Updates

Our Reporter.

True African is with no doubt among the legends of digital financial services in Uganda. They were among the pioneers of short messages (SMS) and later mobile banking in Uganda working with Nile Bank to transfer funds from one account to another. They even had a website where people would log-in and send free SMS!

But with time, and more players coming into the market, True African has had to pivot to offering back-end services and extending micro-credit to rural farmers and village saving groups and recently, informal traders in urban areas.

“Currently, we do more of aggregation. We assist commercial banks and SMEs to move money from the bank account to the wallet and vice versa. We also help them with bulk payments. We support commercial banks, almost more than half of the commercial banks in the country and ten other microfinance institutions,” says Eric Kamau, the Founder and Managing Director of True African.  

On the side of credit, Kamau says for the past five years, their concentration shifted to lending to village saving groups in South Western Uganda as well as potato farmers in Fort Portal where thousands have benefited from micro loans amounting to close to one million dollars.

“We lend these groups between UGX 5 million and UGX 40 million at 3 per cent. The groups take this money and lend it to members at 5 per cent. We make money at the same time providing a social service,” he says, noting that it is fulfilling to see people’s lives changed.

“For instance, there is an old man in Kabaale who, four years ago, wanted to buy a goat at UGX 80,000. He was a member of the first group we lent money to and this man got UGX 80,000. He was able to repay and when I visited him one year later, he had about five goats. That is the impact we want. That is the impact we are creating,” Kamau says.  

The same is happening in Fort Portal where True African works with established farmer groups to provide finances for farm inputs.

“Here we lend to potato farmers. We have a mobile application. It is basically a stock management tool used to record the inputs that farmers come to get from us. With recommendation from apex organizations, we give them vouchers to collect pesticides, fertilizers, etc.,” Kamau explains.

At the end of every season, the farmer group (Apex Organisation) collects the harvest for sale and they deduct the cost of inputs that was financed by True African and the farmer takes the balance.

“We have impacted about 100 groups in South Western Uganda (groups have between 30 and 200 members). In Fort Portal, we have dealt with groups of about 700 farmers. That is going to grow to at least 3000 farmers,” he says.

Early this year, Kamau says, they also launched an urban product that targets local dduukas and market vendors who are allowed to borrow in groups.

“We launched on February 14, 2022 and so far have six branches and have impacted close to 2,000 businesses. They borrow between UGX 200,000 and UGX 3m,” he says.

Kamau argues that their vast experience in aggregation, integration and software development has helped them thrive in this new venture because every challenge is addressed in-house almost immediately.

He, however, notes that while their loans are unsecure, they ensure that they conduct the Know-Your-Customer protocols with the help of the groups they work with.

Meanwhile, because the target population are the unbanked rural dwellers, Kamau says more than 90 per cent of the people they serve use feature phones, not smartphones.

“We trained them on how to access credit using USSD codes. A loan is disbursed within seconds of applying because the system already has the KYC information from their groups,” he says.

40 Days 40 FinTechs

Kamau intimates that although the FinTech industry in Uganda is still young, there is much hope since the banking industry now recognizes that they are required.

“Challenge is telecoms and banks are becoming competitors and they have more resources. But we are going to see niches within Uganda that will allow some FinTechs to take off,” he says.

True African are the 29^th participant in this year’s 40Days40FintTechs initiative organized by HiPipo that seeks to profile emerging financial technology companies in East Africa and beyond.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya acknowledged the legendary work done by True African over the years and applauded them for their resilience despite challenges.

“True African have showed us that FinTechs can survive and thrive in this country. We are very happy that they are now targeting the people at the bottom of the pyramid, who are our main target in this initiative,” he 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.

It 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.

Our Reporter.

Linmart is an online marketplace that links manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers and shoppers to one platform called a MARKET for convenient, timely and cost-effective transactions.

Started in October 2021, Linmart is an easy-to-use product where vendors sign-up for free and buyers just use their smartphones, pads or computers to conveniently contact sellers and access products.

The HiPipo 40 Days 40 FinTechs team caught up with Fredrick Ssenyonga, the Founder and CEO Linmart for a candid discussion on E-Commerce and FinTech. Below are the excerpts.

