SME’s

Africa is ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to convergence between different sectors. Because of the unserved demand for financial services, fin-tech is becoming relevant for players in other sectors. The widespread use of mobile wallets is also enabling companies that are already serving low and middle-income segments to broaden their service offering to include other financial services.

These developments are expressed through; the prepaid solar sector pioneered by M-Kopa and others started out as prepaid solar businesses but they are now becoming consumer asset finance businesses. If you build up a loyal customer base in any sector, you will discover that you can offer financial services to them through your platform to create a more solid business model. This is only set to increase over the next few years. Health companies will start launching health insurance, e-learning companies will start offering education loans. The barriers between sectors are eroding, and will continue to do so. In Africa this is becoming more evident and makes businesses on the continent more unique.