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Designing Credit Systems for Informal Economies: Why More Data Alone Is Not Enough
The global financing gap for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is estimated in the trillions. As Ayokunmi Sodamola argues, the reason for this gap is not that these enterprises exhibit poor financial behaviors — or even that there’s a lack of data that can be used to establish their creditworthiness. It's that standard credit assessment systems aren't designed to capture and interpret the data generated by their informal financial activities. He explores how lenders can build a more integrated approach that treats data, identity, trust, risk and incentives as interconnected layers of a single credit system.
- Categories
- Finance
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Report: South Africa Went Cashless – Except for the Millions Who Didn’t
A new industry report argues that the sector mistook innovation for inclusion and left informal markets behind.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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WhatsApp Gets New Chief as Meta Taps India’s CRED Founder Kunal Shah and Invests $900 Million in Startup
India has emerged as a key battleground for Meta’s ambitions in business messaging and digital payments, areas seen as critical to WhatsApp’s next phase of growth.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Report: Buy-Now-Pay-Later Reshapes South Africa Credit Landscape
A recent report reveals that BNPL is evolving beyond a simple payment tool and is increasingly serving as an entry point into the formal credit system for millions of consumers.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, e-commerce, fintech, lending, research
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MTN Targets Nigeria’s $236 Billion Credit Gap as its $500 Billion MoMo Business Pushes into Lending
MTN Group is moving to turn its African mobile-money empire into something much bigger than a payments business, as the telecoms giant prepares to separate its fintech operations in Nigeria and Uganda, bring in strategic investors, and push into lending across some of the continent’s most underbanked markets.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Courageous Capital: How Africa Built its Own Tech Ecosystem
Africa’s tech sector has been thriving for almost three decades, during which its entrepreneurs have quietly built a self-sustaining ecosystem. And as Marsha Wulff at LoftyInc Capital explains, instead of government and charitable institutions taking the lead, it has been Africa’s own innovators who have developed its tech infrastructure and driven its commercial success. She explores how African entrepreneurs and investors have built a vibrant and resilient tech ecosystem that addresses the continent's unique needs — and taps its massive growth potential.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
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Proparco Backs Early-Stage Tech Fund in Africa
The investment aims to strengthen early-stage technology financing in Francophone Africa and support startups operating in high-growth digital sectors.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nigeria’s CreditChek Raises $600,000 to Expand its Credit Data Infrastructure Across East Africa
With this new funding, CreditChek plans to deepen its integrations across key East African markets, working closely with banks, microfinance institutions, and fintech lenders.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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