QN: What was the motivation behind forming Linmart?

ANS: We are motivated by the need for convenience for both buyers and sellers to transact. Finding the market has always been a problem for most businesses; so, Linmart brings the market closer to everyone.

Everyone is assured of finding what he/she wants within no time. For example, businesses can easily contact manufacturers and importers; shoppers are able to identify all that they need; suppliers of both raw material and ready-to-consume products are all able to do business on a trustable platform.

QN: How does one use Linmart?

ANS: They just need a smartphone, pad or computer. When one signs up on Linmart, the system creates an account for them. It could be a vendor account or a consumer account. It’s on this account that shopping money is deposited. However, there are other modes of payment including Mobile Money, Visa card and Credit cards.

QN: What exactly are your products/services?

ANS: We have two products. We have the e-Market and a Linmart Virtual Credit Card. The e-Market is where buyers and sellers link up for business transactions. With the Linmart Virtual Credit Card, a shopper will be able to buy products from any vendor signed up on Linmart on credit and make payment in the following month with a little increment of say 5 per cent.            

QN: For the time you have been in business, how do your numbers look like?

ANS: More than 450 businesses have signed up for outlets on Linmart, and a very good number of shoppers visit the online market daily.

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

ANS: To start with, the government embraced the technology era which eases its implementation. Secondly, almost 2/3 of our population constitutes youths who are ready to embrace anything trendy, and technology is no exception. So, FinTech is here at the right time.

Any challenges?

One of the biggest challenges especially with start-ups is finances. It’s costly to implement a technological concept. There are not many investors willing to stake money in start-ups. Loans are complicated and grants/seeds are rare and hard to access. A number of projects are stagnant due to resource scarcity.

QN: What’s your take on the #40Days40FinTechs initiative in supporting the industry?

ANS: The initiative has created exposure for various technology companies. This will help us network, share ideas and do business together. We are grateful to the #40Days40FinTechs initiative.

QN: What else must be done to improve the industry?

ANS: The #40Days40FinTechs initiative can initiate means of soliciting for funds to support businesses in technology. I believe we can use this platform to access grants, seeds or come up with annual fundraisings. This can help businesses, especially start-ups, to scale up.

40-Days 40-FinTechs.

Linmart is participant number 28 for the 2022 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.”

Our Reporter.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 was projected to be a short-term disruption but for some financial firms, it has triggered long-term changes on how to do business.

Buladde Financial Services is among the several financial institutions changing operations to suit customer preferences and the new ways of doing business.

Established in October 2016, Buladde seeks to provide an opportunity for its members to improve their security of tenure or ownership of land through voluntary savings and loans.

John Mark Ernest Golooba, the Buladde Financial Services Manager, describes the pandemic as a blessing in disguise because it paved the way for faster digital uptake. The restrictions on movement during the lockdown and the need to work remotely forced management to think differently.

“When we started, we were faced with a challenge of lack of a system in place. We were doing normal excel sheets and analogue-based system. So, we migrated to a digital system in 2021. We wanted to do this before but due to COVID, we were delayed,” Golooba notes, adding:

“The digital platform is meant to extend our services to members without the physical interface. You saw the challenges of the pandemic such as restricted movements but also, we found it costly for people to move as areas of operations were out of reach.”

“So, digital services were very important in ensuring that our members are served better. We migrated to an online system and we have been cleaning our data to have all the required information to serve them better.”

According to Golooba, Buladde currently has 2,459 active members including about 1,600 who are accessing credit services.

He explains that loans being serviced by its members amount to over UGX1.8 billion. The loans were given to ensure that the members have access to affordable credit facilities for the betterment of their social, economic, and financial conditions.

Buladde Financial Services is participant number 27 in the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Mojaloop, ModusBox, Crosslake Technologies, Level One Project, and supported by the Gates Foundation.

Golooba is appreciative of the initiative noting that it is helping players learn more about digital financial services. He nonetheless notes that the costs involved in digital financial services are a hindrance to faster adaption, an issue that further delays financial inclusion.

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 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.

Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO applauded Buladde Financial Service for the progress achieved so far, noting that in the last three years Buladde has grown from a pure cash organization to cash-lite currently.

