MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Angaza, Mastercard Collaborating on Pay-as-you-go Solar Electricity, Water Pumps, Cook Stoves in Africa, Latin America

Angaza, a provider of “pay-as-you-go” metering technology that has offices in Kenya and the US, recently partnered with US-based payments firm Mastercard to create a digital payment service to help low-income people purchase equipment over time. Anzinga has worked with 100 distributors to enable 1 million households in 30 countries to buy products such as solar power systems, water pumps and low-pollution cookstoves. The two companies have successfully pilot-tested their collaboration in Nigeria, confirming that it can provide “new levels of payment flexibility and affordability.” Angaza and Mastercard now plan to expand the project elsewhere in Africa as well as in Latin America.

Angaza’s service allows people to buy products with a downpayment plus micropayments over time. These micropayments may be made in cash or via electronic means, such as the Mastercard service. They can be due on a schedule or pay-as-you-go. In the latter case, the device can be enabled for a certain span of usage each time the user makes a payment of a certain size. The user can then choose when to make the next payment to have the device re-enabled remotely.

Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President for Digital Solutions, said, “This partnership will help consumers to overcome hurdles such as the significant cash outlay required to purchase critical items by leveraging micropayments, which in turn also helps to build their credit history.”

Mastercard is active in 210 countries and territories as of 2019. For the 2018 fiscal year, it reports adjusted net income of USD 6.8 billion.

Sources and Additional Resources

Mastercard press release
https://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/mastercard-and-angaza-partner-to-bring-a-new-generation-of-life-changing-technology-solutions-to-emerging-markets-around-the-world/

Angaza home page
https://www.angaza.com/

Mastercard home page
https://mastercard.com

Mastercard 2018 financials
https://s2.q4cdn.com/242125233/files/doc_financials/2018/Q4/4Q18-Earnings-Release.pdf

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