Updates

By Our writer 

It is one thing to develop a financial solution and another thing for that solution to be accepted in the market.

It is for that reason that Alpteq, an ICT Solutions a company that specialises in software development, decided to take a customer-centric approach in product development, to ensure that the financial solutions brought to the market address the target audiences’ needs.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer Fred Musisi says that for any solution to be successful in the African market, it must be customer-centric, putting a customer in mind throughout the solution development process.

“Even before you start developing the solutions, you must have the customer in mind since a number of people do not use high end devices,” he says, adding that this explains why the firm introduced web-based products so as to include as many people as possible. 

He adds: “It is equally important to know the kind of customers you are serving because that is when you will be able to give products that are tailored for their needs.”

Established in 2019, Alpteq offers a range of high quality services in the development, delivery, and maintenance of software in Uganda including POS UG, Ease lend, UG Clinics and School novas.

Under the Ease Lend product, Alpteq has automated a number of women dominated SACCOs, including Self Sustainable Graduate SACCO and Mayenze Traders SACCO, among others.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the country into two lockdowns so far, Musisi says that Alpteq was forced to revamp its School Novas solution to include an e-learning option to enable learners continue with their studies from home.

Prior to the pandemic, the School Novas product was strictly a management tool for schools.

“While in 2020 and 2021 operations have been largely affected by the pandemic, this period has given us an opportunity to innovate and find ways of serving the less attended to sectors,” Musisi notes.

To enhance financial inclusion, payment for e-learning is done through mobile money.

Additionally, Musisi says that the growing need for businesses to cut costs so as to survive in this pandemic that contracted business, forced Alpteq to rethink its POS UG solution to enable businesses prioritise expenditure to lower expenses. 

Musisi notes that through automation, businesses have been able to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Alpteq is participating in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

The initiative provides a platform for FinTechs and stakeholders in the digital and financial technology space to exhibit their products and share ideas.

Musisi applauded HiPipo for the initiative, saying it has given them market visibility.

Additionally, he notes that the initiative has exposed FinTechs to a number of helpful technologies such as Mojaloop, which have enabled them improve the kind of products and solutions they bring to market.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya says that FinTech is the launchpad on which the promise of full global financial inclusion will be fulfilled.

“The 40-Days 40 FinTechs LevelOneProject shall show we have the innovators to take on the challenges,” he says.

By our writer

Merchandise Uganda is not only increasingly connecting more Ugandan businesses to buyers across the world, but is also helping them tap into the global financial system.

Through the platform, many micro and small enterprises in Uganda that lacked online presence, due to among others, absence digital skills, have gained online presence, which has enabled them create visibility for their products.

According to Nurudin Busingye, the Merchandise Uganda General Manager, the platform was established after realizing that over 15 million Ugandan businesses do not have online display of their products.

Busingye says Merchandise Uganda, which is gaining prominence in Uganda, has supported over 200 businesses, which now have online shops and thus have an opportunity to interact with their buyers globally.

Established in March 2019, the platform allows merchants to open mini-showrooms through which they market their products to potential buyers by posting product photos and adverts, reviews, tips and videos.

Busingye says that the platform has also enabled their clients to connect directly with manufacturers in China to supply them goods without them having to travel to China, which has reduced their cost of operations.

“The businesses use our platform to remain connected to their suppliers; even in the lockdown where people were not allowed to move, those who subscribed to Merchandise Uganda remained relevant because their shops were open and used our delivery team to deliver the products to the buyers,” he explains.

It accommodates a number of sectors including agriculture, construction, manufacturing, legal logistics, hotels, education and family, general merchandise and health, among others, where people post their products, depending on the category.

One can subscribe to Merchandise Uganda upon entering their business details and paying Shs 50,000, Shs100,000 or Shs 200,000 depending on the category chosen, then submit quality pictures of the products being marketed.

In a bid to support women, Busingye notes that Merchandise Uganda trained 30 members of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association in digital skills to enable them promote their businesses online.