“When we first engaged Buladde, they were largely a cash organization. However, Golooba and his team have been committed to transforming the organization. It is not surprising that they have now introduced a digital financial management system. We are committed to continuing to help organizations like Buladde in their efforts to achieve total digitization,” Kawooya said, adding;

“Despite the rapid adoption of digital financial services, an average of 40 percent of Africa’s adult population remains financially excluded. Financial exclusion continues due to the lack of interoperable, open-loop, cost-effective, real-time and secure retail payments systems/switches to digitally connect large numbers of low-income users onto formal financial rails. The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is accelerating discussions on building industry-led Instant and Inclusive Payment System (IIPS) across the East African region and continent.” 

Our Reporter.

When Uganda, just like most parts of the world was put into a total lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, most businesses were forced to either digitize their services or risk an abrupt closure.

But for Jumia Uganda, the lockdown was just an added ingredient to their burgeoning business because this pandemic sparked off an inevitable digital shopping ‘spree’.

With the Jumia online marketplace, accessible through both the APP and website, customers scrambled to access all goods right from food deliveries to groceries to electronics, appliances, and pharmaceuticals at affordable rates in the comfort of their homes.

And for Mori Sylla, the Jumia Pay Country Manager for Uganda, now that Covid-19 has removed the digital adoption barrier, they are currently concentrating on improving the customer experience through innovation.

One such innovation is the Jumia Dark Stores spread across Metropolitan Kampala that mainly target bringing the turnaround time for all deliveries to within 20 minutes of placing an order.

“One of the main challenges of online shopping is the waiting time on the side of the customer.  So, with these stores in every part of the city, you can order an item and get it delivered within 15 or 20 minutes efficiently,” Sylla said in a recent interview.

Sylla noted that the other innovation targets vendors in the Jumia ecosystem. Because many people were hit by the pandemic and its aftermath, Jumia introduced a credit system where registered vendors can access quick and instant digital loans to serve as working capital and keep their businesses afloat.

Another innovation is Jumia Pay; the FinTech App of Jumia. Jumia Pay is currently present in 8 countries and is ready to become the alternative payment platform in Africa.

The Jumia Pay application serves two other roles including processing payments for Jumia Mall and Jumia Food as well as facilitating customers to buy things like airtime and data (currently active in Nigeria).

Budding Industry with so much Potential.

Jumia is undoubtedly one of Uganda’s biggest online marketplaces and Sylla noted that its target is to bring more Ugandans into the online payment space and ultimately become a one-stop center for online businesses.

“Uganda’s e-commerce has a lot of potential because of the positive reception by customers and the young population. Jumia food mart is growing and we have seen competitors coming into the market and doing very well. We are partnering with more players to grow together,” he explained, but nonetheless highlighted the ever-rising inflation as one of their biggest challenges.”

40 Days 40 FinTechs.

Jumia is the 25^th participant in this year’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative that 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.

Sylla applauded the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for bridging the gap between different players thus allowing partnerships and knowledge to be shared among players in addition to publicizing information that enables the general public “to know more about Financial Technology and its role in financial inclusion.

According to the HiPipo CEO, Innocent Kawooya, digital innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should embrace season three of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for it covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

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

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.

Our Reporter.

The word ‘SafeBoda’ is now a household name for the majority of Ugandans who especially use Boda Bodas – motorcycles for movement in Kampala Metropolitan region. For many Ugandans, riding on a boda boda used to be an unsafe experience because the riders were reckless, didn’t have customer care and you couldn’t bargain because you didn’t know the right price for your trip.

But ever since its entry into the Ugandan market in 2015, SafeBoda has by far revolutionized the boda boda business with uniquely identifiable personnel, fair prices, road discipline, and a trustable workforce.

According to Christian Wamambe Mayeku, the Head of Financial Innovations at SafeBoda, health and safety were the blueprints behind building a successful boda boda hailing business in Uganda that has grown from two riders in 2015 to over 26,000 riders in 2022.

