Category: Include Everyone

At the heart of Informal Cross Border Trade across Africa, are Women. According to the African Development Bank, at-least 70% of Africa’s informal cross-border traders are women.

These women often face challenges which are not typically encountered by their male counterparts. Such challenges include exploitation by trade agents, travel security risks, discrimination and harassment, lack of market information, forex issues, and domestic violence among others.

It is these challenges that that the COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB)-Malawi Chapter is curing through a digital one stop platform that enables informal cross border traders trade from anywhere, anytime.

“In our detailed research, we found out that informal women traders continue to struggle with accessing cross border markets. Because we want our women to trade profitably across borders, we have developed a digital platform to support them. This e-commerce platform will have both sellers and buyers so that when a seller uploads their product, the buyer can access it and then get in touch with the seller. The platform will be a one stop center that will unable the seller and buyer to complete the transaction. That is to say; the buyer will select the product, pay digitally through the platform after which the seller will deliver the product,” Yamikani Kutengule, the Digital Team Leader for COMFWB – Malawi Chapter said.

She noted that this platform will also contribute to Africa’s cashless economy drive as the women traders will be encouraged to trade electronically and accept digital payments.

“We are launching this platform, starting with Malawi and Zambia Cross Border Traders. But in future, we intend to open up this platform for the entire COMESA region,” she said.  

Kutengule thanked HiPipo and COMESA Business Council for ‘bringing the 40 Days 40 FinTechs to Malawi and Zambia’ and used the same opportunity to appeal for support.

“The kind of support we need includes technical support, financial support and capacity building. As earlier noted, we are not building this platform for us. We would like for the women to embrace it and use it to trade across borders. As such, we are open to any collaboration moves us closer to actualizing this dream,” Kutengule concluded.

COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB)-Malawi Chapter featured on Day 6 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

The search for money is a never-ending puzzle. On a daily, people are looking for money for all sorts of reasons; personal use, business, health, education and many others. Because money is a scarce resource yet it is continuously needed, many opt for credit services.

Unfortunately, traditional credit services are hard to access owing to several bureaucratic tendencies such as so much paperwork, long wait time, unfair interest rates and need for tangible collateral security.

But, with the aid of Technology, Innovators are rewriting this story. A valid example is Malawian FinTech start-up Credit Line Limited. 

“We are a FinTech company that has developed a system that allows instant access to loans, buy now and pay later, insurance and investment. We partner with lenders and employers to enable employees access credit in a simple, quick and efficient manner. We have both a mobile APP and USSD platform accessed by all employees of the partnered lenders and employers,” Deborah Mijoso, Co-Founder Credit Line, Malawi explained.

She added: “Our instant loans are servicing the unbanked, and low-income earners. We are providing a solution that wasn’t there in Malawi thus allowing the unserved a chance to get credit from financial institutions without collateral. For as long as one is employed, that is enough security. You just have to log on to our platform and access credit from multiple lenders. For buy now, pay later; we are enabling people buy assets on credit and pay later. We have listed partners and merchants. The customer only needs to visit a store of our listed partners, get the product they want on credit, take it home and pay for it periodically until payment is complete.”

Mijoso noted that even though Credit Line was launched in 2024, a lot of progress has been made. This includes major partnerships with three lenders, two big employers, Centenary Bank – for the instant disbursement and collections, and TransUnion Credit Reference Bureau – for credit worthiness checks.

Nonetheless, she noted that this line of business is faced with several challenges such as Financial Literacy gaps, Limited Technology Adoption and Poor Infrastructure.

“Even amidst these challenges, we are very optimistic that with the coming of initiatives such as 40 Days 40 FinTechs, the industry will improve. We are optimistic that with this initiative, we are going to improve our product, find more partners across the continent and expand our market.”

Credit Line featured on Day 5 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Motor Insurance is one of the most common types of Insurance as all roadworthy vehicles must purchase and periodically renew it. While there are different motor insurance types, the most common are third-party and comprehensive.

Traditionally, one had to visit an insurance company or broker to pay for their premium, have their sticker printed and later displayed on the car.

But innovators are using technology to change this for the better. In Zambia, a platform that allows car owners and drivers to purchase insurance digitally is fast-growing.

“We started CarVer almost three years ago. This is after we realized that most people that purchase motor insurance had to line up at Insurance Companies and Post Offices just to purchase insurance,” Musonda Chitobolo, the Chief Operations Officer of CarVer explained.

He noted that it is from this background that together with likeminded innovators, developed a digital broker platform that allows car owners and drivers to purchase insurance anywhere, anytime.