Additionally, Merchandise Uganda also offers three months of free services to all women enterprises that subscribe to the platform, help them brand their businesses and support them in getting social media accounts to market their businesses.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Merchandise Uganda is among the companies taking part in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

The initiative seeks to enable FinTechs to innovate solutions that facilitate cross-network financial transactions at minimal risks to enhance access to financial services.

Busingye commends HiPipo for the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, saying that it has created for them visibility, noting that from last year’s edition, they were able to get a partner that linked them to the American Embassy, through which their clients started selling to people in the Diaspora.

To further support the growth of the Uganda’s FinTech industry, Busingye requested the government to put in place enabling policies, especially in relation to access and cost of internet and also offer tax incentives, saying FinTechs are playing a big role in promoting a cashless economy.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya says the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative seeks to boost the African FinTech ecosystem to enable innovators enjoy sustainable profitability to help them design and deploy affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor.

He adds that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and that investors are rightfully picking interest in various startups offering a plethora of services, ranging from payments and lending, remittances and cross-border transfers, among others.

Merchandise Uganda can be accessed on www.merchandiseuganda.com

By Our writer

It is estimated that at least 80 per cent of Ugandan farmers are smallholders. Despite their everyday challenges, they contribute the largest share of agricultural production.

To help them boost production and increase their incomes, Green Shares, a social enterprise that started operations in 2019, is leveraging technology to unlock their potential and have them financially included.

The firm’s director, Annet Nanyanzi, says the company provides a range of services to farmers to help improve production, productivity and incomes.

These range from market linkages, agronomy, saving and access to micro loans through partnerships to helping agro-processers find quality raw materials, among others.

Once the farmer takes their produce to the community agent, it is verified for quality and quantity, logged onto the Green Shares platform and payment is triggered and approved. Payment is then effected in real time using mobile money.

While some farmers don’t have access to phones and mobile money services, Nanyanzi says the platform has a feature that enables them access their money through their next of kin.

Green Shares mainly deals in the maize, soybeans and rice value chains. It currently operates in Luweero, Kiryandongo and Kasese districts.

To date, they have reached 180 farmers, earning Shs 30m, with the volume sourced from farmers estimated at 35 metric tones

Green Shares also provides a platform where investors can inject some money in the company’s Trading Fund for a return.

Apart from paying farmers using its e-platform on mobile money, the company leverages partnerships with micro finance companies in areas where it works to enable them access credit.

In Luwero for instance, it partnered with Micro Credit for Development and Transformation (MCDT) that provides loans mainly to women to enable them buy farm inputs and pay labour costs.

Nanyanzi, however, expresses concern that the small-sized farms that majority of farmers have reduce commercial viability and increase aggregation costs.

However, she notes that Green Shares is working on an intervention that will see it leverage farm leasing solutions for farmers.

“A number of landowners are in urban areas with chunks of land in the villages not being utilized. They can lease their land to the farmers through Green Shares for a return,” she says.

Digital farms

Nanyanzi says the company plans to leverage technology to launch digital farms, starting with Nwoya and Luweero districts, to enable people without land or time to invest in agriculture to own digital farms managed by Green Shares, to increase production and incomes.

“We believe everyone can participate in farming. There are people without time or land to farm but we believe this can be an investment vehicle for even those without farms to own digital farms and earn a return,” she says.

The investor will be able to choose a value chain of preference to invest in and a location with the GPS coordinates and timely updates on how the farm is performing.

The farms will also have crop insurance to de-risk losses that agriculture faces.

The company also plans to promote an integrated farming model, which enables farmers earn income all-year-round.

The farmers’ platform under development will enable them profile farmers, track their yield, income and costs of production to enable them devise appropriate interventions for higher production and incomes.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

Green Shares is among the firms participating in the ongoing 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Nanyanzi applauded HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it has provided a platform that enables the wider community to know more about innovations Ugandan entrepreneurs are engaged in.  She adds that it also provides a platform for FinTechs like Green Shares to sketch for potential partnerships, synergies with other FinTechs and funding opportunities.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya says that FinTech is the launch pad on which the promise of full global financial inclusion will be fulfilled.

He adds that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and investors are rightfully picking interest in the various startups that are offering a plethora of services.

Green Shares can be accessed on www.egreenshares.com

By Our writer

While some people saw the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic as a major setback, to Erasmus Okurut and his team at PayTota Uganda, it created an opportunity which they have grabbed with both hands.

Okurut, the PayTota Chief Executive Officer, says the pandemic and the lockdown that followed thereafter opened their eyes to the pain-points that existed in the market, especially in terms of purchase, payments and automation when it comes to on-boarding and same-day settlements.

The desire to create a solution to the pain-points saw the birth of PayTota Uganda Limited, a white label branded platform that is building Africa’s next generational platform to solve problems over mobile and the web, established last year.

According to Okurut, the firm seeks to deliver convenient and hassle-free purchase, payments and on-boarding services across markets where it operates.

In addition to Uganda, the firm is currently scaling its operations and already establishing offices in Tanzania and hope to set up shop in Ghana, Zambia and Kenya.

PayTota products target the real estate and the travel industry, specifically tours and travel players.

“We are building a platform and telling everyone interested to simply plug into our platform, have your own branding and be able to go into the market even the next day if the due diligence is duly completed,” Okurut explains.

He adds that they have established partnerships in Uganda and across its key target countries to ensure that they meet their promise of delivering seamless services.

“Our on-boarding platform is automated and as soon as you log in and give your details, your contract will be sent same day and it depends on how fast you will be, on your end but we ensure that it is seamless and fast,” Okurut says.

Additionally, Okurut explains that PayTota is in final stages of developing and launching an Expectant Mothers’ product that will be delivered in partnership with some financial institutions and insurers. 

“This product will be targeting expectant mothers; right from the day you notice you are pregnant,” he says, adding that they are running a similar pilot in Ghana.

“We believe that with time, we will be able to ensure that every mother is happy when they are on-boarded onto PayTota.”

PayTota is among the firms taking part in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Okurut applauded HiPipo for the project, saying that it has created awareness for Uganda’s FinTech industry.

“We are participating for the first time but I have confidence that PayTota will be sounding in someone’s ears and opportunities will be cracked from the platform provided,” he said.

Okurut also applauded Bank of Uganda for passing the National Payments Systems (NPS) Act, which he says will create confidence in Uganda’s FinTech industry and attract the much needed capital that has always been passing by to other markets like Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda, among others.

“We have been lagging behind in terms of attracting investments mainly because investors could not risk their money with FinTechs in a market without regulation; because they know the founders can disappear with no trace.”

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya also notes that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and investors are rightfully picking interest in the various startups that are offering a plethora of services.

He adds that the 40-Days 40-FinTech project seeks to boost the African FinTech ecosystem to enable innovators enjoy sustainable profitability to help them design and deploy affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor.

PayTota can be accessed on www.paytota.com and all social media platforms.

By Our writer

Being cash strapped has never been a good experience for anyone, neither is the hassle of moving from one financial institution to another shopping for a good loan deal.

This is, however, made easy with Jumo’s Wewole product, a micro-credit solution that provides a convenient way for mobile money subscribers to access loan facilities via the mobile money platform.

Jumo specialises in social impact financial products, which it offers in partnership with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to enable especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) access credit, savings and insurance products.

The Wewole product is offered in partnership with Airtel Uganda and can be accessed via USSD by dealing *185# and select option 8 for Wewole.

Under the Wewole product, customers access loans ranging from Shs 1,500 to Shs 800,000, depending on their credit scoring and need.

The loan is payable between seven and 30 days. Failure to clear the loan within the agreed period attracts a penalty and may affect one’s creditworthiness and size of the loan the next time they need it.