“We introduced transparency because the rider and customer are able to know the fair price for a trip. We have trained riders in safety, they have two helmets and do not speed through cross-sections, they stop at traffic lights and really try to provide as much safety as possible,” he explains, noting that they have since entered new markets like Ibadan in Nigeria and the business is growing because the demand for such a service is great across Africa.

Wamambe says SafeBoda’s vision is to provide affordable and convenient services to people in African cities. To do that, they have had to evolve from just a ride-hailing app into a super app.

“With your SafeBoda App today, you can do a lot beyond ordering a Boda Boda. You can pay for electricity, water bills, airtime, and order from a shop or supermarket or restaurant – all using an affordable app,” he says.

On top of that, SafeBoda now has a growing Agents’ network that makes transactions even much easier.

“In January, we were granted a license by the central bank to create an agent network. So, the goal of this is to help people who do not have a smartphone or access to financial services,” he explains.  

Wamambe says a person can walk to a SafeBoda agent and buy or pay all their bills at an affordable rate. This segment is also growing because they are the same shops that do mobile money, agent banking and all sorts of businesses. So, SafeBoda is tapping into them by giving them a new way of making money.

The other ever-growing product that SafeBoda is offering is Food and Shop. Here, they partner with recognized restaurants, shops, and value chains like KFC to provide services to people. Riders are able to earn extra income by delivering food and goods to clients at very affordable prices.

40 Days 40 FinTechs

Wamambe notes that while the FinTech environment is on the rise, the main challenge is that the market is still very fragmented, thus the high transactional costs.  

“But we are seeing a convergence. Telecoms are starting to work closely with banks and FinTechs and the government is paying attention to addressing all these barriers… We will in the future become like Safaricom in Kenya where it is very easy to move money across your telecom line or your bank account or in the US where money is moving swiftly,” he says, before appreciating HiPipo for the third edition of 40Days40FinTechs initiative that has brought awareness about the FinTech industry and Financial Inclusion in general.

“For many people, it is the first platform where you get to know the little FinTechs that are doing great for their customers. This helps them forge partnerships with larger players like banks and multinationals to grow their impact to society,” he says.

SafeBoda is the 24th participant in this year’s edition of #40days40Fintechs.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, FinTechs such as SafeBoda are testament to the fact that the digital business can survive and thrive.

“SafeBoda started with two riders and now has more than 26,000 riders that serve over one million clients. This proves that our people can ably adopt digital products if they are convenient, affordable and user-friendly,” he said.

Kawooya added that this year’s edition seeks to 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.

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.

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.

Our Reporter.

Renowned marketing and business expert, Steven Jeffes once said that “innovation is the unrelenting drive to break the status quo and develop a new where few have dared to go.”

Indeed, all innovators always dare to either do new things or improve what is already existing. Many succeed, many fail while many others give up along the way.

With more efforts being geared towards achieving cash-lite and eventually cashless economies, many innovators in the financial technology – FinTech space are launching new intriguing products. While some are innovating from zero, others are using already existing technologies to develop better products.

One of such products is Sup Money; an in-chat payment feature that allows users to make transactions via WhatsApp to their contact list. It allows you to both send and receive money from anyone, make payments and get access to digital loans, all on WhatsApp.

Sup Money has been developed by JPesa International Limited; a Ugandan-founded FinTech that describes itself as a safer and easier way to pay and get paid online. JPesa has been operational in Uganda for more than a decade.

According to Joseph Abdi, the CEO of Jpesa, Sup Money was launched in February 2021 as a pilot but has since been used by thousands of users in Uganda and abroad. He noted that they developed SUP Money to address the limitations of banks and mobile money.

“To use SUP Money, a user must initiate a chat request to the SUP Money WhatsApp number +1 (619) 664-4376. Once the request is received, an interactive menu will be sent to the user to start transacting on WhatsApp.  Users can check their transaction history and account details and so much more. The payment system works on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) method, where fund transfers can be initiated without having to provide bank account numbers and IFSC codes of recipients,” Abdi said, adding;

“To get started with payments on WhatsApp, you will first have to save the WhatsApp number +1 (619) 664-4376 in your phone book and send a “Hi” message to the saved WhatsApp number. The action overflow menu will then be triggered and displayed for a response. Follow prompts until the transaction is concluded. The fact that SUP Money now lets you make transactions within the app is a huge deal, and it makes sending and receiving money from your contacts easier than ever before.”

