Constant innovation can be the key to bringing benefits to millions of people. It inspires us to provide affordable technology solutions that support financial services for the unbanked and boost the economy. 

We recently participated in Mastercard’s Lighthouse MASSIV program to further scale our mission. We won two out of three awards at the event, including the people’s choice award and the impact potential award. It was an exciting moment for us when we were recognized for the social impact we are working to create in many African countries. 

The program winners were announced during the Lighthouse Grand Finale at Latitude59 in Tallinn, Estonia. During the event, our team along with other participants received tailor-made support from advisors at UNDP, VNTRS, Nordic Impact Funds, Synch and AquaReg.

We were honored to receive the Impact Potential award from Mastercard. It was encouraging for us as we strive to serve millions of people looking for financial services through SACCOs and credit unions.

“A huge thanks to Mastercard and all the advisers for a fantastic program and great support! We are humbled and honored to win both “People’s Choice” and “Impact potential” awards. We look forward to working with all the partners we have met through the program!”

 – Espen Kvelland, CEO of Wakandi Group AS

Creating social impact

We strive for a more financially inclusive society. We have gained a lot of experience in how African communities depend on informal financial groups (IFGs) to avail financial services such as savings and loans. With CAMS, we enable SACCOs to support new services and accelerate economic growth. CAMS brings various advantages to SACCOs and their members. They can provide digital financial services, create member lists, generate automated reports, and perform various tasks through the app. 

On the other hand, members will be able to send or receive payments without needing to carry cash. They will be able to send contributions and get loans using their mobile wallets. As it will be easier to take loans through CAMS, it will encourage more and more members to take loans to start new businesses, buy land for farming, and support entrepreneurial activities. Consequently, it will help them build a credit history which in turn can provide the opportunity to apply for other formal financial services. 

We are collaborating with banks, mobile money operators (MNOs), and higher authorities to build a network to strengthen Africa’s financial services as well as the informal economy.

About Lighthouse MASSIV Program 

Lighthouse MASSIV is Mastercard’s free and open program focused on building partnerships between fintechs and banks. The program aims to help teams make and scale the highest levels of social impact through the format of long-term partnerships. 

By offering startups incentives and preferential access to partner resources, the program fosters partnerships that will touch the lives of one billion people by the year 2025.

Moving ahead

Participating in the MASSIV Program was an enriching experience for us. We are highly grateful to be a part of such an event that enables startups with long-term partnerships.

We have already launched our app in Tanzania. SACCOs are using our solution to digitally manage their financial services. We will continue to transform the informal economy by onboarding more SACCOs as we move ahead in other parts of the continent.

Source of the image: Mastercard Lighthouse MASSIV Program 2022