$3bn disbursed

Wendy Nanfo, the Country Operations Coordinator Jumo World Uganda, says the firm has disbursed over $3 billion worth of loans to over 18 million customers and SMEs in seven markets across Africa and Asia, with a 97% repayment rate yet the Cost of Risk has reduced to 4%.

Nanfo says that the company uses advanced data science and machine learning to create the fastest and leanest financial services infrastructure, using Advanced Data Engine, End-to-end banking technology and a Flexible-operating platform.

Wewole is an unbiased product as anyone above 18 years can access a loan as long as they have a mobile money registered Sim card. No further documentation, paperwork or collateral is required.

“Currently, for every three customers served by Jumo, one is a woman. This has gone up from one woman in every five customers and constitutes almost 40%of disbursements on our platform,” Nanfo notes.

She says Wewole has performed well during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, registering an increase in disbursement, hitting the Shs 100 million loans mark.

She attributes the performance to product flexibility and meeting specific needs of the market segment and demand.

Jumo modified its portfolio strategy to suit the needs of customers in the current times, including continuing to disburse loans to repeat customers, waiving late payment fees for the lockdown periods and extending loan repayment terms and continuous customer engagement, among others.

40-Days 40 FiTechs

Jumo is among the firms participating in the on-going 40-Days 40 Fintechs initiative, organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Nanfo says the initiative has given FinTechs an opportunity to learn, discuss common challenges and how to best resolve them by sharing ideas.

“The initiative is our voice; in the inaugural edition, we talked about interoperability and FinTechs have become more open to the idea. As the demand goes up, I am sure that we will see it implemented,” she says.

While Uganda’s FinTech industry has made commendable progress, Nanfo says there is still a lot of room for growth.

“I think FinTechs need to focus more on other aspects of the business like product development, customer experience, collaborative organisational structures and how to attract investors, to ensure sustainability,” she notes, adding that there is also need for more players in other aspects of financial services ranging from innovative insurance, wealth management and even education financing.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya alludes that FinTech is the launch pad on which the promise of full global financial inclusion will be fulfilled.

He adds that this edition will be Uganda’s most comprehensive foray into things like distributed ledger technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Automated Customer Relationship Management, cash management and lending platforms.

By Our writer

SafeBoda, a company that started off as a ride-hailing App for Boda-Boda rides, is set to launch more products to further oil Uganda’s financial inclusion journey.

According to the company’s Vice President of Payments and Financial Services Tim Jamieson, the company will over the next 12 months continue to build its payments ecosystem, open-loop products, savings products and working capital loans, to enable more people access financial services, easily and affordably.

This as it awaits National Payments Systems (NPS) license from Bank of Uganda.

SafeBoda, which is based in Nigeria but headquartered in Uganda, started off providing ride-hailing services before expanding its service offerings to food and shop, buying airtime and payments, among others.

Jamieson says a pilot for working capital loans will soon be launched to extend credit to the firm’s merchant partners to grow their businesses.

Under this product, he says, priority will be given to female-run enterprises as a way of boosting the inclusion for women, who are the majority of the financially excluded people in the market.

Jamieson alludes that the firm’s major goal is to provide a cheap ecosystem that allows its customers to send money across networks for free and drastically reduce the cost of withdrawing these funds.

“If you want to send UShs5,000 across networks, it can cost you over UShs1,000 to do so or UShs2,000 if you are sending to two to three different networks; we think there is more that needs to be done here.

Mobile money ecosystems form such a large part of the back bone of Uganda and Africa as whole, so there should be continuous improvements in how this is delivered,” Jamieson explains.

He alludes that while cash is still a predominant method of payment in Uganda and across the African continent; the COVID-19 pandemic is steadily drawing people towards cashless transactions, which presents a great opportunity for Financial Technology Companies (FinTechs) to grow.

Jamieson, however, says that there is need to work together as an industry to share knowledge, technology and regulatory stack and working with regulators to solve existing problems.

“We have a huge unbanked and underserved population; we have a high cost of time and money to access financial services and at the same time we have this amazing fast growing ecosystem of FinTechs that is coming through locally. We need to bring them together so that we solve these problems as together,” he explains.

