Verdant Capital advised OTI on the sale of MediSmart, a leading secure personal health informatics solution provider focused on the East African market. MediSmart provides a platform to manage information and claims submission for the medical sector by incorporating contactless smart card and biometric technologies. This enables efficient and secure access to medical information, transactions, claims and reporting. By enabling efficient patient identification and claims administration, MediSmart facilitates the broadest possible access to medical insurance. MediSmart is an example of the application of technology to further the goal of financial inclusion. OTI is listed on NASDAQ in New York. […]
Tugende is Uganda’s leading provider of productive asset financing headquartered in Kampala, Uganda and has nine branches broadly covering the busiest towns and districts in the Central, Southern and Eastern Regions of Uganda. Tugende means “Let’s go”. Tugende’s products include lease to own financing packages for motorcycle taxis (locally known as “boda bodas”) and automobile taxis, which includes training, insurance and safety equipment. Tugende’s current target market includes the more than 1 million motorcycle taxi drivers across East Africa, and the USD 37 billion credit gap for SMEs in the region. Tugende is growing through a combination of domestic […]
Verdant Capital acted as sole advisor and manager to Ferme Agro-Pastorale Jambo SARL (Ferme Jambo), the leading integrated maize flour producer in the DRC, in raising USD 7 million in debt financing. Verdant Capital’s expertise, combined with Ferme Jambo’s strong leadership, convinced investors of the management’s integrity and vision along with the viability of the business plan. Ferme Jambo was founded in 2014 by two leading DRC-based businessmen, who have built a reputed and diversified business group over the past 15 years. The company’s objective is to reduce the dependency on imported flour in the Greater Katanga region, where imports […]
The Institute of International Finance recently released a report on the size of “Big Tech China”, written by Dennis Ferenzy, which provides an insight into the scale, scope and ambition of Big Tech China. The world is witnessing a rise of an industry that is expected to control every aspect of our lives. Through technologies such as deep learning and AI, together with collaboration with the Chinese state for mass data collection of its citizens. Chinese Technology companies are able to make customized user experiences and predict future consumer behaviour. Two companies that are ruling the stage with this […]
Interoperable payments are now possible across Africa as the continent’s largest mobile operators and mobile money providers, Orange Group and MTN group announced their joint venture, Mowali. Interoperability levels between digital financial service providers are now beyond the levels of which MTN’s and Orange’s operations and markets could individually achieve, enabling the support of 338 million mobile money accounts in Africa while connecting financial service providers and customers in one inclusive network. This has resulted in the ability to immediately transfer money between mobile money accounts at a low cost. Greater usage of mobile money by clients is the […]
The 9th European Microfinance Award in 2018 titled “Financial Inclusion through Technology” intended to highlight how technology assists financial services providers in reaching unbanked and under-banked segments and essentially financially including those segments which do not have access to formal financial services. As published in September 2018, Advans Côte d’Ivoire, ESAF Small Finance Bank and KMF were selected as three finalists. During European Microfinance Week in Luxembourg – the winner of the award was announced. KMF, a microfinance institution in Kazakhstan, one of the most remote regions of the World, won the award. To reach clients and improve efficiencies […]
Positive developments can be achieved through building a more financially inclusive financial sector which serves a vital purpose, offering savings, credit, and payment products allowing for broad access to financial services to benefit poor people and other disadvantaged groups. According to the Global Findex Database Report (2017) published earlier this year, the number of adults who have an account with a formal financial institution increased by 18% since 2011. However, a wide variation remains between gender, high and low-income economies, age differences and level of education. Globally, about 1.7 billion adults (56% women) remain unbanked. Developing economies account for […]
