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EverLend Uganda’s non-collateral digital credit services model salvaging farmers, SMEs

By our writer

While every business needs credit at one point to support enterprise growth, most Uganda Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and farmers have always been deprived of this.

This is mainly because they lack collateral and financial records that most lending institutions require before giving out a loan.

To bridge this gap, however, EverLend Uganda, a Financial Technology Company (FinTech), has innovated a non-collateral credit services model that is expected to salvage the initially excluded category of borrowers, starting with farmers and small businesses in Ibanda district, western Uganda.

Established in 2020, the FinTech offers a range of digital credit services, ranging from SME loans to agricultural loans and farm-inputs on credit.

According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer Danson Nahabwe, the innovation sought to fill a market gap, where despite being in need of some form of credit to inject in their enterprises, small businesses and farmers were often excluded.

“We do not require security to get access to credit services. We do this because we want to ensure that we are financially inclusive. For us, anyone qualifies for a loan,” he says.

For one to access a loan, they simply have to download the EverLend App on their mobile phones or signup on their website – www.everlendug.com and answer a few questions.

Basing on the given answers, the system determines one’s loan limit.

Nahabwe, however, notes, that if one wants to exceed the given loan limits, they can request to have the loan amount increased and they will get back within 30 minutes to ask for more information to assess if one qualifies for the amount they are asking for.

If one can complete the entire process online, the money is be disbursed there and then.

In addition to providing credit, EverLend also extends market information to its clients, in addition to giving them record management systems to help them improve business management processes.

While the solution is still being piloted in only one district of Ibanda in western Uganda, the number of customers who have used the service within this short period of time is testimony to the credit-drought that small businesses and farmers were facing.

According to Nahabwe, they have since served over 100 clients to date, with 90% of the clients being women.

Nahabwe explains that they intend to scale-up the solution to the entire country in future and to other East African countries, starting with Rwanda.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

EverLend Uganda is among the firms participating in this year’s edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Nahabwe commended HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it will create for them visibility, help them learn from the world’s best players and adopt best financial inclusion best practices.

Additionally, he notes, they will be helped to scale their non-collateral credit services model.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya notes 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.

He alludes 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.

“Each of these services solves unique sets of challenges that is why we have this initiative because we want to contribute towards solving the unique challenges that the everyday person faces.”

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UG-Mart virtualizes cash to ensure easy, safer international trade payments

By Our writer

Travelling with loads of cash abroad to import goods has always been a big challenge for Ugandan businessmen who could at times get robbed, among the many risks associated with carrying hard cash.

As it is said that there is no challenge too hard to find a solution for, UG-Mart, a Financial Technology Company (FinTech), has come to salvage traders by virtualizing cash to make it safe for traders to travel abroad and pay for goods without having to worry about anything.

The firm that provides Business-to-Business, Business-to-Peer and Peer-to-Peer solutions, partnered with mobile money service providers and UBA Bank to provide a virtual e-wallet that allows one to deposit money and be able to transact from anywhere in the world.

“We have virtualized the cash so that it is safe; now we can move it from physical cash onto mobile money and from mobile money onto safer payment options like the prepaid card which we are doing with UBA Bank and only carry a card so that they travel light,” Patrick Kizito, the UG-Mart Chief Executive Officer said.

Kizito noted that the card is safe, given its two-factor authentication features. This means that even if it dropped along the way, the owner will not lose their money.

The card also eliminates other risks such as counterfeit, exchange rate risks and paying insurance.

As a FinTech that strives to boost financial inclusion in the country, UG-Mart targets vulnerable groups such as women, Persons with Disabilities and people in areas with no internet connectivity and financial services providers, using easy Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements.

Kizito explains that there are many people at the bottom of the pyramid who are still financially excluded, partly because they are intimidated by the lengthy processes such as paper work involved in accessing financial services.

UG-Mart has, however, simplified the process, as anyone with a national Identity Card and phone number that can be verified through the existing platforms, can access financial services, according to Kizito.

