The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and BongoHive Innovation and Technology Hub have announced the five Zambian FinTechs that will begin the FinTech4U Accelerator Programme in January 2020
The first five fintechs are:
-SafePay Zambia offering a platform that protects subscribers through prepayment (savings) and pooling of resources (insurance) for access to good quality healthcare.
-Digital PayGo offering a shared platform for mobile merchant payment systems (QR code) and agent banking. The shared platform will provide shared agent banking and QR code solutions with an open API technology for faster integrations and other back end processing capabilities.
-Aretech offering a service called Bwino that gives clients access to medical schemes and credit for healthcare.
-EduPay offering a service that provides access to affordable, flexible and convenient credit known as Edu-Loans that are conveniently managed either from a mobile phone or computer.
-Virtual Space offering Mangwee Payments that is a safe and secure electronic wallet service, available in many parts of Zambia through a network of outlets and agents.
John Zgambo, FinTech4U project manager at BongoHive, said, “We received an astounding number of applications and were blown away by the incredible work happening across the country.”
Kilyelani Kanjo, UNCDF digital financial services expert, said, “The number and variety in the applications reaffirmed my belief that Africa is the new ground zero with innovation and technology. Zambian FinTechs are thinking of innovative ways to provide services and products which are able to address the needs of normally marginalised Zambians, rural population, women, youth e.t.c., and it’s very exciting.”
The FinTech4U Accelerator Programme was initiated in response to a series of challenges that fintechs and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) face when entering the market.
By working with these FinTechs, UNCDF and BongoHive aim to bring a more developed suite of digital financial products to the market and improve the services available to Zambian customers in urban and rural locations.
