Uganda’s SafeBoda is planning to branch fully into fintech. The startup, which began as a ride-hailing app, wants to provide working capital loans to its merchant partners to help them expand their businesses in an effort to encourage women’s inclusion and economic success. As the company waits for its National Payments Systems (NPS) license from the Bank of Uganda, Tim Jamieson, Vice President of Payments and Financial Services, says, a trial for working capital loans would be launched soon.

“We have a huge unbanked and underserved population; we have a high cost of time and money to access financial services and at the same time we have this amazing fast growing ecosystem of FinTechs that is coming through locally. We need to bring them together so that we solve these problems as together,” says Tim Jamieson. 

Here Is What You Need To Know

• This is part of SafeBoda’s ongoing evolution, which has seen the company expand its service offerings beyond only a ride-hailing app for Boda-Boda rides to include food and shopping, airtime purchases, and payments, among other things.

• Working capital loans will be prioritized for female-run businesses, according to Jamieson, in order to increase financial inclusion for women, who make up the majority of the market’s financially excluded persons. Building the SafeBoda payments ecosystem, open-loop goods, and savings products, among other things, are among the creative products in the pipeline for the next 12 months.

• According to Jamieson, the company’s goal is to create a low-cost ecosystem that allows users to transmit money across networks for free and substantially cut the cost of extracting these monies.

“If you want to send UShs5,000 across networks can cost you over UShs1,000 to do so or UShs2,000 if you are sending to two to three different networks; we think there is more that needs to be done here.

Read also:Algeria’s Women-only Ride-hailing Startup, Moov Services, Is Back, After An Intense Battle With Regulators

Mobile money ecosystems form such a large part of the back bone of Uganda and Africa as whole, so there should be continuous improvements in how this is delivered,” Jamieson explains.

Getting Ready For The New Fintech Addition 

SafeBoda is taking part in HiPipo’s ongoing 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative, which is supported by the Gates Foundation and organized by HiPipo in collaboration with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox, and Mojaloop Foundation.

HiPipo’s 40-Days 40-FinTechs effort, according to Jamieson, has provided them an opportunity to share the solutions they’re working on with the rest of the globe, as well as hear what others are doing to address existing financial inclusion market concerns.

Read also:Nigerian Startups Lead African Startup Expansion Efforts In 2021, With Fintech Topping The List

Innocent Kawooya, the CEO of HiPipo, says FinTech in Africa offers appealing potential, and that investors are justifiably interested in the numerous startups that offer a variety of services, including payments and financing, remittances, cross-border transfers, and neobanks, among others.

He goes on to say that the 40-Days 40 FinTechs program aims to expose Africa’s top emerging and disruptive entrepreneurs.

SafeBoda fintech SafeBoda fintech

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer