends meet.

But this is an unsustainable scenario because even those friends are struggling too, trying hard to survive with the little they have.

And that is where JUMO World comes in, to facilitate digital quick loans and mitigate the financial burden one would impose on their immediate circle.

Since 2017, JUMO World has been acting as an integrator for Uganda’s top telecoms Airtel and MTN to provide soft loans and saving platforms for Ugandans. To date, more than 2.6 million subscribers have benefitted from Airtel Uganda’s Wewole and MTN’s MoSente platforms.

On the 9th Day of the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative, Season 3, we speak to Wilfred Wabwire, the JUMO World Country Manager for Uganda. Below is what he has to say.

QN: What is JUMO and what do you do?

ANS: JUMO is the market-leading banking as a service platform, enabling real-time access to funds at the lowest possible operating cost. Integrating into JUMO’s platform enables our partners to offer loans, savings and a wide range of financial choices to a new group of customers.

QN: How is your Wewole Product in partnership with Airtel Money performing? How did COVID-19 affect it?

ANS: JUMO has been offering Wewole loans in partnership with Airtel Uganda since 2017. The product is available on Airtel Money by dialing *185#, select option 8 for Wewole and follow the prompts. Covid-19 impacted people’s lives in ways previously unimagined. In response to the pandemic, JUMO World Uganda, implemented several initiatives to minimize the impact of covid-19 on borrowers including waiving the late payment fee given the situation at that time.

In terms of performance, Wewole Loan product has been used by over 2.5 million unique customers since its inception. This year to date, we have disbursed loans worth UGX 32 billion.  In April 2022, we opened-up the Wewole product to new eligible Airtel money customers.  Customers can borrow between as UGX 3,000 – UGX 1,000,00 and Customers with good repayment behavior gradually qualify for incrementally larger amounts.

QN: You recently launched MoSente with MTN Mobile Money. Congratulations! Tell us more about MoSente. What it is, how it works and everything else your clients ought to know.

ANS: MoSente is a convenient way for MTN MoMo customers to access credit services. Customers can borrow from as low as UGX 3, 000 and can chose either 14 days or 30 days to repay back the loan depending on their preferred loan term. To access Mosente loans, a customer simply dials *165*5*5# and follow the prompts. Money is instantly deposited in the customers MoMo wallet. To qualify for higher loan amounts, customers need to repay their MoSente loans on time, every time and keep using MTN MoMo account.

QN: What has been the impact of your credit products to the people of Uganda since you launched? How much cumulative credit have you given out on both Wewole and MoSente? How many borrowers are on both platforms? Etc.

ANS: JUMO World Uganda has collectively served about 2.65 million unique customers on both MoSente and Wewole since inception. This year to date, we have disbursed loans worth UGX 55 billion. A borrower shared with us that he “no longer looks for someone to borrow money from because they are using our service”. Another one said that he ‘used the first JUMO loan to pay school fees; he used the next loan for farming, and harvested much which helped him greatly to improve his house hold income”. These are some of the examples of the real positive impact our loans are having on the people of Uganda.

QN: What is JUMO doing to enhance Women Financial Inclusion? How are you supporting start-ups and informal businesses?

ANS: One third of JUMO borrowers are Women.  For every ten borrowers on the JUMO Platform, six are MSMEs. One of our female borrowers, shared with us that “her life had improved with JUMO loans, by harvesting more on her farm and being able to pay her workers.”

Eligible Customers who are either starting up or in informal businesses can access MoSente Loan on MTN MoMo menu or Wewole loan on Airtel Money Menu. Customers simply need to frequently use their Mobile money wallets and register for the services.

JUMO through our Wewole Agent loan also offers access to unsecured Credit facilities to Airtel Money Agents to enable them to manage their float and serve their customers. Agents can borrow between UGX 10,000 and UGX 1, 600, 000 and repay back in 30 days.

QN: As a big player in FINTECH, is JUMO implementing Level One Project Principles such as Tiered KYC, Accessibility on Low-Quality Devices, Same Day Settlement and Real-Time Payments?

ANS: JUMO loans can be accessed on any type of mobile phone including feature phones and on qualifying and applying for a loan, customers get the funds instantly. Similarly, when a customer settles their loan, the transaction is processed in real-time 24/7 and the loan is cleared there and then.

QN: In your opinion, what is the state of Uganda’s FinTech industry?

ANS: The number of Fintechs in Uganda has been steadily growing from a handful to approximately 70 to-date. Events such as 40Days40FinTechs and Fintech conferences have enabled FinTechs to be seen and heard. Regulatory developments such as the National Payments Systems Act, Data Protection Act amongst others have further helped to streamline and formalize the industry. However, there is still opportunity to attract more funding, customer advocacy, and diversifying into more sectors including RegTech, Buy now Pay later, Savings and Budgeting solutions.

QN: Knowing the issues facing the FINTECH Industry, what role does the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative play in shaping the industry?

ANS: The 40Days40FinTechs initiate has given Fintechs a platform to showcase how their solutions are transforming livelihoods as well as the contribution of FinTech towards economic development. 40Days40Fintechs is also creating the much-needed awareness in the industry and ultimately driving usage/utilization of the innovations by the end-users as well as attracting funding/investment in the FinTech space.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space.

That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya appreciated Jumo as one of the top FinTechs in the country changing millions of lives.

“It is very promising to hear that Jumo has disbursed over Shs 50bn in soft loans to both individuals and businesses. It shows an improving trend of use of digital financial services in the country,” he said.

Kawooya added that this year’s edition will cement the achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond. “As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” he said.