HiPipo Money

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of bad things happened. Among these were the prolonged lockdowns that made it impossible for people to freely move, meet-up and live life like they best know it.

For party goers, there were no parties anymore, when your drinks or eats got finished, you would struggle to get new deliveries as most shops were closed while those that were open, could close early.

“One day, we were at a friends party and we ran short of eats and drinks. One of our friends asked what we would do to address this issue, considering that even for the shops that were open, we couldn’t access them as it was past movement hours. Actually, even one of our friends had a birthday but we couldn’t get him a cake. So, one of us suggested that we could come up with a platform that can ease the purchase and delivery of drinks and cakes. Initially we developed the Cawine APP to deliver Cakes and Wine thus the name Cawine,” Christine Nimusiima, the co-founder and chief product officer at Cawine Technologies traced the story behind the development of this platform.

Launched in 2021, Cawine is a digital platform that eases the purchase and delivery of Eats and Drinks in Uganda.

“Cawine has three APPs in one. We have the client APP, vendor APP and Courier APP. The vendor APP is for the service providers like Bakeries, Wineries, Restaurant owners and Liquor Stall owners while the client APP is what the customers use to make orders for the Eats and Drinks. The Courier APP is for our transport partners. When an order is received by the clients, they prepare it and when it is ready, they give it to the Courier who will then deliver it to the customer’s preferred location.”

Nimusiima noted that the Cawine APP is available on both Google Play and Apple store and allows for digital payments.

“After making your order, you can pay with mobile money or bank cards or cash. Even though we also have cash, we encourage cashless transactions as these are safe for all stakeholders involved in these transactions. So far, we have more than 2000 APP downloads; with 80 per cent of our vendors and customers being women.

Cawine Technologies has featured on Day 5 of the HiPipo 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative season five.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator, and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products and services. It also gives players a platform to share their ideas on how the unserved and underserved by the present financial systems can be brought into the fold.

With over 150 participants in the last four years, #40Days40FinTechs continues to be the world’s premier showcase event for innovations that are enabling underserved populations to join the digital economy space. We know that this can only get better owing to the inspiration and collaboration of our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop Foundation, INFITX, Cyberplc Academy, Ideation Corner, and Crosslake Technologies. Most importantly, the initiative owes its continued success to the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) are some of the most popular financial institutions serving both the unbanked and underbanked. Unfortunately, because many of these serve the informal sector, they are mainly operated through a cash based, manual approach. But thanks to continuous innovation and growing adoption of technology, many SACCOs are now digitized and able to serve customers from wherever they are located, any time.

One of the platforms that is leading the digitization of SACCOs is MSACCO by FutureLink Technologies, a Bank of Uganda licensed Payment System Operator that works to enhance the financial resilience of Africa’s low- and middle-income earners through a community-driven digital marketplace for affordable financial services.

According to Matia Ssebiranda, the Marketing Manager at FutureLink Technologies, MSACCO is the preferred community driven digital market place for Savings and Credit Societies in Uganda, and Zambia and now expanding to the whole of Africa.

“MSACCO serves the unbanked and underbanked in Africa. This is a channel where customers are able to serve themselves. A customer can be in Kampala and join a Sacco in Mbarara. Through MSACCO, every customer is able to manage their SACCO account anytime. Each customer can easily repay their loan, deposit, withdraw and monitor their account. MSACCO solves the pain of both the unbanked and underbanked by allowing everyone to choose financial services that are relevant to them,” Mr Ssebiranda said.

He added: “The MSACCO APP is available on Google Play and APP Store. After a new customer downloads it, they register and choose which SACCO they want to join after which they start transacting. The second customer we are serving is one that is already a member of a particular SACCO but wants to be digitized. For such a customer, they only download the APP or access through USSD, get an MSACCO number and start transacting.”

Mr Ssebiranda noted that while savings start automatically for new MSACCO customers, accessing credit depends on how long you have been a member of a particular SACCO and how much you have transacted during that period. He highlighted that most SACCOs give credit after someone has been an active member for an average of 6 months as this gives the SACCO sufficient customer behavior history.

MSACCO by FutureLink Technologies was featured on Day Four of 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative, Season Five.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator, and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products and services. It also gives players a platform to share their ideas on how the unserved and underserved by the present financial systems can be brought into the fold.

With over 150 participants in the last four years, #40Days40FinTechs continues to be the world’s premier showcase event for innovations that are enabling underserved populations to join the digital economy space. We know that this can only get better owing to the inspiration and collaboration of our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop Foundation, INFITX, Cyberplc Academy, Ideation Corner, and Crosslake Technologies. Most importantly, the initiative owes its continued success to the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Technology continues to change how different businesses are done. Before the twenty-first century, it was unheard of for one to order for a motorbike or car, get picked from their location and be taken to a place of his/her choice.

But with technology, several innovations have been brought onto the market. In the last decade, ride-hailing platforms have become popular among travelers as they offer convenience, are pocket friendly and flexible.

The latest player to come onto Uganda’s ride-hailing market is Faras Technologies; a “pioneer of the continent’s ride-hailing economy and on-demand transport services.”

Faras operates both a customers and drivers/captains’ APPs. Captains are enrolled using the drivers’ APP, and trained before they start providing travel services, while customers only need to download the customers’ APP on Google Play or Apple Store and start ordering for trips.

“We have been here for two years and now looking forward to the third year and more years in Uganda and across Africa. On average, we get about 150 new customers every day in Uganda. More than 40,000 customers have downloaded our APP and are actively using it for their travel needs. As of June, 2024, we had about 25,000 captains offering car and boda boda hailing services,” Karim Katende, the Head of Marketing for Faras Technologies said.

He added; “Minus Uganda, we also operate in Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, and Ethiopia while looking to expand to other countries. Transactions with our Captains are all cashless. We are upgrading our platform to roll out cashless payments for customers, cashbacks, and other gifts before the end of this year.

Faras Technologies has featured on Day Two of 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative, Season Five.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator, and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products and services. It also gives players a platform to share their ideas on how the unserved and underserved by the present financial systems can be brought into the fold.

“We are happy to kick off Season Five of 40 Days 40 FinTechs. Last year, we focused on end-user experiences and this year, we will focus on the innovativeness of the FinTechs. We are going to have candid discussions with FinTechs about their innovations and latest upgrades and what impact they envision these products and services and upgrades will have on their customers,” Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo Chief Executive Officer noted.

With over 150 participants in the last four years, #40Days40FinTechs continues to be the world’s premier showcase event for innovations that are enabling underserved populations to join the digital economy space. We know that this can only get better owing to the inspiration and collaboration of our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop Foundation, INFITX, Cyberplc Academy, Ideation Corner, and Crosslake Technologies. Most importantly, the initiative owes its continued success to the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.