Joseph Abdi further noted that his company is currently serving over 7000 registered users.

“On average we transact about 100 million per month. We have transacted about 530 million since January 2022. The numbers are not as huge but given the current market, I will say that these numbers are not bad,” he said.

He nonetheless noted that FinTechs are faced with hard times as they are now competing directly with telecoms for the same customers.

“As Fintechs, we are being given ridiculously high rates which automatically discourages customers from working with us currently. When a customer goes to a telecom for an API, they will be charged between 2 to 2.5 percent per transaction yet a FinTech is charged a rate of 3.5 percent. These are some of the things that are pushing us to create solutions that are independent of the current giants.”

Jpesa is participant number twenty-one (21) in the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative presented by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, Modusbox, Mojaloop Foundation and Level One Project, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO appreciated JPesa’s contribution to Uganda’s digital and financial inclusion efforts over the years.

“Jpesa and its sister company Jolis International have played a great role. They have actively been involved in domain management, website hosting, platforms’ development to payments and remittances. Their latest innovation – Sup Money is very unique. It is one of a kind on the market that requires a lot of awareness and customer education.” 

Kawooya added that this year’s edition of 40 Days 40 FinTechs 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.

“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.

Our Reporter.

If you are a frequent user of public transport in Africa, then you know the hustle and bustle involved in getting tickets and traveling. Things like long queues, manual processes and the no refund policy implemented by a majority of the players are common experiences encountered by travelers.

It is these and more issues that KaCyber Technologies; a global transport ticketing company and BPO practitioner currently operating in Uganda and Senegal, came to solve.

According to Innocent Orikiiriza, the founder and CEO of KaCyber Technologies, the company has in the past 6 years piloted its system with twelve clients across Africa, signed seven long-term contracts and currently maintaining five due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since incorporation in 2016, our flagship product has been an e-ticketing system for buses, trains and ferries. We have piloted the system with over twelve clients across Africa. In Uganda, we offer a multi-tenant bus, train and ferry ticketing system,” Orikiiriza said.

He added: “Our solution is built based on the need to serve travelers. It incorporates mobile money services and we now have an in-house wallet. We have processed ten million plus tickets. That is a milestone we have just been celebrating recently.  These ten million tickets were worth USD 54 million. As KaCyber, our business model is to earn a commission of about 1 percent per transaction. Cumulatively, we have earned about USD 100,000 from these transactions.”

Currently being used by the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) on the Kampala commuter train and local buses companies including Malaika, Star Link and Highway Coaches, the solution has blocked revenue leakages and also enables passengers to book a travel ticket online, and only go to the bus or train station on their travel day.

“Passengers can use our platform end points like the mobile APP and website to book tickets online and thereafter pay using mobile money or KaCyber wallet. We give the transport operators a ticketing point of sale machine which they use to issue offline and online tickets.”

KaCyber is among the firms participating in the ongoing third edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo under its Include EveryOne program, in partnership with Level One Project, Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Orikiiriza noted that the 40 Days 40 Fintechs initiative is one of the most interesting events his company has been involved in as it brings key stakeholders on one table to discuss matters of industry importance, financial inclusion and overall digitization.

“Bringing key stakeholders and multiple players from different sectors to have close conversations about development is very key. This is exactly what the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is doing. We hope they can be part of our journey as we build the technology. We also hope that they will recognize our challenges and also contribute to solving these challenges, especially the telecoms and banks.”

According to HiPipo CEO, Innocent Kawooya, KaCyber Technologies’ ticketing solution is key to the modernization of transport and should be further developed and deployed across the industry. 

“The KaCyber ticketing solution is helping travelers conveniently book train, bus and ferry tickets digitally. They are able to even reschedule their travel and also get refunds in case of genuine failure to travel. It is a first for our transport industry. We need to find ways of scaling such innovations and have them used across the region, not by just a few transporters.”

Kawooya added that this year’s edition of 40 Days 40 FinTechs is cementing the achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs were 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 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.