Category: Uncategorized

By Our Reporter.

Kanzu Code, a Financial Technology Company (FinTech) that builds inclusive financial tools is set for greater heights, following its enrollment in the 40-days-40-FinTechs project.

The 40 days 40 fintechs project has exposed Kanzu Code to latest financial technology tools that will enable them develop more interoperable solutions using new technologies such as Mojaloop Open Source Software. In all; with their involvement in this project, Kanzu Code is now much more equipped to play its part in Uganda, somewhat Africa’s financial inclusion drive.

Organised by HiPipo under its Include EveryOne programme, in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, the 40-days-40-FinTechs project seeks to enable FinTechs to innovate solutions that facilitate cross-network financial transactions at minimal risks and thus enhance access to financial services.

Running for 40 days, the project will see the participating 40 FinTechs, including Kanzu Code, acquire interoperable development skills to improve access to financial services, using the Mojaloop open source software.

Speaking on day one of the 40 days 40 fintechs project at the Kanzu Code offices, Peter Kakoma, the firm’s team leader applauded HiPipo, and its partners for investing in both technology and interactions that enable developers to build accessible, reliable and affordable financial inclusion products.

“This is a big thing for our ecosystem; we are so excited about it and committed to working together with likeminded individuals in this financial inclusion journey. We cannot wait to roll it out new products supported by latest technologies such as Mojaloop and many others into our market,” Kakoma says.

 

 

The Kanzu Code Operations Assistant Joy Amanda alluded to how the participation in the project will boost their capacity to reach more people, including women, who are often financially excluded.

“Mojaloop will create an opportunity for women to access financial services and unlimited opportunities like selling their products online, getting loans and savings,” Amanda said.

On his part, Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO said that this initiative has been informed by the need to promote secure digital financial services, given their vital role in promoting financial inclusion.

“This speaks to an ecosystem which has played a great role in transforming many lives especially in Africa but very few people have paid attention to shining a light on the amazing stories and names that are doing these great things to transform lives,” Kawooya noted.

He added: “For instance, over 200,000 families in Kenya today have solar energy; thanks to mobile financial services like M-Pesa, and the fact is that they are able to pay for solar in installments using mobile money.”

Kawooya explained that Africa and Uganda in particular, have many amazing stories such as the Kanzu Code story, that need to be brought to the limelight.

“Kanzu Code has a team of developers; it is developing solutions to ensure that it empowers the under and un banked, some of whom are working in Saccos and other operations that allow them to start thinking of saving and investment,” he said.

Kawooya said that by promoting financial technology as a sector and the general financial inclusion ecosystem in particular, will play a critical role in boosting financial inclusion in Uganda.

“Today, Africa speaks to more than 400 million mobile money wallets. That means 400 million people are banked. So this initiative in may be another five years should cause another 400 million people to get banked thanks to solutions like Mojaloop that causes interoperability,” he said.

The initiative is expected to boost the on-going financial inclusion efforts in Uganda.

The 2018 FinScope survey puts Uganda’s formal financial inclusion at 58%. If combined with informal, Uganda’s financial inclusion jumps to 78%.

Profitability

Kawooya noted that with such collaboration, the market for FinTechs in Uganda is destined to expand and that FinTechs will become more profitable by leveraging technology to onboard more customers.

Additionally, he said that telecoms will also be able to provide more financial services, other than the Person-to-Person and withdrawals, to do more loans, savings and insurance. The government and the non-governmental organizations will also be able to serve the vulnerable in a much better way that includes everyone.

He noted that the collaboration will see them support Kanzu Code and other participating firms to get their product to the last person so as to impact lives.

Using their expansive network of global experts, HiPipo will also offer advisory services to the participating firms.

The 40 days 40 fintechs project will continue tomorrow with the second FinTech profiled.

About Kanzu

Celebrating its 6^th birthday, Kanzu Code is a technology company that builds inclusive financial tools for businesses, individuals and communities.

It offers a number of tools for businesses, individuals and communities including Kanzu Banking, – a  software that empowers micro-finance institutions, savings and investment groups to manage their portfolios seamlessly using reliable, user-friendly and secure web and mobile technology.

The other tools are Kanzu Money, which allows for sending money from one mobile operator to another in a simple way, in addition to building enterprise web and mobile solutions for different businesses.

KAMPALA, UGANDA – 07 May, 2020. As part of its on-going Financial Inclusion efforts, HiPipo will tomorrow 08^th roll-out the second phase of the 40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs initiative.

This phase will include direct interactions with shortlisted FinTechs; shining a light on to one participant every day for the next 40 days – Monday to Saturday, introduction to interoperability using Mojaloop and wider discussions on both opportunities and challenges in the sector.

