A new fintech startup with aim to reach unbanked populations across Africa to expand financial inclusion in the region has been birthed in Nigeria. Promoted by some of Nigeria’s best known names in the fintech industry, the data driven enterprise promises to offer unmatched financial services for Africa’s informal economy as it will bring informal workers into official database. The founders of the firm describes its likely impact on the market as revolutionary, stressing that it will be Africa’s first inclusive and intelligent fintech platform with the objective of bringing in artisans such as street vendors, small scale entrepreneurs and market men and women groups into formal banking system. Jamborow is expected to address the challenges of cash-only business dealings across the continent which has remained an obstacle to economic growth because it make it infinitely harder to grow, invest, or effectively regulate a business. It breeds an invincible economy which becomes a stumbling block to efforts by officials to ramp up reliable statistics and data and also taxation to prop up the economy.
Launched in 2018, Jamborow brings together all the players in the financial ecosystem, from lenders, borrowers, and intermediaries. The startup partners with banks, SME lenders, cooperatives, traditional savings groups, microfinance institutions, and other types of organizations to serve the bulging informal sector. Co-founded by Moses Onitilo, John Kamara, and Olusegun George the company opens up the door for all new access. “Jamborow was conceived to promote financial and economic inclusion for the developing world,” says Onitilo, co-founder and CTO of Jamborow. “We conducted extensive research by traveling to various parts of the continent. What we discovered is that the grassroots population often suffered the same challenge: the inability to access formal financial services.” In fact, the informal economy is a massive untapped market. Although difficult to quantify, the World Bank estimates 66% of sub-Saharan Africans are unbanked which effectively means they are locked out of the financial sector.
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Jamborow is expected to help completely digitize the banking process so individual users gain access to digital payment options and mobile money. There’s a robo-advisor powered by artificial intelligence and integration with blockchain tech that creates a credit footprint. The team says it’s easy to use and cloud-enabled.
Since its inception, Jamborow has signed up several B2B clients that use their tech (or platform) to offer users easy, convenient, and immediate access to financial services. This includes successfully onboarding seven micro-lending institutions with a total of 27 million members sprawled across Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The company has also sealed strategic partnerships with several firms, including payment processors, credit reference bureaus, mobile net. “Jamborow is a company that was borne out of the experience, skillset, and knowledge of three friends. We decided to come back to Africa from the diaspora and use technology to solve the problems of the grassroots population by offering financial literacy, economic empowerment, and poverty alleviation.”
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For B2C users this may well be the first time they have gotten access to a full suite of financial services directly from their computers or Jamborow’s mobile app. This is everything from loans, insurance, debit cards, and risk management, to name a few. Indeed, Jamborow isn’t simply focused on transactional exchange. It provides users with financial education that enables them to make better decisions. The leadership is clear on being a part of the solution and not the problem. They believe that’s what sets them apart. “Where we saw the niche in the market was by providing a whole ecosystem that looked beyond the predatory lending practices that we have witnessed in a number of markets we researched,” says George, co-founder and CEO of Jamborow. “Merely providing access to credit products falls short of the measurable and sustainable targets, we envisioned at Jamborow, hence our slogan ‘Beyond Financial Inclusion’.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry