Africa

When mobile network operator (MNO) Safaricom launched its M-Pesa mobile payments system in Kenya seven years ago, few business models were as ripe to explode. With extremely high mobile penetration rates, a high proportion of unbanked households, a regulatory system that allowed telecoms companies rather than banks to lead the way, and a migrant population suffering from expensive domestic remittances, it is little wonder that more than two-thirds of Kenyan adults use the service today. But the service, which has also been quite successful in Tanzania, is not just the continental leader in mobile payments. 

Enablis promotes local business creation by focusing its attention on the entrepreneurs rather than merely on their businesses. This NGO identifies the founders of the most promising SMEs and supports them as they grow their enterprise. As members they enjoy all the advantages connected with an international network based on sharing experience. As well as providing training and mentorship programmes, Enablis supports entrepreneurs as they seek financing for their businesses.

Mobile phone technology can help to bring financial services to the 80 percent of African women who do not have a bank account and bolster the growth of the world's poorest continent, Nigeria's finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday.
Okonjo-Iweala was one of a dozen government, finance and business leaders who met in Nairobi on Monday to roll out a plan to bring financial services to more poor African women.
"It's not just about empowering women, it's about economic growth," said Okonjo-Iweala, honorary co-chair of the newly-formed Africa Advisory Council of the U.S.-based charity Women's World Banking.

The objective of this report is to improve understanding of the trade finance market in Africa, which remains under explored because of data scarcity. The report is based on a unique and primary survey of African commercial banks collected specifically for this purpose. The survey covered about 276 banks across 45 African countries on their trade finance activities in 2011 and 2012.

CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, has today announced two new investments in Africa-focused funds. CDC has committed up to EUR25million to AfricInvest Fund III (“AFIII”) and up to US$15m to Synergy Private Equity Fund (“Synergy”).

There is a growing recognition of agriculture's potential to spur growth and reduce poverty in Africa. Agriculture accounts for one-third of the continent's gross domestic product (GDP), and two-thirds of its citizens rely on the sector for their incomes.
Yet agriculture in Africa has not fulfilled its potential, suffering from a lack of investment and insufficient attention from policy-makers. A key hindrance to agricultural development and broader growth is a wide and pervasive gender gap in agricultural productivity.

When financial services group AFB started in 2010 in Ghana, it mainly focused on lending to government employees, but two years ago started expanding into consumer and SME lending.