He commends the Bank of Uganda for the NPS, which he says has provided a stringent regulatory framework that will give customers confidence that they can transact with electronic money service providers, including FinTechs, in a safe and secure way.

The created confidence, he notes, will help drive industry growth, adding that Uganda’s FinTech industry offers huge opportunities for partnerships.

“I think we are entering a very exciting time as more companies start being funded. And as we work together, we will have a strong FinTech industry that fills the gap left by commercial banks,” Jamieson notes.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

SafeBoda is participating in the ongoing 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, season two organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

It seeks to enable FinTechs to innovate solutions that facilitate cross-network financial transactions at minimal risks to enhance access to financial services.

Jamieson applauded HiPipo for the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, saying that it has given them an opportunity to share with the world the solutions they are working on and also hear what others are doing to solve existing financial inclusion market challenges.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya alluded that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities, adding that investors are rightfully picking interest in the various startups that are offering a plethora of services, ranging from payments and lending, remittances, cross-border transfers and neobanks, among others.

He adds that the 40-Days 40 FinTechs initiative seeks to give exposure to the best emerging and transformative innovators of Africa.

Our writer.

The era of moving around from one lender to another shopping for the best loan deal could have come to an end, thanks to a solution by Enabling Finance Limited that links borrowers to professional money lenders.

Dubbed Finablr, the product by the credit finance company seeks to create a platform to serve people who were previously underserved by the traditional finance sector, conveniently, affordably and safely, according to the founder and Chief Executive Officer Luke Yyeyo.

 “We know that majority of Ugandans are unable to qualify for the tier I – commercial bank loans maybe because the security is inadequate but mostly because they don’t have the other requirements like audited cash flow records. But with Finablr, because we are operating in the tier IV sector, they are able to access credit as long as the collateral one has been qualified against is worth it,” Yyeyo says.

Additionally, Yyeyo says, the firm also imparts basic financial management skills to its clients such as cash flow management, budgeting and financial reconciliation, among others, to help them do business better.

To access the loan, one only needs to download the Finablr App, set up an account and submit a loan request, which is then relayed to all the lenders registered on the system.

One only goes to Enabling Finance offices after receiving an offer that suits them, with terms acceptable to them.

A borrower can access loans ranging from Shs 100,000 to Shs 20 million, while repeat clients can access up to Shs 50 million. The borrower is also assured to get their money as soon as the loan is approved.

“We give out money that day. Even in the event that the lender is wiring cash using a system that requires two or three working days, our agreement with our lenders is that Enabling Finance releases the money to the borrower as long as a critical stage in the lending process has been passed, and we wait for reimbursement from the lender,” Yyeyo says.

Unlike the traditional finance service system that requires experience, he says that with Finablr, even one without any lending experience can sign up unto the system and start lending as the Enabling Finance team manages the entire process on their behalf.

“We manage the entire process from pre-qualification of borrowers, linking lenders to the borrowers and the repayments systems all the way to the recovery system. So even if you don’t have any experience, or have as little as Shs 100,000; we have products that can enable you start off as a lender,” Yyeyo notes.

40-Days 40 FinTechs initiative

Enabling Finance Limited is among the firms participating in the ongoing 40-Days  40-FinTechs initiative organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

The initiative is to enable FinTechs innovate solutions that facilitate cross-network financial transactions at minimal risks to enhance access to financial services.

Yyeyo expressed gratitude to HiPipo for organising the project, saying it has marketed their innovations and given them an opportunity to reach out to people who are interested in their solutions.

The HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya notes that this edition of 40-Days 40 FinTechs will be Uganda’s most comprehensive foray into things like distributed ledger technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Automated Customer Relationship Management, cash management and lending platforms.

He adds that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and that investors are rightfully picking interest in the various startups that are offering a plethora of services, ranging from payments and lending, remittances, cross-border transfers and neobanks, among others. Enabling finance can be accessed on www.enablingfinancelimited.com