Seedstars Dakar’s winner, MaTontine has announced the official launch of its nationwide pilot with CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor – World Bank Group) on Friday, October 13, 2017.
According to a press release made available to TechMoran, “the goal of this 6-month program is to pilot innovative solutions that accelerate the way innovation improves and expands financial services for low-income populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through this pilot, MaTontine and CGAP seek to test how the digitization of traditional savings circles, and the use of digital payments and mobile phones can significantly improve the delivery of financial products and services at scale to women and the rural poor in Senegal.”
The startup which has granted small loans totalling $12,000 so far, is a for-profit organization registered in Senegal since 2015. MaTontine was founded with the goal of addressing poverty alleviation through the widespread adoption of a variety of digital financial services using a system based on traditional savings circles.
Other parts of the press release reads…
MaTontine provides access to small loans and related financial services like micro-insurance to the financially excluded in Francophone Africa. MaTontine’s mission is to improve the financial outcomes of its members by unlocking access to financial and related services using digital technology and entrepreneurship.
MaTontine offers an innovative solution that makes financial services Available, Accessible and Affordable to the financially excluded in Francophone Africa.
CGAP is a global partnership of over 30 leading organizations that seek to advance financial inclusion.
CGAP develops innovative solutions through practical research and active engagement with financial service providers, policy makers, and funders to enable approaches at scale. CGAP’s mission is to improve the lives of poor people by spurring innovations and advancing knowledge and solutions that promote responsible, sustainable, inclusive financial markets.
For this innovative pilot, we will team up with payment providers: Yup and Wari; financial institutions: COFINA and Manko; insurance providers: SUNU Assurances Vie and PMAS (Pool Micro Assurance Santé); and Naatal Diobass – a women’s group composed of about 2,000 women from 57 surroundingvillages of the locality of Notto Diobass (Thiés, Senegal).