“There are over 1,000 Saccos in Uganda that operate beyond a stretch of a kilometer; it is very expensive for someone with a small business deep in the village who wants to save their money to pay Shs 5,000 on a Boda-Boda to take it to a Sacco. We have thus enabled them to get that money onto the mobile phone and send it to the Sacco,” he noted.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

Ugmart is among the companies participating in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days-40-FinTechs initiative, organised by HiPipo under its Include EveryOne programme, in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation.

Kizito said this is a great initiative that has supported the FinTech industry operate better, safer and has also been able to keep up with the latest technologies through  interactions with all industry players.

“The initiative has greatly supported FinTechs like ourselves in that as much as we strive to give solutions, we may not have the entire technology we need in order to sustain such huge projects,” he noted.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya said 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 and cross-border transfers.

“Each of these services solves unique sets of challenges. For example; with cross-border payments comes the opportunity to erase the outrageous rates and bureaucratic bottlenecks that stymie transactions and thus trade among African countries,” Kawooya said.

According to Kawooya, the 40-Days 40 FinTechs initiative seeks to give exposure to the best emerging and transformative innovators of Africa.

UG-Mart can be accessed on www.ugmart.ug

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Payclide improves merchant aggregation, eases pushing in-pulling out money

By Our writer

Despite the increasing use of mobile money services across the country, most Ugandans, especially those in rural areas, still find it hard to access these services due to long distances to trading centres where these services are always located.

This is in addition to the high transaction fees.

In bid to solve this challenge, however, Cytrone Limited has introduced a Payclide; a solution which has made access to financial services safe and more convenient. Cytrone is a payment technology company that offers a domestic, open-loop multilateral system that facilitates electronic payments.

According to Bob Moses Oyuru, the firm’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Payclide’s beauty lies in their web and mobile Application that provides a merchant aggregation system and peer-to-peer mobile payment platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

Oyuru notes that Payclide comes with a wallet which allows people to save money, send to friends and family or withdraw it any time, pay utility bills and access banking services.

The firm has partnered with mobile telecommunication companies and banks such as MTN and Airtel, KCB bank and integrated with Interswitch for bank settlements, according to Oyuru.

Payclide also allows merchants to accept payments from mobile money and cards and also settle the received money into the bank without necessarily having to travel to the bank.

According to Oyuru, transferring money using Payclide is currently free of charge while a small percentage is charged to settle funds into the bank.

Oyuru explains that people have been struggling to keep their cash secure given the long distances to formal financial institutions and high transfer and withdraw fees that are making it hard for people to use mobile money.

“Keeping cash secure is trickier; the high transfer and withdraw fees and long distances are also an obstacle to using mobile money. The distances involved to and from financial institutions makes it hard for people to use them,” he said.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

Payclide is among the firms participating in the ongoing second edition of the 40-days-40-FinTechs initiative, organised by HiPipo, in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation and supported by the Gates Foundation.

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

Oyuru applauded HiPipo for the 40-days-40 FinTechs initiative, saying it has created visibility for Uganda’s nascent FinTech industry.

“Most start-up companies do not get the audience that they expect to get but this initiative has given us that visibility,” he noted.

He added that they were also introduced to financial inclusion best practices such as Pricing Transparency and use of Tiered Know-Your-Customer (KYC), in addition to latest technologies such as Mojaloop which he says has not only benefited Payclide but the economy at large.

“Telecoms initially required agents to have certain kinds of documentation like trading licenses, bank accounts and certificates of registration, to have the agency business, which most of them, especially those who are individual users couldn’t provide.”

“With the Tiered KYC, we now have several agents because the number of necessitated documents was reduced to either a national identity card or a trading license. This has given, especially the women a boost in their financial health.”

The HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya notes that this edition of 40-Days 40 FinTechs is 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, however, adds that a connecting thread will be how FinTechs urgently need interoperability and how open source frameworks such as Mojaloop, are here to help, including guiding on how emerging frameworks such as LevelOneProject principles can be used to engender sustainable financial inclusion impact.

