In many markets on the African continent, significant growth in the number and breadth of financial services providers can be seen. This is in terms of the number of non-bank financial services providers who have reached critical mass in terms of size and scale, as well as the number of “non-traditional banks” (ie non-bank financial services providers) who have climbed the regulatory hierarchy and become deposit-taking banks (for example, Trustco in Namibia, and before them Capitec in South Africa). A number of critical factors have contributed to this trend including technology and innovation changing the shape of asset origination, as […]
RenMoney, a leading Nigerian inclusive lender, is launching a new education loan product, specifically tailored to fund school fees payments by their customers. The education loan product will deploy funding raised by Verdant Capital, as well as RenMoney’s existing resources. RenMoney, like many unsecured lenders in Africa, is aware that a significant part of its customer base use their loans for purposes of school fees, such is the importance placed on education by parents across the continent. The tailored school fees product will go one step further: the loans will be repayable by parents but will be disbursed directly to the schools who […]
Uber’s recent arrival in Kenya has not only disrupted the traditional taxi industry but has also brought an incidental by-product which looks set to make inroads in the East African nation’s highly constrained credit market. Kenya’s consumer lending market has historically been severely limited by the lack of consumer data. Currently, only 4.4% of population have taken out a personal bank loan with most Kenyan’s facing an average interest rate of 18%. However, in this era of unprecedented connectivity, the transport company is now also helping to bridge this credit gap. Through the use of Uber driver data, Sidian Bank has […]
In a recent report released by GSMA Intelligence titled, “The Mobile Economy: Africa 2016”, research suggests that the mobile ecosystem is fast becoming a major economic driver throughout the African continent with its services contributing more than USD 150 billion to the African economy. According to Mats Granryd, Director General of GSMA, “The transformational impact of mobile is being felt more profoundly in Africa than anywhere else in the world; Africa’s mobile industry is at the forefront of helping to deliver the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.” While Africa is the least penetrated mobile market globally, it still represents the […]
