Africa

The second CocoaAction Annual Report, "Learning as We Grow: Putting CocoaAction into Practice", focuses on learnings that the World Cocoa Foundation and CocoaAction companies observed in 2016.

The Banker Africa features fintech developer MES & DAK Corporation, which is not targeting the big companies, but rather focusing on the micro SME (MSME) and SME sector to help bridge the $380 billion credit fiancing gap in the Africa and Middle East region for SMEs, and provide business and financial consultancy services thorough a mobile app and a desktop application.

Omokehinde Adebanjo, Mastercard Area Business Head for West Africa, shares why finance to women-owned SMEs is vital to the global supply chain. She says that the Mastercard Index of Women’s Entrepreneurship (MIWE) found that female entrepreneurs in developing countries are driven by resilience, determination and the desire to provide for their families.

African entrepreneurs with special focus on digital financial solutions for agriculture are performing below expectations due to the lack of adequate business knowledge to be relevant to their prospective clients.

Financial technology experts suggest that the barrier of entry into digital finance for agriculture in Uganda is hindered by the lack of private sector investment into local innovations.

In this article, Entreprenuer reports that despite the tech industry’s progressive reputation, its track record for hiring, promoting and funding women is bleak: Only 17 percent of American startups have female founders. However, halfway across the globe in tech hubs like Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya, 46 percent of African ventures have a female founder and prospects for closing the gender gap there are high. 

As the vanguard of financial inclusion, Ecobank is striving to address the needs of the unbanked by transforming a mobile phone into an all-in-one bank account and payment/cash withdrawal tool. One such example is the innovative Xpress Cash functionality, which has been introduced as part of its upgraded mobile banking app.

Africa presents the ideal environment in which to evolve a new cash and payments services architecture – by linking rapidly changing customer expectations with new technologies. This puts banks squarely at the center of mediating the creative clash of trends and technology, as Africa’s financial institutions harness disruption for innovation and growth.

In this blog Joyce Murithi and Wanjiku Kiarie analyze the financial performance of five select MFBs in Kenya from 2012 – 2016, analyzing key performance trends, providing insights with actionable recommendations to mitigate the challenges experienced across the industry.

With the lessons learned over the past five years, a second transformation in the MFB sector in Kenya may be on the horizon – but that would require hard work and attention to detail.

Tony O. Elumelu, C.O.N, Chairman at Heirs Holdings in Nigeria, pens an article on how African entrepreneurs are being supported by financial services to create a strong economic system on the continent. He describes how his institution has supported more than 10,000 African entrepreneurs over the last 10 years with funding and mentoring.