Category: Include Everyone

Our Reporter.

One of the main reasons for the early collapse of villages Saccos and Investment groups is poor book keeping. Hell breaks loose whenever the Sacco treasurer loses or conveniently misplaces the company ledger which in turn means there is no track of members’ savings, loans, etc.

To save such groups from the mayhem that arises out of these scenarios, Kanzu Code, a software development company and FinTech, introduced Kanzu Banking; an online solution that eases financial management.

According to Peter Kakoma, the CEO of Kanzu Code, this platform helps these institutions to manage finances seamlessly in a simple, easy-to-use interface that makes it very possible for them to be evaluated on their viability as entities to invest in.

“More importantly, it increases chances of getting credit from an external institution because if they come in and want to verify your records, you don’t need to pull out a stack of books,” Kakoma says.

Kanzu Code is a technology company that builds inclusive financial solutions for businesses and communities both locally and internationally. For over eight years, they have built customized solutions, websites, mobile applications and enhanced platforms for big organizations such as MTN and NSSF.

“We have served 100 customers in various parts of the world. A substantial percentage of those, over 80 per cent, have been in the US. Locally, with our Kanzu Banking, we are currently serving over 2,000 end users on our platform. Though, right now we are in the process of onboarding over 500 Saccos through a partnership we have with a local bank. So, we are going all over the country and doing that onboarding,” Kakoma explains.

He notes that their current flagship product of Kanzu banking seeks to help women and youths because this is the segment mostly involved in the unbanked micro businesses, constituting more than 60 per cent of village Saccos.

“Many of these women don’t have the profile that would allow them to get credit from traditional financial institutions yet they are five times more likely to get a loan from a Sacco or a village loan and saving scheme to help their business and boost income at home,” he says.

“If you are in an investment club, a Sacco, or money lending business, you need a platform like ours to take you from where you are to the next level in managing your financial portfolio and just make it easy to run that entire entity.”

However, while Kanzu Banking makes it extremely easy for a common person to join, they require some information before one accesses certain credit facilities – following the Know Your Customer (KYC) principles.

But the most important advantage is that they offer same-day settlements.

“Prior to using a platform like ours, you would have challenges where you apply for a facility and takes a bit of time before you can get access to it. So, our system has made such aspects like same day settlements possible,” he says, noting that delays may usually arise if a given Sacco does not have the float to dispense to a loan applicant.

State of Uganda’s FinTech Industry.

Kakoma says that although there are certain steps taken, Uganda’s FinTech industry is still in its infancy.

“There are still areas that have not been digitized like the savings space that will allow people to earn an interest and make micro savings. Even in the lending space, it still has areas that can be explored. You can also look at the insurance space where micro insurance opportunities have not been explored to the extreme. If you are to look down much further or higher at the crypto space and Web 3 technologies – I think these are also other spaces that offer opportunity because it brings in lower costs, decentralization, etc.,” he says.

The high cost of internet and limited reach, according to Kakoma, remains a huge challenge on top of the regulatory issues.

Kanzu Code is participant number 26^th in the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative. Kakoma appreciates this initiative and opportunity presented by HiPipo and its partners, noting that through the 40 Days 40 Fintechs initiative, a spotlight is shone on the FinTech Industry and Financial Inclusion in general.

“As these stories are shared, people relate with them and appreciate the power of technology. The more we can make those dots to connect, we can see the benefit of technology beyond the social media aspects of WhatsApp,” he says, before welcoming the idea of making the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative regional.

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.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya says this year’s edition is cementing the successes 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.

Our Reporter.

In 2021, Flutterwave received worldwide recognition for becoming an African FinTech Unicorn. By definition, a unicorn company is a startup with a valuation of over USD 1 billion.

Founded in 2016 in Nigeria, Flutterwave has since grown into a global Fintech company that provides an interoperable payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers. According to a report by Aljazeera, Flutterwave has processed transactions valued at more than USD 16 billion in dozens of African countries.

We recently had a chat with Arnold Kwesiga, the Flutterwave Country Operations and Partnerships Manager for Uganda. Below is what he had to say on how this organization is enhancing Financial Inclusion, empowering Women, and supporting Businesses.

QN: To those watching you for the first time, what is Flutterwave and what do you do? 

ANS: Flutterwave is a FinTech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers. We provide a one-stop platform for businesses to be able to receive/make payments through various avenues such as mobile money, and cards (debit and credit). 

Our primary goal is to create endless possibilities through payments for businesses globally but with a special focus to grow in the African continent. 

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

ANS: We look at our numbers from a global view. Since our inception, we have processed over 200M transactions worth over USD 16B to date and serve more than 900,000 businesses including customers like Uber, Netflix, Flywire, Booking.com, etc. Uganda contributes to these numbers as it’s a key market for Flutterwave and we are working to ensure we support more businesses in the country including those expanding here.

QN: As a FinTech unicorn, what are you doing to enhance Women’s Financial Inclusion considering that women remain the least included? 

ANS: Women are a key part of Flutterwave and our products ensure more access to digital financial services for women to drive their businesses and growth. We work with partners like the UNCDF and most recently ​​women in Tech Uganda (WITU)to discuss how we can partner and drive initiatives that strengthen women’s financial and digital literacy.

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

ANS: By virtue of the fact that we partner with multiple service providers, from banks to telcos and aggregators, we are limited in what we can do despite the ambition.

Ultimately the call is to always ensure that our merchants experience no inconveniences, which might include ensuring that they are settled at the earliest possible time. Notwithstanding, in our quest to address the pain points of our customers we do not compromise on adhering to the regulations that govern treating customers fairly or the duty of due diligence for example minimum KYC requirements & pricing transparency. 

QN: What is the state of Uganda’s Fintech industry? Where are the opportunities and which are the challenges? 

ANS: Globally, Uganda ranks 172^nd on Gross National Income (GNI) and 116^th on the Network Readiness Index (NRI) according to the World Bank and the Portulans Institute, respectively.

The main driver of this is influenced by the 49 percent mobile penetration and 16 percent smart phone adoption which is higher than that of Rwanda and or South Africa.

A key driver for Uganda’s inclusion in the digital economy is mobile money which unlike other digital economies does not require smartphone penetration. As such, we as Fintechs due to our agility are making strides towards increasing this digital transformation scope knowing full well the perceptions of our target audience, but without compromising on the need to harness the potential to do the futuristic stuff. 

Among the key opportunities is the fact that a large portion of traders and consumers is still cash-driven. Working to have digital wallets is the next horizon for e-commerce players.

Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an uptake of cashless services; however the general decline in economic growth means that the increased adoption has not fully translated into commercial gains. 

That said, the KYC process remains a big challenge for Fintechs. The government has an opportunity to use the national registries to provide data points for Fintechs to carry out KYC checks that will match the generally accepted standards without compromising the ease of onboarding for the day-to-day customer.

QN: In your opinion, how does the 40 Days 40 Fintechs initiative support the industry? What else needs to be done?

ANS: There is no doubt that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative brings together like-minded digital finance practitioners from all walks of life to share experiences, synergies, and most importantly opportunities for interoperability. 

All other stakeholders, (the regulator, UCC, NITA) need to be drawn into the conversation (initiative) to understand the bottlenecks of the Fintechs and commit in their respective jurisdictions to address or ease entry, existence, and prosperity as we all play a vital role in the digital mission of the country.

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.

Many Ugandan traders in the informal sector have been shut out of digital and financial inclusion drives because of their lack of required knowledge, devices and paperwork to register their businesses. In the end, boda boda riders, charcoal traders, tomato sellers, salon operators, etc., remain stuck in the cash economy with all its risks and inconveniences.

This is a problem that Airtel Mobile Commerce has spent the last few months trying to solve, and with tangible progress.

According to Japhet ARITHO, the Managing Director Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (AMCUL), thousands of informal traders have been on-boarded to a digital payments system without necessarily having to register as a business. The trick is in enabling a separation between personal transactions and business transactions such that the trader can accept payment on their personal phone, but the money moves into a different account. This is all possible through a product named Airtel Micro Merchant.

“Traders get the Airtel Micro Merchant account without doing any documentation; you can actually do it in the comfort of your business or home, by dialing *185*10*10# and you are able to enter the business name and Airtel Money pin and then get a merchant code,” Aritho says.

It is this pin that these traders give to clients to make payments. This, he says, has greatly reduced the risk of scammers because the mobile number of the recipient/trader is no longer required.

When a trader receives payment, the money moves to their business wallet which they can easily access and transfer it to their personal line at no cost.

“You can as well pay another businessperson at no additional cost. You can also transfer to the bank, withdraw it from an Airtel agent [we have over 140,000 agents out there]. This withdrawal will attract the normal charges,” he adds.

Aritho is optimistic that the Airtel Micro Merchant platform will play a significant role in digitizing payments in the informal sector where most mobile service providers fear to venture.

FinTech, Savings and Loans.

Airtel Mobile Commerce is a now a registered FinTech regulated by the bank of Uganda and offering various products in collections, savings, credit, payments and transfers in partnership with other financial service providers.

One unique product is Wewole, implemented in partnership with Jumo World. Arithosays Wewole has been one of the most successful products, helping out players in small businesses to access cheap credit instantly.

“Over 2.5 million customers have taken a loan between UGX 3,000 and one million depending on what they do. I want to ask our customers to continue using Airtel money regularly because the more they use it, the more they qualify for higher loans. We have 14-day loans and a 30-day loan. The interest is very reasonable compared to market rates,” he says.

Just in June this year, more than 400,000 people took Wewole loans amounting to more than UGX 8bn and the repayment behavior in encouraging.

“Majority pay before the due date and those that delay, pay shortly after. This is a good product that we can scale up through data mining, to ensure that we don’t give people more than what they can repay. We believe that by the end of this year, more than 10 million of our customers will be able to access this product,” he adds.

While many believe in growing businesses through acquiring loans, there is a school of thought that believes savings can build credit. This is why Airtel also introduced the Super Saver product in partnership with KCB Bank to help their clients grow their creditworthiness through savings.

“SUPER SAVER is a service available to all Airtel mobile money customers and the deposits are safeguarded by the deposits protection fund. If you look at interest in commercial banks, it is between one and three percent yet our Super Saver account gives you a five percent interest.”

Open APIs.

As a way of further supporting businesses, Airtel Money rolled out open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that enable any organization in the country to integrate Airtel Money within two working days and start transacting. 

“It has been demonstrated that in a month we are able to do 50 integrations of this nature. These APIs are open to everyone. We let the business work on its customer journey and then integrate with us thereafter,” he says.

40 Days 40 FinTechs.

Airtel Money is participant number twenty-second (22^nd) in this year’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative organized by HiPipo in partnership with Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies, and 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.

Aritho is thankful to HiPipo and partners for the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative that allows open and candid discussions about the financial technology industry in addition to creating awareness about the different players and what they have to offer.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya thanked Airtel Money for the many innovations in the FinTech space and applauded them for their open APIs which will definitely drive interoperability.

“Airtel Money has one of the biggest customer base in Uganda. If they avail these numbers to the FinTech marketplace, then our push for including everyone becomes very easy. Airtel Micro Merchant will surely go a long way in helping small businesses manage their payments. Another product that has done wonders for the market is Wewole in partnership with Jumo World. It continues to bail out thousands of Ugandans with instant access to funds,” he said.

Our Reporter.

When Ephrance Eunice Namugenyi’s father started a paver and block-making business, he contacted his daughter to use her Information Technology skills to market his products.

The two sat down and agreed to do something much bigger; create a digital marketplace for building materials.

“I also work at Kyambogo University where I meet students who don’t have jobs after school yet they are good at architectural work, engineering, etc….so, I said we can as well market professionals,” says Namugenyi.

It is this small meeting in April 2020 that led to the birth of Kuzimba Services – a digital payment solution that allows clients to purchase building and construction materials and services. Right from purchasing land to surveying to drawing architectural plans to building; Kuzimba provides the technical know-how.

Ephrance Eunice Namugenyi, the Founder and Managing Director of Kuzimba Services says the biggest challenge people face is the hustle of looking for genuine building materials at the right price. So, Kuzimba services works with construction professionals and genuine service providers and guarantees delivery of the right quality and quantities to the client’s construction site.

How it works

When a client gets onto kuzimba.com and maybe they want iron sheets, they click on the item and input the number and type they want. Then the quotation is made.

“Then we receive the notification and we call the client and get more details about the delivery,” she says.

The client is supposed to make a down payment of at least 50 percent electronically and then complete the full payment on arrival. Namugenyi notes that since April 2020, roughly the time when Covid-19 lockdowns started in Uganda, they have received more than 800 unique customers and over 60 repeat clients.

“Covid-19 came as a blessing. It was a good start for us. Being a teacher, this business stood out for me because I could make some money during Covid-19 and many people used the period to finish their building projects because they had some time on them. Many people called us because they were scared of moving. The challenge was transporting. We had to actually work very hard to deliver.” she says.

She adds that life after Covid-19 is much better because transport is easier and people are adopting digital financial systems faster. Kuzimba is gender-sensitive, with at least 51 percent of the team being women.

“I have personally struggled to scale through as a woman entrepreneur. It is a bit hard for a woman to convince a man that you can deliver maybe cement or sand to a construction site. But we have had to convince ourselves that we can do it. It takes a lot of peer mentoring, the more you do something, the more you become confident about it,” she says.

40 Days 40 FinTechs

Kuzimba, who are the defending champions of the 2021 Women in FinTech hackathon, comes as participant number 19 in this year’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.

Namugenyi says she is indebted to HiPipo for giving them a platform to build confidence; especially the Women in FinTech Hackathon which pushed her to the front.

“I realized there are many women in this space and I can actually make it. Thank you for marketing us. I don’t think of failing anymore. I think if this initiative is made countrywide, banks will understand the importance of working together,” she says.

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.

HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya noted 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.

He added: “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.”

Our Reporter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

40 Days 40 FinTechs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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