“We decided to develop something that is convenient for the end-users at the convenience of their homes or offices, they are able to purchase insurance, get cover for their vehicles and also road tax. Our APP is available on mobile, web and USSD. CarVer is not just exclusively for the Zambia market. Even drivers from across COMESA that are coming in to Zambia can also purchase Insurance using this APP. Once you download the APP, onboarding is very simple. You enter the vehicle registration number, indicate your Insurance preference; company, type and period. The system will then tabulate how much you have to pay for your premium.

Chitobolo noted that CarVer has integrated different payment platforms thus allowing multiple digital payments options.

“Once the tabulation is done and amount to be paid is known, the system will ask you how you want to pay. We have integrated Mobile Money, Cards like VISA and few other digital payment aggregators. This allows the user to make a digital payment on the system. Once the payment is received, a confirmation will be sent after which the cover note will be sent to the customer by email and SMS. The customer can then print out their Insurance cover anywhere anytime and display it on their car. Essentially, all this process is completed within two minutes thus serving time for both customers and insurance companies.

He highlighted that as of March 2025, CarVer had already twelve Insurance companies on the platform, and onboarded over 200,000 vehicles.

Even so, he noted that the main challenge facing their business is limited technology infrastructure that affects the seamless execution of their work.

CarVer featured on Day 4 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Bridging Gap Solutions Limited (BGS) is a fast-growing Zambian Technology company that specializes in FinTech solutions, Secure systems integrations, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Solutions, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Solutions, and Intelligent ICT hardware and Networking solutions.

Talking FinTech, BGS describes itself as an all-round Payment and Financial service provider with services such as Bulk Payments, Disbursements and Collections.

“One of the FinTech solutions that we pride in is called Pay Boss Banking. This platform allows our customers to use three types of services. That is bulk disbursement, payment collections, and bill payments. It supports banks, micro finances, SACCOs and other lenders. Pay Boss Banking is accessible via Mobile APP, Web and USSD,” Chilekwa Banda, the Director FinTech at Bridging Gap Solutions, Zambia said, adding;

 “We have been operational for 16 years. Over these years, we have not declined but rather thrived. We have since acquired our Payment Systems Provider license from the Central Bank of Zambia. We have onboarded three big merchants that work across Zambia and currently manage more than 10,000 transactions every month.”

She noted that the key challenges facing Zambia’s Fintech Industry are Cyber Security Risks, Limited Connectivity, Poor Infrastructure and Adoption to Industry Policies. She highlighted that these combined are derailing Zambia’s Digital and Financial Inclusion journey.

She nonetheless noted that even amidst these challenges a lot of ground has been covered with several success stories that need to be told through initiatives such as 40 Days 40 FinTechs.

“This initiative is not only giving us the much-needed publicity but also giving us a chance to discuss and better understand the industry, in addition to enabling favorable competition and collaboration,” she concluded.

The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Located at the heart of the Great Rift Valley in Southeastern Africa, Malawi is a landlocked country with a population of about 22 million people, as of December, 2024. The country has over the years buzzed with a lot of untapped potential in sectors such as Agriculture, ICT, Trade, Transport and Tourism among others.

That said, the young people of Malawi have in the past two decades devised means to explore and put to use the available opportunities. Many of them have ventured in Technology supported fields.  Among such people is a team of four that in 2011 launched Angle Dimension; a software products and services company.

These four individuals recognized the lack of locally developed software solutions and decided that they would join forces to ‘ensure that Malawians had quality, affordable, and conveniently located software products and services at their disposal’. It is this collaboration that birthed Angle Dimension on 13^th October 2011.

Over the years, Angle Dimension has continuously improved itself growing its products and services portfolio as well as its clientele. It has since grown into a digital and financial inclusion player. In matters Financial Technology, Angle Dimension has two flagship products namely Aspect Financials 360 and Smart Identity.

 “Aspect Financials 360 is currently being used by SACCOs and Micro finance institutions to perform their day to day financial tasks. This product is divided in to two parts. That is the core banking system used by SACCOs and micro finance. We also have the internet banking that is used by the SACCO and Micro finance members.  This enables the members to check their statements, balance and also transact,” Angella Shumba, Business Analyst at Angle Dimension, Malawi explained.

She added: “Another FinTech product we have worked on is Smart Identity. This is currently being used by Banks and Insurance Companies. It helps with Know Your Customers (KYC) procedures as well as customers verification and authentication.”

She revealed Aspect Financials 360 was as of March 2025 being used by 10 SACCOs in Malawi with each SACCO having up to 30,000 users while the Smart Identity system was being used by at-least 5 banks and insurance operators. 