Payclide can be accessed on www.payclide.com

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Jumia at the forefront of Uganda’s shift to e-commerce

By Our writer

Electronic commerce is increasingly gaining momentum in Uganda and across Africa, having been ‘oiled’ by the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced most businesses, irrespective of size to shift online.

One company that has been at the forefront of Africa’s growing e-commerce business is Jumia, one of the continent’s biggest platforms that have integrated logistics and digital payment services.

According to Timothy Mugume, the Jumia Food Uganda Country Lead, the firm, which connects customers across Africa to the different vendors, has enabled its customers have access to whatever goods they want, especially during the lockdown.

Jumia offers a range of services right from food deliveries to groceries, electronics and appliances and pharmaceutical products, among others to customers at affordable rates.

 “From the onset of the first lockdown last year, we put our partners – vendors and customers – at the forefront because their business continuity was paramount to us,” Mugume says.

Jumia, according to Mugume, is especially passionate about supporting women-led businesses. In partnership with organizations like the Kampala Capital City Authority and UNDP, the firm has trained women entrepreneurs in various skills including digital and business management, as well as undertaking initiatives that level the playing ground for them to compete effectively.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

Jumia Food is among the firms 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.

Mugume commended HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it has helped highlight tech innovations in the country and also created a platform to showcase leading innovations in Uganda and across the continent.

“FinTech and innovation is what we need to pull Uganda out of the challenges of slow economic growth. A platform like this provided by HiPipo highlighting the different ideas does not only stand as a beacon to bring hope to the economy but also highlights this information and shares it with interested parties, which is good for the ecosystem,” Mugume says.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya notes that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities, adding 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.

“Each of these services solves unique sets of challenges. For example; with cross-border payments comes the opportunity to erase the outrageous rates and bureaucratic bottlenecks that stymie transactions and thus trade among African countries,” Kawooya says.

He adds that 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.

Having participated in the 2020 initiative, Mugume says Jumia picked key financial inclusion lessons which it has since implemented, including continuous adherence to its transparency policy, especially on the privacy and business practices.

Additionally, it ensures that vendors are settled in time as per the agreed timelines, in addition to ensuring that the right documentation in form of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) are obtained from the vendor to ensure smooth business transactions between them.

“It is important that we follow best practices like Level One Project Principles because most of these businesses do not have a lot of capital and we are cognizant of this; that is why we have flexible payment terms depending on the agreements signed,” Mugume explains.

He urges all market players to respect the same-day settlement principle, given that the ecosystem is heavily reliant on cash flows.

“This is a cash flow business and we must play our role as well; we make it easy for the customers to pay through our various payment channels; we should also settle with our vendors in a timely manner.”

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Flutterwave is passionate about helping businesses improve their customers’ experiences

By Our writer

Offering the best services to customers is always at the heart of every business that wants to grow and live beyond its founders.

To realize this, businesses have to invest in offering the best customer experiences which in turn breeds customer loyalty.

And that is where Flutterwave comes in – a technology company that set out to simplify payments to enable businesses within Uganda and globally trade without worrying about how to get paid.

The firm, which currently operates in over 33 countries, serves over 10,000 merchants in Uganda, including 3,000 businesses, according to Nielsimms Sangho, the Flutterwave Uganda Country Lead.

They operate in partnership with companies such as Paypal, MasterCard and AliPay, among others.

“We are doing this to change the way businesses transact with their customers both in Uganda and in other parts of the world,” Sangho says.

In addition to providing a payments gateway, Flutterwave has also built a number of other products such as the Flutterwave Stores which provides a platform for businesses to sign up, upload and sell their products free of charge, without having to build a website.

This, according to Sangho, seeks to enable them serve the merchants better.

Women’s grant

In a bid to support the growth of women-owned businesses, Sangho says Flutterwave runs a women’s day grant, an annual competition that runs throughout March, where between five and 10 businesses from across the markets where the firm operates are given grants of between $5,000 and $10,000. This, he explains, is to help these women build strong businesses that can compete favourably in the men-led market.

Flutterwave, which initially set out to build a payments gateway for micro and small businesses, is among the companies participating in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative.

