Moni has launched a new range of business loans that will enable market traders, spare part dealers, textile traders, and other small business owners in Nigeria and other African countries to leverage the power of their communities to access the working capital they need to run and scale their businesses.
Community groups and associations serve a vital purpose in many emerging markets, providing essential services and protecting the collective interests, according to the firm.
It stated that it is pioneering a community finance model that builds on the importance of this form of group responsibility in African communities to improve access to essential financial services for small business owners on the continent.
Commenting on the scheme, the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Moni, Femi Iromini, said, “Our community-powered business loans product is just one of the ways we are innovating around our unique context in Africa to make the most of what is already in place to deliver the financial services business owners need to create long-lasting wealth for themselves and their communities
“We have ample evidence to show that this approach works. We are excited to bring more businesses on board to drive the economic development we all want to see on the continent.”
The firm noted that it has built a risk engine that combines financial data and business performance with social intelligence to enable more effective credit decisioning for African SMEs.
It stated that small business owners with a positive social reputation simply needed to join a lending cluster with an invite from an existing user of its product, and once their eligibility had been confirmed, they could access financing in about five minutes.
It added, “Once the loan is disbursed, the cluster shares responsibility for the loan, and members are able to access funds from an automated savings pot to bail out members if needed.”
(Punch)