HiPipo Money

Many businesses mainly start-ups, informal, small and medium enterprises always struggle to collect payments and later disburse funds. As such several end up doing cash transactions that are not only time-wasting but also expensive and risky.

It is these ills that financial technology seeks to cure by enabling digital transactions that are affordable, reliable and instant.

On day three of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania, we interacted with EvMak; a FinTech that leverages technology to empower other businesses to thrive through providing businesses with business tools such as Invoice creation, payment links, and Insurance services among others.

In our engagement, Evans Makundi the Founder and CEO of EvMak noted that EvMak is focused on transforming Tanzania and Africa at large by providing a reliable payment gateway to businesses mainly SMEs. He emphasized that EvMak prioritizes the seamless collection and disbursement of funds.

“The major problem we are solving in Tanzania and across Africa is the fact that it is very hard for someone to get paid digitally. We have created an infrastructure that enables any company to get paid using local and international payment systems. We have integrated this infrastructure with multiple payment options,” Makundi said, adding;

“We provide our customers with one API point that they can connect and start collecting payments from their customers. We have created a platform and not an APP. Our platform can be used through USSD, Web and APP. We have partnered with several FinTechs around the world including PayPal, Visa and Mastercard. Our customers can also pay using their mobile wallets across the globe. We also do utility payments including small bills and air tickets among others.”

Even though EvMak has created a sandbox like environment that allows for self-integration and also has a support team in place for those that need integration assistance,  its work is not without trials..

According to Makundi, some of the major challenges they are facing include slow adaptation and low trust in technology.

“People are still used to cash transactions so changing the narrative from people accepting cash to accepting digital payments is still an issue. Many people don’t trust the digital system. We are gradually sensitizing the end users on why digital transactions are good and safe for everyone,” he said.

EvMak is the third participant in the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

“The 40 Days 40 FinTechs platform gives us a lot of advantages and helps us reach a lot of stakeholders that don’t fully understand the FinTech business. A platform like this explains and showcases what we do. Major stakeholders like regulators and potential funders usually understand us better through this platform thus enabling the ecosystem to grow,” Makundi explained.

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit.

HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

On Day Two of the inaugural 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania, we bring to you the fascinating story of Kilimo Maendeleo; an AgriTech and Fintech company operating as a social enterprise engaged in innovating business solutions for rural enterprises and rural livelihood with a special focus on small & medium scale farmers.

Kilimo Maendeleo provides value chain management services in digitization, communication and integration; smart weighing scale solutions and farmer wallets for visa cards and Umoja switch networks.

According to Mathew Ngwahi, the founder and CEO of Kilimo Maendeleo, the company basically solves the problem of disintegration within the value chains.

“Most of the actors are working in silos. Therefore, it is very difficult to know what is happening across the value chains. We don’t have information that will help to do targeted investment and solve some of the problems collectively in those spaces,” Ngwahi said.

He added: “Our platform offers solutions for farmers. We onboard farmers as a key that enables other enterprises to connect with them and offer them services. Banks can offer them credit services while Input Suppliers can offer them inputs. We also aggregate the farmers and deliver for them huge quantities of input in bulk and at discounted rates.”

The company’s core products and services include KM360, Longa, Cross Border, Mazao, Stawisha, Stawi, API Integration and Jembe Pesa.

Jembe Pesa is a payment platform with farmer wallets, peer-to-peer, Till, bulk payment, Jembecard (Visa & Umoja switch network), insurance products, and loan products and provides integration to banks for individual accounts opening and loan management.

“With Jembe Pesa, we have digital loans for farmers. Time is a factor in agriculture and these digital loans come in handy. Jembe Pesa score engine scores farmers and decides how much a farmer can access as instant digital credit. These loans are accessible through both the USSD and the Jembe Pesa APP. Most of the farmers use feature phones not smartphones and that is why we have a USSD code in place.” Ngwahi explained.

Kilimo Maendeleo has so far enrolled more than 88,000 farmers in Tanzania and some 1,000 sunflower farmers in Uganda, onboarded four banks whilst working to complete partnerships with ten more banks in 2024.

Kilimo Maendeleo is the second participant in the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

Ngwahi noted that Tanzania’s FinTech Industry is at its infancy stage with good movements to make the environment more conducive with a better regulatory environment.

“FinTech regulations are coming up and we have been involved. As such 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative is a perfect way to go about improving the regulatory and business landscape for FinTechs. Without having these conversations, it is very difficult to know what FinTechs need to flourish. Initiatives like these must be more and should come up with some policy briefs for governments to consider. This space is filled with young people and Africa is the youngest continent so you can imagine how important this conversation is right now and how it can help young people to be more innovative and get employed in the innovation space,” Ngwahi said. 

