Wakandi enabling financial groups to manage savings & loans effectively

Innovation in the finance sector has become more critical than ever. To bring innovation to Africa, Wakandi is moving ahead with the development of its digital financial solution. A financial inclusion system that can be used by thousands of informal financial groups (IFGs) to offer better financial services. 

Millions of people in Tanzania count on SACCOs and other IFGs to access financial services. These savings groups majorly rely on cash and manual processes to carry out their operations. Although this makes it simpler and convenient for the members, it leads to several challenges in terms of record-keeping, chances of theft, and management of finances. 

Wakandi can enable these financial groups to manage their operations more effectively and curb the issues they face in day-to-day operations. It can make it easier for them and their members to transfer monthly savings digitally and apply for loans when needed with a click of a button. It has been built with close collaboration with the local communities, so it solves the real-life challenges they face today.  

The solution will offer three functionality modules provided below:

• A saving module that lets members add monthly/weekly savings using their preferred mobile money operator. 
• A lending module that provides the possibility for a member to apply for a loan online, and also get the amount directly into their preferred mobile money account. 
• An administrator panel that provides the administrator of a savings group with an overview of all activities done by the group members. It also includes the functionalities to approve or reject loans, add or remove members and do the disbursement directly in the application. The solution supports generating reports on outstanding loans, loan collection, growth, and other vital data that may be required by the higher authorities.  

To build a solution that is robust and solves the issues faced by IFGs and their members, Wakandi also conducted feasibility studies in the countries where we will launch. The feasibility studies helped the team to identify the challenges the groups faced and gain feedback on the solution. A prototype was also generated, which participants used to share their feedback. 

The goal of Wakandi is that all members of the savings groups be it a manager/administrator or a member who just wants to save their money, get more control over their funds and enjoy a seamless way of financial management. 

As the market continues to grow with the rising demands of the users, it will become more difficult for these savings groups to meet their expectations. Technology and innovation could be the way forward. Wakandi wishes to achieve the same for African societies.