Three Ugandan startups Akaboxi, MayiCard and Vouch Digital are among the 14 budding companies that have qualified for the CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, a program of Fintech startup development funded by the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology or, the LHoFT, with support from several other powerful organizations.
The event will be in Luxembourg between November 5-9, 2018, and it will run for a week.
The 14 Fintech firms will participate in a Bootcamp that will involve training and networking.
According to officials, CATAPULT Africa aims to provide support to promising Fintechs by helping them proceed to the next stage of development in Africa and in Europe.
The bootcamp also aims to promote and draw attention to the importance and value of Fintech for Financial Inclusion, through local and international media exposure, with the goal of focusing broad attention to the initiatives that are driving positive change in Africa.
Akaboxi is a digital financial inclusion system that enables smallholder farmers in a community manage and monitor their savings together.
Akaboxi has replaced the rudimentary way of keeping money in boxes and in people’s homes.
Founded by Sarah Atuhaire Baryaija and Joshua Busingye, the fintech startup has so far helped 150 people save more than 10000 US dollars, according to the company website.
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On the other hand, Vouch Digital is a software that uses data and digital payments to transform cash-based programs in Uganda and beyond.
Vouch Digital’s flagship product, The M-Voucher (Mobile Voucher) system has been used by large development agencies to manage the distribution of agricultural products across Uganda, according to Evelyn Namara, the founder and CEO.
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MayiCard or Four One Financial Services Limited offers a number of financial services including a micro-pension scheme and the Mayicard Platform which makes access to health care insurance and/or prepayments and access to assets like land and housing possible.
Apart from Akaboxi, MayiCard and Vouch Digital, the other startups that qualified for the Bootcamp are from South Africa (Akiba Digital and Inclusivity Solutions), Luxembourg (Koosmik Corp and BitValley).
The others are MaTontine Senegal from Senegal, NALA from Tanzania, OKO (Israel), Ovamba Solutions (United States), Refuge Network (Malta) and SmartTeller LTD (Nigeria).
Uganda was the best-represented country in CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa will provide a tailor-made program with intensive mentoring, coaching, peer to peer learning and dedicated workshops for the 14 selected Fintech startups.
The program will include sessions on business mapping, scaling business, understanding and evaluating metrics, investability, risk and capital, legal and marketing.
Several modules delivered by experienced strategic partners will also focus on the nuances of building business in Africa specifically, with sessions on MFI relations, Blockchain in Africa and market trends and developments in Africa, says an official statement.
Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the LHoFT Foundation commented: “CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is the first homegrown program of the LHoFT Foundation to focus on Financial Inclusion. Luxembourg is the microfinance center for Europe and sustainable finance is a core priority of Government; it, therefore, makes sense to capitalize on the fantastic ecosystem and support available here to welcome these outstanding Fintech companies focusing on financial inclusion. We are very excited to welcome the participants in a few weeks’ time and we and our partners are looking forward to the positive outcomes of this program.”
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