Africa’s mid-market businesses, the backbone of the continent’s economic growth, can find themselves trapped in a financing void. With annual revenues typically surpassing $10 million, these companies find themselves in a precarious position – too large for microfinance, yet too small or risky for traditional banks.
Search Results for: microfinance
While financial inclusion is growing in importance worldwide there is still a discrepancy between male and female financial inclusion – the so-called gender financial inclusion gap.
In this piece, Hortense Mudenge tells how financial inclusion can be a game-changer for African women across the informal economy.
The article delves into the dynamics of Africa’s payment ecosystem, highlighting the unique challenges faced in the continent, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The thought leadership penned by the COO of RFL, Hortense Mudenge, on the importance of female-focused investment and how it can drive Africa and its fintech space forward.
Agriculture, Events
Achieving Food Security Through Private Sector Investment: The Battle of Narratives
Africa is well positioned to become the global breadbasket; with 60 % of the world’s unused cropland spread across the continent that can be used for farming, it has the potential to emerge as a major food supplier.
Events, Fintech
7th Edition Connected Banking Summit East Africa – Innovation & Excellence Awards 2023 Concludes with Resounding Success
The Summit brought together the best and brightest minds in the banking, financial services, fintechs and techfin sectors. The event, which took place on 7th March 2023, featured insightful speakers, award-winning companies, and top-notch sponsors. Attendees were treated to a range of informative sessions, covering topics such as digital transformation, cybersecurity, and risk management. The […]
On August 30th, the SIBC officially launched its 6th edition, welcoming the 43 entrepreneurs selected for the 2022 cohort. These social and inclusive entrepreneurs were chosen among more than 380 applications across Africa to participate in an intensive program aimed at preparing them for scaling up, through training, mentoring, peer-to-peer exchanges and meetings with investors. To contribute to […]
Access to finance for MSMEs in Somalia has become an issue since the state lacked an effective government to cater for the financial services. Therefore, the willingness to offer such exceptional services became paramount, leading to the emergence of private financial institutions in Somalia. A decade ago, a group of Somali businesspeople started financial institutions in Somalia to provide commercial financial services […]
Uganda is a country situated in East-Central Africa with a potential of 42 million forex traders characterized by high diversity in terms of ethnicity and politics. As you may already know, its financial system consists of informal, formal, and semi formal institutions. Insurance companies, banks, and capital markets are examples of formal institutions, while loan […]
This new publication explores the answers to the question: How best to digitalise a financial institution? The case study draws upon management consulting literature to assess digitalisation strategies in a pragmatic way. It assesses three leading African financial organisations against this framework: Al Barid Bank, Morocco; Equity Bank, Kenya; and Consolidated Bank, Ghana. The World […]
Download logo “If we must satisfy Africa’s food security with our growing population, then there must be high commercialization of agriculture. That is modern farming.” – Ayotomiwa Yinka Ogunsua, poultry farmer When Ayotomiwa Yinka Ogunsua got a job as a loan officer at a microfinance bank in Ibadan, Nigeria, after graduating from university, he thought […]
Organised in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the inaugural Africa Financial Industry Summit will be held online this coming 10 and 11 March and gather the most influential voices and institutions in African finance. The Africa Financial Industry Summit’s extensive list of speakers includes executives from the largest banks and insurance companies operating […]
African PE (Private equity) firms raised less than $20bn in the decade to 2018, equivalent to just 2.5 per cent of the capital raised by the world’s emerging markets, according to a Preqin report. Moreover, most of that African capital was invested into the relatively advanced economies of South Africa and North Africa, with very […]
Agriculture, Main, Mali News, Nigeria News, Senegal News, Zambia News
Tapping into Digital Technology Platforms to Increase Agriculture Productivity in Africa
by Johan Burger Introduction Africa is a bit of an anomaly as far as agriculture is concerned. On the one hand, it has 65% of the world’s available uncultivated arable land, and it has the potential to feed the world. However, a country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has the […]
by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. The financial services industry in Africa has seen a lot of development throughout the past few years, as was the case in 2018. Mobile telephony has driven […]
By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa More and more support is pouring in; in an attempt to beef up the attraction of investment into Africa. Recently the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a USD15 million equity investment in the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to increase its capital base. A statement reports […]