Announced on 13^th May 2020, the 40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs project is showcasing 40 Africa based Financial Technology companies with Women led FinTechs given special attention.

While unveiling the project recently, Innocent Kawooya – the HiPipo CEO noted that this initiative will help to expose local FinTechs, Developer teams or emerging companies to new tools available to reach the poor and as such extend access to innovative financial services.

“FinTechs should be excited because they have a grand chance to expand their market, first through learning and developing interoperable solutions using new amazing technologies such as Mojaloop. And secondly, because of the many discoveries and lessons they are going to make from the many astonishing and failed stories that we are going to discover and expose to the FinTech community and the world.” Mr. Kawooya said, adding;

“Additionally, thanks to this initiative, Mobile Network Operators and Banks are going to be more open to integration and collaboration and last but most importantly, one or a number of the FinTechs that will participate in the initiative, collaborate and embrace the use of Mojaloop might turn into the real heroes of our economy that will maybe create a payment switch that will simplify payments interoperability in different markets forever.”

For the next 40 days, this project will be aired on Smart 24 TV at 8pm, uploaded across social media and featured in other traditional and new media outlets.

A few slots still remain for both Ugandan based and Women centric Fintechs. Follow this link to learn more about the 40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs registration – https://www.hipipo.org/40-days-40-fintech/

Include EveryOne Program.

HiPipo is keen to promote secure digital financial services because of their vital role in promoting financial inclusion. We through the Include Everyone program identify, analyse, and prioritize trends and innovations in digital financial services (DFS) that have potential impact on financial inclusion in Africa. The primary objective is to flag, advocate for and shine a light on impactful and transformative directions in the financial inclusion arena.

Our aim is to influence and shape financial technology and policy decisions within regulators, policy makers, government, political, economic, and social systems and institutions.

About Mojaloop OSS.

Mojaloop OSS is open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion. It was originally developed by ModusBox with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Level 1 Project in 2017.

However, on May 6^th 2020, the Mojaloop Foundation was unveiled with its initial sponsors being Coil, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, ModusBox, Omidyar Network, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The established of the Mojaloop Foundation will extend financial inclusion efforts, initiated by the Mojaloop platform to over 500 million people in developing countries.

In West Africa, MTN and Orange Group are already using Mojaloop for a joint mobile money wallet product code-named MOWALI, Tanzania, at the start of 2019 rolled out the Tanzania Instant Payments System (TIPS) fully supported by the same software while in Kenya, a Mojaloop developers community is picking up.

Mojaloop made its entry in to Uganda in September 2019 with a 3 days Hack Mojaloop Developers workshop held in Kampala and organized by HiPipo – a local partner of Mojaloop in the country.

Ends.

KAMPALA, UGANDA – May 13, 2020. As part of its on-going Financial Inclusion efforts, HiPipo has today launched the 40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs initiative with online registration currently underway.

40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs, running from  25^th May to 5^th July 2020 will have 40 Africa based FinTech companies get introduced to Mojaloop OSS and guided on how to best use this open source software to achieve the best financial inclusion results for their bigger audiences with Women led FinTechs given special attention.

While announcing this development, Innocent Kawooya – the HiPipo CEO noted that this initiative will help to expose local FinTechs, Developer teams or emerging companies to new tools available to reach the poor and as such extend access to innovative financial services.

“FinTechs should be excited because they have a grand chance to expand their market, first through learning and developing interoperable solutions using new amazing technologies such as Mojaloop. And secondly, because of the many discoveries and lessons they are going to make from the many astonishing and failed stories that we are going to discover and expose to the FinTech community and the world.” Mr. Kawooya said, adding;

“Additionally, thanks to this initiative, Mobile Network Operators and Banks are going to be more open to integration and collaboration and last but most importantly, one or a number of the FinTechs that will participate in the initiative, collaborate and embrace the use of Mojaloop might turn into the real heroes of our economy that will maybe create a payment switch that will simplify payments interoperability in different markets forever.”

Follow this link to learn more about and register for the 40 DAYS 40 FINTECHs project – https://www.hipipo.org/40-days-40-fintech/

Include EveryOne Program.

HiPipo is keen to promote secure digital financial services because of their vital role in promoting financial inclusion. We through the Include Everyone program identify, analyse, and prioritize trends and innovations in digital financial services (DFS) that have potential impact on financial inclusion in Africa. The primary objective is to flag, advocate for and shine a light on impactful and transformative directions in the financial inclusion arena.

Our aim is to influence and shape financial technology and policy decisions within regulators, policy makers, government, political, economic, and social systems and institutions.

