4 FinTech start-ups helping MSMEs grow in Africa

By Edlyn Cardoza

FinTech’s role in society is becoming more vital than ever, mainly due to Covid-19. FinTech can be used anywhere, meaning it becomes accessible to people who may never have taken advantage of financial services before. Through access to essential financial services such as mobile money and e-wallets, FinTech companies are helping lift people out of poverty and create a more financially inclusive world.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating impact on MSMEs in Africa. MSMEs face barriers when securing capital to grow their business, resulting in an MSME funding gap. One of the biggest problems MSMEs face is the lack of access to credit.

According to McKinsey, SMEs make up about 98.5% of all businesses in South Africa. MSMEs are crucial to the economy in Africa, and optimal support is required to ensure their recovery and growth into the next normal.

Being a ray of hope to MSMEs, FinTech solutions have been helping the continent’s MSMEs overcome the challenges imposed by the pandemic by facilitating fast and convenient access to credit. A rising number of FinTech start-ups are helping small businesses all over Africa through various financial methods.

Here are 4 FinTech start-ups helping MSMEs grow in Africa:

• Kiotapay
  

Kiotapay is one of the leading African end-to-end real estate platforms for automating payments, billing, collections, communication, expense management, sales, inventory, and other real estate processes. Kiotapay works with property managers, property owners, property developers, property sellers and property vendors to automate services, create efficiency and speed up service delivery.

They not only enable real estate businesses to collect, attribute and reconcile payments seamlessly, but we are also using technology to provide the missing link between demand and supply in real estate businesses. Kiotapay platform automates business flows in the entire property value chain beginning with property sales, development and property management.

• Lendha
  

Lendha is providing small businesses with seamless access to credit and spend management tools for growth. Lendha provides quick and easy access to loans for SMEs. You can access up to ₦10,000,000. They approve your loan within 3 hours and charge an affordable interest rate. You can apply for a loan online without the hassle of going physically to their office. Lendha provides flexible repayment methods, where you can give 6 monthly installments.

• PesaChoice Group

PesaChoice is a financial technology company that is bridging the gap between salary payout and unexpected expenses for people with limited access to institutional credit. They eliminate the need to rely on predatory lenders, piles of paperwork, and long waiting periods to access funds.

PesaChoice has a software with complete HR suit that helps grow your business with a platform that supports all your team needs, such as employee management, employee self-service, performance management, leave management, payroll, hr dashboards, e-recruitment, expense claims, asset management, loan management.

• Trade Lenda

Trade Lenda is a financial service company that assists Micro, Small and informal retailers with access to financing for business needs. They also assist retailers with access to distributors and manufacturers. Trade Lenda currently operates out of Lagos, Nigeria. They believe every business has a higher potential to grow bigger when provided financial support. And they are on a mission to help SMEs across emerging markets access financing for business growth.

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