“Our FinTech innovations have enabled real time transactions, made transactions digital and largely paperless. Customers are able to serve time and money as they are able to transact digitally on their mobile devices with out needing to visit the financial institutions.”

Shumba nonetheless noted that one of the main challenges faced by FinTechs in Malawi is limited skilled and technically competent engineers.

“Yes, many people have degrees but the application of what they learnt in school on to the market is very minimal. People can have those awesome degrees but when they come for practical interviews, they fail them. As such, we hold bootcamps to close this gap. We believe that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs can further support the Malawi FinTech ecosystem through capacity building and seed funding.”

The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and startups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Well as thousands of people across Africa are actively involved in Informal Cross Border Trade, this line of business continues to face multiple challenges, which mainly affect women and youth as they are the majority. Such challenges include but to limited to forex issues, restricted access to formal financial services, low levels of digital and financial literacy, consumer protection challenges, underrepresentation in financial leadership, discriminatory cultural practices, limited financial products tailored to their needs, high transaction costs, and intricate account opening procedures.

In a move to address these bottlenecks, COMESA Business Council (CBC) and partners are developing a financial technology enabled Digital Retail Payments Platform.

According to Dr. Jonathan Pinifolo, Chief Operating Officer of the Digital Financial Inclusion (DFI) Program at COMESA Business Council, the regional digital retail payments platform is aimed at supporting micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in addition to enhancing digital financial inclusion across the COMESA region and Africa at large.

“For the DFI program, we are coming up with a regional retail payment platform that will connect commercial banks and non-banks like for instance; mobile network operators, FinTechs as well as Microfinance institutions (MFIs). We want to make sure that traders through out COMESA are able to send money from one country to another country without any challenges. We shall also connect an e-commerce platform where traders can check market information, and sell products because at the moment, there are also challenges to do with market information,” Dr Pinifolo said, adding;

“The platform will bring a lot of value like for instance interoperability; it will interconnect with other payment systems. Secondly, our traders will be able to transact using local currencies. The platform will also ease access to finance and market information. During COVID-19, people suffered as they were not able to move around to access markets. The online platform will address this.  Lastly, this platform will have a wider geographical reach and thus present a huge market for our traders.

The Digital Retail Payments Platform being spearheaded by the COMESA Business Council with support from partners was presented on the first day of 40 Days 40 FinTechs for Zambia and Malawi.

Dr Pinifolo acknowledged HiPipo for its commitment to Africa’s digital and financial inclusion journey noting that “for about two years now, our partnership with HiPipo has grown from just discussions to implementing projects that are impacting last mile users.” He thanked the Gates Foundation for supporting the programs that are being jointly implemented by HiPipo and COMESA Business Council.

The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and startups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

In commemoration of the 2025 International Women’s Day, HiPipo has held a Digital and Financial Literacy workshop for women cross-border traders at the Elegu-Nimule one-stop border post, which connects Uganda and South Sudan.

Working in collaboration with MTN MoMo and MOVIT Products Limited, the HiPipo team on Thursday 6^th March trained over 200 traders from the Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society on a number of financial inclusion aspects including savings, loans, personal finance and digital financial services. This training was hosted at Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society Warehouse and Grounds.

The HiPipo FinTech Events Manager, Charlotte Neeza, noted that this gesture is geared at empowering women traders with knowledge and skills that can catapult them from informal into formal business owners.

“This is part of our Include Everyone program which strives to level the ground for last-mile people. The focus on women cross-border traders at Elegu is strategic because both sides of the border have a history of political instability and it has been women that have kept the economy in this place going,” she said.

“Elegu has hundreds of Women Cross Border Traders. We want these traders to have the basic knowledge in book keeping, saving and personal financial management. They need to know when, where, how and why they should take loans. They need to know the safe and efficient Financial Technology solutions available for them. They need to be included and actively involved in the Digital Financial Services ecosystem.”

The Elegu border post is a growing trade hub between Uganda and Africa’s youngest nation – South Sudan. Being the main gateway into South Sudan from the port of Mombasa, this post is of strategic importance to the East African Community. All manner of merchandise right from food products to manufactured goods enter South Sudan through this post. Majority of the Women Cross Border Traders at Elegu deal in Food items such as Silver Fish, Vegetables, and Grains.

However, smaller cross-border traders, predominantly women, at this post are faced by a number of challenges including illiteracy, lack of tailored digital financial solution, lack of proper documentation, foreign exchange challenges, limited capital, and network challenges among others.