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit. HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

The inaugural 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania has started on a high with Bizzyn; an innovative technology company focused on delivering cloud accounting and financial management solutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Africa.

With a mission to simplify financial processes and empower SMEs, Bizzyn offers user-friendly software to streamline tasks such as expense tracking, invoicing, and bill management.

Founded in 2020, Bizzyn is helping SMEs transition from paper-based recording-keeping processes to digital and smart ways of doing the same, in addition to helping them source for much needed capital.

Emmanuel Kimaro, the Bizzyn founder and CEO, notes that in the past three years, the company has grown tremendously and now operates in Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya.

“We have partnered with several Financial Institutions and along the way impacted over 5,000 SMEs across the continent. Our plan is to scale to more African countries in the near future,” Kimaro says.

He adds: “We offer up to four packages. We have a starter package for small businesses like supermarkets and retail shops. We have a light package ideally for business management companies like law firms and consulting companies. We also have gold and enterprise packages for bigger businesses. Away from this, we also have Bizzy Pay which is an alternative credit scoring infrastructure.”

BizzyPay helps SMEs access affordable financing opportunities by leveraging alternative credit scoring to provide financial insights and connect SMEs to micro-lenders.

“Every small business deserves a chance to grow; we’re here to help them do that. With BizzyPay, SMEs can apply for working capital once and unlock operating capital from multiple lenders. Our platform streamlines the lending process, making it easier and faster for lenders to vet SME borrowers and make lending decisions,” Kimaro explains.  

Bizzyn is the first participant in ‘the first of its kind’ 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

“40 Days 40 FinTechs is opening doors for start-ups like us to be seen across the globe, learn and scale. This platform helps to tell our story; what we are doing, how we are doing it and the impact we are having. I call upon all FinTechs to embrace this initiative,” Kimaro said. 

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit. HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

The inaugural 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania has kicked off with a focus on tracing the journeys of financial technology stakeholders from all over the country.

First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

“For more than 40 days, the initiative will shine a spotlight on Tanzanian FinTechs that are breaking down digital barriers and transforming lives for the better. We are traversing the entire Tanzania and engaging innovators at all levels. There are several exciting FinTech solutions and each day, a unique story will be told and amplified across media to garner maximum visibility and impact,” Nicholas Kalungi, the HiPipo COO noted while kicking off this project.

He added: “By shining a spotlight on these innovators, we aim to inspire others and create a ripple effect towards the creation and dissemination of technology that enables financial inclusivity. Many startups that have participated in the program in Uganda have gone on to receive funding and support, and have successfully scaled their businesses. We even better outcomes for Tanzania.”

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit.

HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

HiPipo has kicked off its implementation of the Include EveryOne program in the United Republic of Tanzania with a detailed introduction of the Level One Project Principles to FinTechs, Innovators and other Financial Inclusion stakeholders.

The Level One Project is an initiative of the Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) program, which is part of the Global Growth and Opportunity division. The Level One Project is focused on enabling financial inclusion by meeting the needs of low-income users—both individuals and merchants—as well as the digital financial services providers (DFSPs) that serve them.

First released in 2015, Level One Project Principles are a set of industry best practices that guide countries, regions, or commercial organizations working to create real-time retail payments systems that are designed to meet the needs of low-income consumers. The principles include Tiered KYC, Availability on Low-Cost User Devices, Real-time/Immediate funds transfer, Same-day settlement, Pricing Transparency and Irrevocability.  

In essence, these principles remind FinTech players that their solutions must be Accessible, Reliable, Valuable, Affordable, Profitable and Equitable.

“In a world divided by digital disparity, the Level One Project has emerged as a harbinger of hope, charting a path toward a future where financial inclusivity is a tangible reality for millions. This visionary initiative transcends the conventional role of a guide, evolving into a strategic roadmap that envisions a world where every individual, regardless of their economic standing, is seamlessly integrated into the formal financial system,” Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO noted following a successful workshop in Dar es Salaam.

He added: “We are glad the Gates Foundation developed these Level One Project principles. They simplify financial inclusion for solutions’ designers and end-users. We are excited to be here in Tanzania and happy to work with like-minded individuals and organizations to enhance digital and financial inclusion.”

This development came on the back of the signing of a long-term digitization partnership between HiPipo and the Tanzania Information and Communication Technologies Commission (ICTC) in October. Through this partnership, HiPipo will roll out its Include EveryOne program in Tanzania with a special focus on empowering and transforming Women, the Youth and millions in the Informal sector.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. This initiative is set to break new ground through research advisory, stakeholder collaboration, and capacity building for ICT professionals in Tanzania!

HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.