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South Africa-based Jumo partners with MANSA Bank and MTN to provide loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses in Ivory Coast.
Mobile money is becoming very popular in Africa. An indicator is a growth in the number of mobile money users in Africa, and one such country where mobile money is getting traction is Ivory Coast.
According to the Ivorian telecom regulator, the country’s number of mobile money users rose to 20.8 million as of March 31, 2021, from 13.4 million as of the same time in 2018. The mobile money penetration rate stands at 76.9%.
Mobile money penetration in Ivory Coast is set to get even better as Jumo teams up with MANSA Bank and MTN Mobile Financial Services to provide loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
“Entrepreneurs in the informal sector contribute an average of 60% to the GDP of West African countries, yet less than 15% of them have access to banks as a source of financing,” Jumo’s Country Manager for Ivory Coast, Bemah Kone, said. “The roll-out of innovative fintech products like VitKash in the region serves to address this issue.”
Founded in 2015, Goldman Sachs-backed Jumo offers savings and credit products to entrepreneurs in emerging markets and financial services infrastructure to partners such as e-money operators and banks.
The partnership with MANSA and MTN is the first of its kind for Jumo in Ivory Coast, which it expanded into last year. The partnership will see the company introduce its new short-term and small-scale loan product, VitKash, built-in collaboration with MANSA and offered through MTN’s mobile money platform.
“Jumo is rapidly becoming the platform of choice for large banks to deploy capital to new market segments,” said Buhle Goslar, Jumo’s Africa CEO. “We’re excited about bringing our proven business model to Côte d’Ivoire and working with our partners to create positive outcomes.”
Since its launch in 2015, Jumo claims to have enabled the disbursement of more than $3 billion in loans and reached over 18 million customers and small businesses. It has a client base that includes Uber, Barclays Bank, Ecobank, Tigo, Airtel, and now MTN and MANSA Bank.
Jumo is currently active in seven markets, including Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Pakistan, and Ivory Coast.
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