“I would like to thank HiPipo for this training as we celebrate International Women’s Day and Month. Our traders need a lot of capacity building especially in digital financial services. This is a good start point but more of such trainings are needed. I also thank MTN and MOVIT for joining us today,” noted Margaret Auma, the Chairperson of the Elegu Women Cross-Border Traders Co-op Society.

The area officer in charge of Elegu Police Station re-emphasised the need for women traders to obtain proper documentation and avoid dealing in contraband which may put them on the wrong side of the law.

On the other hand, the Amuru district commercial officer Albert Lada applauded HiPipo for the training in financial literacy, noting that while women traders contribute a lot in the micro-economics of the country, many struggle to break-even because of their bookkeeping frailties.

Women’s Day comes early.

The event was also attended by officials from MTN Uganda who showcased MTN MoMo’s digital financial services catalogue and specifically trained traders about cross-border transactions, savings and loans products. They also offered services like on-site SIM Card registration, in addition to giving participants free items such as Umbrellas, Shirts, and Caps

MOVIT Products crowned the workshop as it rewarded all participants with gifts that included Soap, Vaseline, Body Lotions and Hand Sanitizers, among others.

Indeed, International Women’s Day came early for the Elegu Women Cross Border Traders.

Kampala, 20^th February 2025: Uganda will host the first-ever Middle East and Africa Digital Transformation Summit (MEA-DTS) from 25^th to 27^th June, 2025 at the Kampala Serena Hotel. This has been revealed by Hon. Dr. Chris Baryomunsi (PhD), the Cabinet Minister for ICT and National Guidance during a press launch at Uganda Media Center today.

According to Dr. Baryomunsi, the summit will be hosted under the theme; Driving Digital Transformation for a Connected and Inclusive MEA Region, with H.E. President Yoweri K. Museveni as the Chief Host.

“The MEA-DTS is consistent with Uganda Vision 2040, where we have ICTs as pivotal to transforming Ugandan from a predominantly agricultural community to a modern and prosperous country. Further, the summit supports the EAC Vision 2050, by leveraging ICTs for value addition in critical sectors like agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil & gas, and knowledge, to create more jobs and boost livelihoods,” he said, adding;

“The summit will champion digital technologies that facilitate enhanced economic transformation and regional competitiveness. It will enrich Africa and the Middle East’s contribution to SDGs, such as SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).”

The 2025 Middle East and Africa Digital Transformation Summit, the first of its kind is being co-organised by the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, COMESA Business Council (CBC) and HiPipo – a leading entity in ICT and financial inclusion in Africa.

HiPipo is a reputable entity, recently named the most Innovative Financial Inclusion Organization in the Middle East and Africa 2024 while its Chief Executive, Innocent Kawooya, was honoured as the FinTech CEO of the Year in 2024 across the Middle East and Africa.

Speaking at the launch, Kawooya noted that the summit ties-in perfectly with Uganda’s National Vision 2040, the Government ICT Agenda, the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Africa Agenda 2063.

He added that HiPipo has been at the forefront of digital transformation for the past twenty years, with leading projects such as 40 Days 40 FinTechs, Women In FinTech Initiative, HiPipo Music Awards, Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa.  

“These efforts have meaningfully impacted the lives of countless low-income Africans in the ICT and creative sectors. For instance, HiPipo has empowered AgriTech innovators, impacting over 600,000 smallholder farmers by helping them access land, connect with genuine input suppliers, reach better markets, and eliminate exploitative middlemen,” Kawooya noted.

He added: “We are therefore happy to bring this Summit to Uganda and look forward to meaningful deliberations on important aspects such as digital innovation, financial services, policy and regulation, sustainability and impact, etc.

On his part, Dr. Jonathan Pinifolo, the Chief Operating Officer at COMESA Business Council noted that the Summit offers an opportunity for governments and private players in the ICT sector to find a common ground for seamless trade across borders.

“COMESA is the biggest trading block in Africa and we believe that it is important to connect with the rest of Africa and the Middle East by leveraging digital tools, policies and innovations for trade,” he said.

“We envisage greater opportunities to deepen e-government services, investment, manufacturing, commercial agriculture, services, e-commerce, employment, oil and gas, energy, wealth creation, and modernisation, with enhanced opportunities for our people across Africa,” he added.

The summit will be a multi-stakeholder engagement, with participants from over 60 countries including policymakers, ICT industry leaders, innovators, and investors. It will facilitate showcasing advanced digital solutions, emerging breakthroughs fostering economic growth, improving public services and enhancing quality of life. There will also be networking sessions to facilitate collaboration, including by the participating youth from over 70 Universities in Africa and the Middle East.