The #40Days40FinTechs initiative is organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Having participated in the first edition, Sangho notes that this platform is helping shine a light on the industry by creating public awareness and gradually building the needed trust for the growth of FinTech.

“As businesses in the financial space, we operate on trust; it is a trust business. People need to see you working and then they can trust you to process their money,” he says.

“And this is what the 40-Days-40-FinTechs platform has done; it has showcased us and what we are doing to the entire world. This has been a springboard for us,” he explains.

He adds: “We for instance have merchants who came to use our services after seeing during the first edition of the 40-Days 40 FinTechs. So, the initiative will help build trust in the entire ecosystem.”

While it currently does next-day settlements, Sangho says they are exploring how to it even faster, how to accept all devices and how to use USSD so as to involve all businesses that want to transact with them.

Sangho says that the existing market challenges provide an opportunity for FinTechs to innovate more to address them. 

“Inclusivity is a big problem; between 70 and 80 per cent of Ugandans are unbanked but this is an opportunity that we need to exploit,” he says.

He, however, adds that there is also need for increased public awareness about financial technology to boost usage.

Meanwhile, the HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya applauded Flutterwave for playing a great role in financial inclusion across Africa, as its products and services are impacting thousands of people at the last mile.

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

Flutterwave can be accessed on www.flutterwave.com

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Trade Lance; a FinTech providing all round digital solutions to business’ challenges

By Our writer

While businesses are grappling with various challenges as they seek to thrive in today’s competitive environment, it is not easy to come across a firm that offers a range of solutions, to almost all challenges, under the same roof.

However, Trade Lance, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) firm, has curved itself a slot in that area as it provides digital solutions to most challenges that businesses require to thrive.

The Ugandan firm offers a range of solutions from integration, aggregation, software development and utility payments, among others, to solve day-to-day challenges.

The firm’s Sales and Marketing Analyst Nelson Mandela Ewolu says the company has integrated with major telecommunications companies in Uganda including MTN, Airtel, Africel and Uganda Telecom (UTL) to facilitate smooth mobile money transactions.

It has also aggregated with MTN, Airtel, Africell and Lycamobile, in addition to offering third-party integrations to various companies such as Smile, Roketelkom, Absolute Energy, Cloud Core, Quick Tap, Bright life and Alliance Africa Insurance.

Trade Lance, which boasts of having some of the best software experts in the country, is also in the business of customized software development; it for instance develops Micro Loans Software for financial institutions. Some of its visible products include the Yetu loans software, HCH Financial Services, Hot Cash, Sukuma Loans and Yellow Sacco software.

Other software solutions it has since developed are the E-Voting Software for POA Star Search, a Counseling Registration Software for Strong Minds Uganda and Boda Boda Loans Software.

Additionally, the firm offers a bulk payments solution to mobile money registered numbers. Key among its clients on this solution are Roke Investments and Fireworks Advertising, among others.

Given the increasing cry for mobile money interoperability, Trade Lance allows sending of money across networks, making it easy for people to transact at affordable rates, irrespective of the network they are using.

Their other solutions include utility payments, Client Relation Management Solution, M-Ticket Solution, School Fees Payments and Katale Online Shopping. Trade Lance is also very famous for its *252# financial inclusion USSD and website.

As a firm that participated in the 2020 40-Days 40 FinTechs initiative, Ewolu says among the key takeaways was implementing financial inclusion best practices.

The firm has since implemented some of best practices such as the Low Cost User devices and Pricing Transparency practices.

Ewolu, however, notes that they are not yet able to settle payments on the same way as their partners such as Airtel money are not implementing it as well, for now.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

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

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

Ewolu also alludes that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has provided a platform that brings together all players to share experiences and challenges and devise solutions. This, he notes, that enabled the industry to grow.

While he acknowledges that Uganda’s Fintech industry is growing with the number of transactions increasing, he notes that the public is still skeptical about using digital platforms.

“We still have a lot to do to instill faith. I believe in the next five years it will be booming,” he says.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya alluded that FinTech is the launch pad on which the promise of full global financial inclusion will be fulfilled, noting that this edition of #40Days40FinTechs 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.

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

Kawooya, however, adds that a connecting thread will be how FinTechs urgently need interoperability and thus how open source frameworks such as Mojaloop and other technologies, are here to help, including guiding on how emerging frameworks such as #LevelOneProject principles can be used to engender sustainable financial inclusion impact.

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Computing Palace Technologies seeks to close digital-gender gap with Her Duuka platform.

By Our writer

It is no secret that women are behind men when it comes to digital skills and are less-likely to have their businesses online compared to their male counterparts.

To close this gap, however, Computing Palace Technologies, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firm that specializes in software development, is introducing “Her Duuka”, a web-based e-commerce platform that will enable women post and sell their products online.

According to Felix Balitumye, the Team Lead at Computing Palace Technologies, this will enable women businesses, majority of which have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns, to thrive.

Balitumye says that majority of women-led micro and small businesses have since collapsed due to failure to adapt to electronic commerce because of lack of digital skills among their proprietors.

Over the past few months, the firm has been teaching businesses digital skills to enable them use digital channels to market and sell their products.

“We noticed that many businesses had not adopted so much social media and other digital platforms to do business. But after holding a session with them and showing them how their businesses can evolve, they have adopted,” says Balitumye.

“We are not only teaching these women digital skills, we are also enabling them to adapt by selling their goods online. Whoever will be allowed to create an account on this platform must have been trained.”

This, he says, will also help boost financial inclusion as the women-business owners will only receive their payments through mobile money.

While the platform will primarily be free for all the women, Balitumye says that they might consider charging a small subscription fee in future for sustainability purposes.

This is the latest of a number of innovations by Computing Palace Technologies which deals in a range of ICT-oriented services including software development, development of financial products, websites design and hosting services, ICT consultancy, internship training, and customized ICT training.

Over the years, the firm has developed different management systems including Sacco management, School management, Hospital management, and Church management systems, among others to enable them operate more efficiently.

40-Days 40 FinTechs

Computing Palace Technologies is among the participants in the second edition of the 40-days-40-FinTechs initiative, organised by HiPipo under its Include EveryOne programme, in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop.

Balitumye commended HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it has opened for its doors to new partnerships and also broadened its perspective towards financial inclusion and interoperability, which have been integrated in its systems development.

Being a gender-centric firm, however, Balitumye says there is need to for enhanced collaboration and support to bridge the current gender gap in the industry.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya alludes that the second edition of the #40Days40FinTechs will showcase the best of the multitude of solutions and products one can think of in the digital space.

“We expect examples of innovations and brands operating in this space and also use this chance to learn, at no cost, from probably the most knowledgeable pool of global FinTech experts that are all scheduled to present this year,” he said.

Kawooya 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.

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Ticteq is helping people address their pressing needs through Crowd funding.

By Our writer

It is not uncommon in Uganda to hear stories of a student who has failed to complete their studies or a person who has been unable to travel to a certain destination for lack of money.

However, Ticteq, a Financial Technology Company (FinTech) has come up with a product that seeks to solve to this challenge by enabling people publically share their problems via a  common portal to fundraise money to address these pressing needs.

Dubbed Crowd Funding, the product which is on the Ticteq portal, allows anyone to post their problem that needs public support and well-wishers use the same portal to make contributions.

According to George Katuramu, the Ticteq Director, the causes can range from education to medical to social, among others.

When a person makes a donation, the benefactor automatically receives the money instantly at no cost. But Katuramu emphasizes that they follow up the funds to ensure that they are used for the intended cause.

 “With our portal, you can always know who donated, the total number of people who donated and the total amount donated and you can withdraw the money to your mobile money account or a bank account at any time but we follow up to ensure that the money is used for the purpose for which it was raised,” he says.

Although the product would salvage many people who we usually see on social media platforms conversing for financial support, Katuramu notes that most Ugandans are yet to appreciate the power of crowd funding.

“Most Ugandans think that crowd funding is for people who need organ transplant or surgery which is not true; it is for everyone. You may need tuition to complete your education or need money to travel, you can raise it through crowd funding,” he says.