About Mojaloop OSS.

Mojaloop OSS is open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion. It was originally developed by ModusBox with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Level 1 Project in 2017.

However, on May 6^th 2020, the Mojaloop Foundation was unveiled with its initial sponsors being Coil, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, ModusBox, Omidyar Network, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The established of the Mojaloop Foundation will extend financial inclusion efforts, initiated by the Mojaloop platform to over 500 million people in developing countries.

In West Africa, MTN and Orange Group are already using Mojaloop for a joint mobile money wallet product code-named MOWALI, Tanzania, at the start of 2019 rolled out the Tanzania Instant Payments System (TIPS) fully supported by the same software while in Kenya, a Mojaloop developers community is picking up.

Mojaloop made its entry in to Uganda in September 2019 with a 3 days Hack Mojaloop Developers workshop held in Kampala and organized by HiPipo – a local partner of Mojaloop in the country.

Ends.

The availability and affordability of digital financial services (DFS) in developing countries is set to further improve with at-least 500 million people targeted as direct beneficiaries.

This follows the recent formation and launch of the Mojaloop Foundation by global tech leaders, with its initial sponsors being Coil, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, ModusBox, Omidyar Network, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

The Mojaloop Foundation will extend financial inclusion efforts, initiated by the Mojaloop platform that was originally developed by ModusBox with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017.

Mojaloop is open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion.

In an interview, Kosta Peric, who doubles as the Mojaloop Foundation chairman and deputy director, Financial Services for the Poor, at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation noted that sponsoring members have agreed to ensure that the organization adheres to “our fundamental mission of financial inclusion and to advocate for the on-going development and enhancement of the Mojaloop software.”

He added: “As the emphasis of the digital payments moves to ‘real-time’ and ‘person-to-person’ payment platforms, I think new, innovative service companies in transportation, solar-pay-as-you-go, digital markets and others, can benefit from Mojaloop’s model. I hope that Mojaloop will be an innovation vector for the creation of more innovative companies of this nature that can benefit the lives of the poor.”

Focus on Africa.

Africa has been the pacesetter for mobile financial services. Since 2007 when M-Pesa – the world’s first mobile money platform was launched by Kenya’s Safaricom, mobile money has blossomed on the continent.

According to the 2019 GMSA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, Africa (sub-Saharan plus north) currently has close to 500 million mobile money accounts including about 200 million active users. This represents 50 per cent of the world’s over 1 billion registered mobile money accounts.

Eastern Africa alone has about 249 million registered accounts, including some 102 million active accounts. Uganda alone has more than 22 million mobile subscribers currently. A bigger percentage of these users mainly use the wallet to wallet, person to person (sending, receiving and withdrawing) services.

Nonetheless, more effort must be put in to mobile money value added services and that is where platforms like Mojaloop become very critical.

In West Africa, MTN and Orange Group are using Mojaloop for a joint mobile money wallet product code-named MOWALI, Tanzania, at the start of 2019 rolled out the Tanzania Instant Payments System (TIPS) fully supported by the same software while in Kenya, a Mojaloop developers community is picking up.

Mojaloop made its entry in to Uganda in September 2019 with a 3 days Hack Mojaloop Developers workshop held in Kampala and organized by HiPipo – a local partner of Mojaloop in the country.

The developers that took part in the Hack Mojaloop workshop were optimistic that this open source software was well positioned to solve financial interoperability (cross network mobile money transactions) challenges that were a headache to players and customers alike.

At that time, mobile money platforms were experiencing several performance hiccups that made it impossible for MTN Mobile Money customers to send money to Airtel Money customers and vice-versa for over two months.

Even though the stand-off that both telecoms blamed on technical glitches has since been resolved, more needs to done and Mojaloop will come through for Uganda.

According to Innocent Kawooya, the CEO of HiPipo – the local partner leading the software’s adoption in Uganda and Africa, the Mojaloop Foundation is timely as FinTechs will now have a chance to better serve more than 500 million unbanked people in Africa, by developing affordable interoperable secure payment systems, across different sectors and industries, at a very low cost using Mojaloop.

“We should be excited about the fact that with Mojaloop, you can connect not only the mobile money systems but also the traditional banks. This means, users and service providers alike will be able to openly process payments flexibly to any network, or bank anytime, plus the amazing possibility of transacting across borders, affordably,” Mr. Kawooya asserted.

With the world faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, digital financial services are central in combating its spread. They will not only deepen financial inclusion but also keep millions of people safe,” the recent Lifesaving capacity of Digital Financial service report by HiPipo noted.