Vahid Monadjem - Afrikan Heroes

South Africa’s Nomanini Expands Supply Chain Finance Solution StockNow to New Markets

July 19, 2022

South African fintech startup Nomanini is expanding its recently-launched supply chain finance solution StockNow to eight new African markets via a strategic partnership with financial services provider Baobab Group. Founded in 2010, Nomanini has developed a platform that enables informal merchants and micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets to distribute digital goods such as airtime and prepaid electricity.

The startup, which also offers micro-loans to merchants and operates in markets such as Ghana and Mozambique, raised a US$4 million funding round led by Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank, and completed by Goodwell Investments, an Amsterdam-based investment firm, in 2019. It also banked funding worth US$1.5 million in 2021.

Disrupt Africa reported last month on Nomanini’s launch of StockNow, which connects FMCGs and financial service providers to serve Africa’s informal retailers at scale. The easy-to-use app makes it possible for informal micro and small retailers to purchase stock digitally.

The startup has now agreed a strategic partnership with Baobab, a financial services group that, via its subsidiaries, provides financial services to half a million micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses. The company has operations in eight African countries, to which Nomanini will now, over time, expand StockNow. They are Senegal, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Madagascar.

In its first project with Baobab Group, Nomanini will launch StockNow in the DRC, while across the other seven markets, over the next five years, the partnership has set the goal to reach a total merchant base of 820,000 micro, small and medium retailers who sell a large number of the fast-moving consumer goods but face a number of challenges like access to responsible capital that make it hard for their businesses to grow.

“Nomanini continues to identify innovative approaches to partnerships that enable us to stay at the forefront of connecting retailers to digital financial services to improve their businesses,” said CEO Vahid Monadjem.

“The Nomanini and Baobab Group partnership is a powerful combination. It strategically aligns both companies to create services that deliver the best value to retailers. Our understanding of Africa’s general trade sector is uniquely complementary to Baobab Group’s mission to make financial services more accessible, affordable, inclusive and transparent, and supports our intention to expand more quickly into markets in Africa that will benefit from inclusive finance. We believe this partnership will create compelling and sustainable value for the evolving needs of Africa’s general trade sector.”

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

SA Fintech Startup, Nomanini, Raises $500k For International Expansion

March 13, 2021

Cape Town-based fintech startup, Nomanini, which facilitates financial service providers and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in reaching retail micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and their customers in South Africa, has secured US$500k from Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch public-private partnership.

“Nomanini continues to put the livelihoods of MSME retailers at the centre of our focus,” said Vahid Monadjem, CEO of Nomanini. “COVID-19 served to underscore the importance of these entrepreneurs for their communities as well as their lack of access to financial tools to provide resilience in this time of crisis. With FMO on board, we are looking forward to expanding our partnerships to include more like-minded financial service providers.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

FMO disbursed the funding by way of convertible loan from the government fund MASSIF, a fund it manages for the Dutch government.

Nomanini will use the funding to boost their pan-African expansion.

Why The Investor Invested

“Nomanini’s focus on informal and un(der)banked merchants, including vendors, kiosk- and shop holders across Africa, fit perfectly with the mandate of the financial inclusion fund”, said MASSIF fund manager Jeroen Harteveld. “Beyond Nomanini’s talented team, we believe its existing B2B partnerships are unprecedented for a FinTech. We are excited to support Nomanini to scale further by leveraging FMO’s knowledge and vast network of partners in the African financial services sector.”

FMO joins Goodwell Investments and Standard Bank Group in backing the South African-based fintech company in a recent joint funding round.

MASSIF supports access to financial services such as savings and loans for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. Set up in 2006, the fund is active mostly in low-income countries,supporting MSMEs, agricultural value chains, access to basic goods, andenterprises owned by women and youth. MASSIF has a portfolio of EUR 545 million (USD 647 million) as of December 2019.

Established in 1970, FMO is 51-percent held by the Dutch government and 49-percent by private sector institutions. The development finance institution works toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by funding capacity development as well as placing debt and equity investments in sectors such as agribusiness, financial institutions, and energy. During the six months ending June 2020, FMO lost EUR 280 million (USD 330 million) on a total portfolio of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 14.9 billion).

A Look At What The Startup Does

Founded in 2011, Nomanini focuses on unbanked vendors, kiosk- and shop holders, while its strategic partnerships allow the FinTech platform to be one of the ‘winning’ models. Nomanini connects merchants and distributors to each other and global service providers, integrating payments, working capital, and data analytics to unlock the latent potential of Africa’s economy. This fits with MASSIF’s objective to support end-beneficiaries through financing local financial intermediaries and institutions.

Over the past year, Nomanini has more than doubled the number of merchants on its platform as well as increased the number of loans fourfold, underpinning the large need for financial services and supply chain financing in this traditionally underserved sector. The company is now focusing on cultivating more partnerships and further developing its solutions for both financial service and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) providers.

The startup has offices in Kenya as well as in South Africa. Its investors include Goodwell Investments, which has offices in Kenya, the Netherlands, and South Africa, and Standard Chartered, a UK-based bank that is mainly active in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Financial data for Nomanini are unavailable.

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

Nomanini fintech