“Simply share your story, giving details of what you need to do and how you want to do it. The people who will like your story and get touched to contribute towards the cause; they will do so,” he explains.

To popularize the innovation, Katuramu says the firm is undertaking an awareness drive on its website to create interest from the public.

Online ticketing

Besides crowd funding, the FinTech also offers the Ticteq product; an online platform that brings events’ organizers and revelers in one place, allowing them to sell/buy tickets for sports, theatre shows, music concerts, cinemas, comedy shows, and festivals among others.

Using the platform, event organizers can contact people who have bought tickets, and a customer can also get a refund in case they are unable to attend.

“This is a complete solution for someone who wants to organise a successful event, without worrying about tickets, fake notes, coins or being cheated at the entrance,” he says, adding that one simply visits www.ticteq.com to buy a ticket using either mobile money or a credit card.

Ticteq is one of the firms participating in the second edition of the 40-Days 40 FinTechs initiative organised 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.

Katuramu applauded HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it has helped shine a light on the great solutions being innovated by the various FinTechs to solve everyday challenges, which most people did not know about.

He, however, appeals to the government to support Uganda’s FinTech industry, noting that it holds the answer to boosting financial inclusion.

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

“The #40Days40FinTechs #LevelOneProject shall show we have the innovators to take on today’s challenges,” Kawooya says.

However, he adds, a connecting thread will be how FinTechs urgently need interoperability and thus how open source frameworks such as Mojaloop and other technologies, are here to help, including guiding on how emerging frameworks such as #LevelOneProject principles can be used to engender sustainable financial inclusion impact.

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Beyonic is facilitating businesses continuity amid Lockdown.

By Our Writer

Many businesses globally have been affected by the lockdowns instituted by their respective governments to tame the spread of the deadly corona virus, wiping away livelihoods for millions of people.

However, Beyonic/ MFS Africa; a giant FinTech that facilitates payments integration across Africa has refined itself to help such businesses continue operating amid the lockdown to enable them survive.

Doreen Lukandwa, the Beyonic/ MFS Africa Vice President, Global Enterprises says: “In the current lockdown, a lot of businesses are asking themselves how they can continue to make money, reach their customers in the safest and most affordable way possible or how to scale their businesses beyond the confines of one district or country. We enable them do that and much more.”

“Also given the current situations where people have to work remotely and are disconnected from their customers, FinTechs like Beyonic have to be very innovative around how they enable businesses to continue to thrive.

 “This explains why we have focused on refining the answer to the question for you. When you get a Beyonic account, all you have to do is provide basic Know-Your Customer (KYC) to open an account and you will be able to continue operating your business without having to deal with physical cash. You only need to have the mobile money numbers of the people you would want to send money to or those you want to collect money from and communicate widely that you can accept payments through your platform,” she explains.

She adds that the FinTech is also implementing LevelOneProject principles by effecting all its outstanding payments within minutes.

This, according to Lukandwa, seeks to ensure that they use their digital platforms and available infrastructure to make market challenges obsolete.

“We are a solution provider to the challenges our partners face; it doesn’t matter how small or big your business is, we have a solution for you and we ensure real time settlements to facilitate your business growth.”

Beyonic facilitates payments integration across the African continent by integrating all telecoms in Uganda and in other African countries where it operates.

Thus, once one connects to the Beyonic platform, they will have access to all the networks across all countries where it operates, enabling access through a single log-in.

“When you log-in into that account as a business, you can effect payment to as many people as you would like to or receive payments from as many people as you would like to,” Lukandwa says.

Beyonic recently merged with MFS Africa, enabling it to increase the number of markets available for businesses to operate across the continent.

“To us making borders  matter less doesn’t just mean allowing your business go to many other markets but also things like equality, with gender being one of them,” she notes, adding that Beyonic/MFS Africa is women centric, with over 53% of its employees being women.

The FinTech is also deliberate at making more women-owned and led businesses access their platform to enable their businesses to thrive.

40 Days 40 FinTechs

Beyonic is one of the firms participating in the second edition of the 40-Days 40 FinTechs, organised by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.

Lukandwa applauded HiPipo for the initiative, saying that it has provided a platform to aggregate information and players in the ecosystem to create awareness about available solutions to address market challenges.

She, however, notes that while Uganda is extremely entrepreneurial, this needs to be matched with the opportunity to scale and advance these enterprises.

“One of the areas in which we are lacking is reducing the cost of operations and scale; for a lot of these businesses, it is very expensive for them to have startup capital, employ staff, and maintain these businesses plus building capacity on best business practices. These are some of the primary loopholes where I think we need to get together as stakeholders to agree on what we want to achieve and how to achieve it and I think consolidating efforts around KYC would be key.”

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya applauds Beyonic, saying it has played a great financial inclusion role across Africa, as its products and services are impacting thousands of people at the last mile.

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

Currently, Beyonic can be accessed through www.beyonic.com or through social media, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram as its offices are currently closed due to the lockdown but will be reopened once it is lifted.

#40Days40FinTechs #LevelOneProject

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Pebuu school product promotes a cashless environment in schools

By Our writer

It has been widely documented that cash is one of the channels through which COVID-19 spreads.

While most parents are used to giving their children pocket money in cash, this, given the current pandemic, greatly exposes them to the virus.

In a bid to tame this, however, Pebuu Limited, a Financial Technology Company (FinTech) innovated the Pebuu School Product that has seen cash pocket money replaced with an electronic wallet.

The product, according to John Paul Semyalo, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, has been piloted in a number of schools and is working well.

“This is a post COVID-19 innovation because students will no longer be open to cash; they can now use their wallet which can be in form of their thumb print or a unique number,” Semyalo says, adding that it will help create a cashless environment in schools.

Pebuu, which is a women-centric brand, uses agents, who are spread across the country, to serve its customers.

Semyalo notes that the firm, which trades as Pebuu Africa, currently has 2,400 merchants countrywide, with 80% of them using Point-Of-Sale (POS) machines while 20% use a mobile App on their smartphones.

Pebuu partnered with telecommunications companies – MTN, Airtel, Africell and Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) to distribute their products – mobile money, airtime, data, Over the Top Tax and other services, through its payment platform.

The FinTech started off with four agents five years ago, carrying only airtime as telecoms were at first adamant to on-boarding any FinTech for mobile money and the other services.

It is also partnering with banks, with three of them – Stanbic, GT Bank and Centenary, already on board, according to Semyalo, who adds that they are in advance stages of on-boarding other banks on to the platform.

“When you visit a Pebuu agent, you are able to cash-in or cash-out mobile money, pay your bills or do banking at the lowest cost possible,” Semyalo says.

Pebuu, which is among the firms taking part in the second edition of the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, also has a Pebuu Care product, a micro credit solution that focuses on women and youth.

The product enables agents to borrow money in real time and pay back the loan in 24 hours or 30 days.

Commenting about the 40 Days 40 FinTechs, Semyalo said: “It is a great initiative; it brings together the different FinTechs to share ideas and the one unique thing is that it opens up the Ugandan FinTechs to the global space. Through this initiative, local FinTechs are promoted globally, which creates visibility for us so that when we decide to go out there and look for global partnership, in form of grants, equity or low interest financing, it becomes easy.”

The 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative is organised 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.

Semyalo also notes that the firm uses Level One Project principles such as Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and real time settlement, which he says are key for competitiveness.

He explains that when on-boarding agents, the FinTech relies on KYC from telecoms or banks as every agent is required to have either a registered mobile phone number or that of the company’s director or a bank account.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya notes 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.

He alludes 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.

“Each of these services solves unique sets of challenges. That is why we have this initiative because we want to contribute towards solving the unique challenges that the everyday person faces.”

Challenges

However, Semyalo notes that while the FinTech space in Uganda has evolved over the last five years, it is still quite hard and tough as most FinTechs are still grappling with liquidity challenges.

“For you to survive in the FinTech space, you must have liquidity; you must be aggressive, must be frugal, daring and brave,” he says, adding that those that will benefit are only those that will be resilient to celebrate their 10th birthday.