Zeepay is the fastest growing Ghanaian-owned fin-tech, promoting financial inclusion in Ghana. Zeepay focuses on digital rails to connect digital assets such as mobile money wallets, cards, ATMs, Bank Accounts and Digital tokens to International Money Transfer Operators, Payments, Subscriptions, International Airtime and Refugee payments.

Zeepay has experienced exponential growth since its launch in 2016 and currently terminates over 130,000 transactions on a monthly basis

In March 2020, Zeepay became the first Ghanaian-owned company to be issued an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) licence by the Bank of Ghana. This license enables Zeepay to offer the full spectrum of mobile financial services in Ghana.

The entrepreneur

Andrew Takyi-Appiah is the Managing Director of Zeepay. Andrew is an expert in banking and mobile payments, having accumulated over 15 years of experience in banking and business development, from working in 3 continents: Europe, North America and Africa. His African experience spans across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. Prior to founding Zeepay, Andrew previously worked at PwC (UK), PwC (Ghana), Barclays UK, UT Bank, Ecobank, GT Bank, Nestle and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Partnership with I&P 

The partnership between Zeepay and I&P (through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2) aims to:

⇒ Help Zeepay meet regulatory capital requirements of the license

⇒ Support the company on talent acquisition, technology development and customer acquisition

Expected Impacts

⇒ Deepen financial inclusion, especially to underserved sections of the population

⇒ Catalyze economic development by promoting access to faster, safer and cheaper ways to access international remittances

⇒ Create decent jobs across the continent in the technology sector

Ed Partners Africa is a non-banking financial institution that aims to provide adapted financial solutions to the education sector and especially to affordable schools in East Africa.

Context

In Kenya, the rapid urbanization combined with the rising income levels have increased the demand for private schools as the quality of public schools is wanting. In 2018, there were 52,000 registered and unregistered private schools in the country that focused on primary and secondary enrolments. Ed Partners currently lends to both affordable and middle-income schools, affordable schools being those with annual school fees below USD 300. By mid-2021, the company had disbursed a total of USD 1.5 mililon to over 140 schools.

The government has until now turned a blind eye to the existence of these schools, but has recently mandated that all schools with non-compliant infrastructure will be shut down. This is therefore incentivizing already registered schools to upgrade their infrastructure and for unregistered schools to start the registration process and to begin investing in compliant infrastructures. Therefore, most schools will require additional investment in equipment and basic infrastructure.

In this context, Ed Partners aims to fill the gap in the current market by providing customized products, understanding schools’ special needs and proposing tailored complimentary services to affordable schools in Kenya and in the long term in the region.

The model was conceived by replicating the proven business model of Varthana, a school financing company in India, with 7 years of experience and a current portfolio size of USD 157 million provided to over 3,500 schools.

The entrepreneurs

Ed Partners was founded by a team of 4 microfinance experts with on average 15+ years of experience in impact investing and in microfinance in East Africa and in India. Together, these founding members bring their expertise and network to support the roll-out of the project in the region.

Ed Partners is currently managed by Amos Mwangi who is the CEO. Amos has 17 years of experience in business development, sales, credit management and leadership. He previously worked 6 years as a Business Development Manager at Faulu Microfinance Bank in Kenya where he oversaw 44 branches in 38 locations. Before Faulu Microfinance, he worked at Equity Bank and Family Bank in various roles at both branch and head office level. Amos holds a Masters in Banking and Finance from Moi University and achieved complementary business and finance studies at Kenyatta University.

Partnership with I&P

The partnership between Ed Partners and I&P (through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2) aims to:

⇒ Ensuring a wider geographical coverage with the opening of 6 additional hubs in 6 counties in Kenya

⇒ Funding EdPartners’ loan book. The company anticipates a rapid growth of the loan book to reach 6,000 loans disbursed to about 3,000 schools in the next 5 years

⇒ Supporting further expansion into the rest of East Africa within the next few years, where there is significant demand for the products offered by Ed Partners

Expected Impacts

Ed Partners has the potential to have an important impact on the education sector in Kenya and in the long term in East Africa.

The company enables improvement in the quality of education offered by middle-income and affordable schools by providing access to adapted financial solutions and coaching.

Pigier Cameroun is a private business school for higher education, launched in 2011 by the Cameroonian Dr Henri Tafou. With the mission to “Train for employment”, Pigier Cameroun stand out as a leading player in vocational training in Cameroon. The school provides pragmatic solutions to match the needs of companies in terms of competent human resources.

Pigier Cameroun offers trainings of international quality in Human Sciences and Management, at Bachelor and Master levels. The training programs include: Banking and Corporate Finance, Finance, Audit and Management Control, Communication, Marketing & Digital, Transport, Logistics and Customs, Business Management, Taxation and Business Law, Human Resources Management.

Context

In sub-Saharan Africa, the unemployment rate is around 7.3%, and mainly affects young people. This is largely due to the existing gap between training courses and the real needs of companies on the ground. More specifically, businesses complain about the lack of professionalization provided by existing institutions.

The entrepreneur

Pigier Cameroun was created in 2011 by Dr Henri TAFOU, an education entrepreneur, who has held several positions as Regional Sales Director, Marketing Director, Commercial Advisor and General Manager in several companies in Cameroon.

For more than 25 years, he has gained expertise in the education sector, with multinational experiences: He worked within the Pigier Group in Côte d'Ivoire as Sales Director in charge of continuing education. After that, he joined the head office of the PIGIER brand in France as Director of Franchise Development; and went back to Africa by becoming the first African to benefit from a PIGIER franchise in Africa, through the takeover of the Cotonou franchise in Benin. During his management in Benin, he succeeded in having the franchise certified to the ISO 9001 standard, making Pigier Bénin the very first business school in Sub-Saharan Africa to obtain this certification.

In 2011, he sold the Benin franchise and returned to Cameroon to launch Pigier Cameroon, the very first PIGIER franchise in Central Africa.

Partnership with I&P

I&P partners with Pigier Cameroun through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2 (IPAE 2). I&P provides patient financing, technical assistance, and strategic/operational support to strengthen the structuring of the company.

The partnership notably addresses the following issues:

—⇒ Consolidating the company’s achievements and ensuring the continuous improvement of its academic training programs

—⇒ Strengthening its positioning in the market in order to serve a greater number of learners and business professionals

—⇒ Strengthening the company’s governance, as well as its operational performance

Expected Impacts

Social impacts:

• Increasing the number of learners and graduates trained by Pigier Cameroon

• Improving the employability rate of graduates of Pigier Cameroon,

• Improving the capacities and skills of business professionals

• Creating jobs and securing created and/or existing jobs

—Governance impacts:

• Strengthening the company’s governance

• Improving the company's strategy