MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Barclays, Jumo, MTN MoMo Partner on Mobile Savings in Zambia

Barclays Bank Zambia, a unit of the South Africa-based Absa Group; mobile telephone network operator Mobile Money, which is also known as MTN MoMo and is a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN Group; and Mauritius-based financial technology firm Jumo World Limited recently announced the launch of a mobile savings product called Kasaka to expand financial services to unbanked people in Zambia. In addition, the partnership will allow customers to access loans from Barclays Zambia in amounts based on their “credit risk score, mobile wallet activity and repayment behaviour.”

MTN MoMo offers services such as paying bills, transferring money, lending and insurance. MTN Group is a telecommunications company with 230 million subscribers in 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East as of 2018. It reports 2017 revenue of ZAR 133 billion (USD 11 billion) and pretax profits of ZAR 9.6 billion (USD 772 million).

Founded in 1918, Barclays Zambia is part of Absa Group Limited, which is based in South Africa and owns majority stakes in banks in countries including Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Uganda and Zambia. As of 2017, Barclays Zambia reported total assets of ZMK 9.3 billion (USD 796 million), customer deposits of ZMK 7 billion (USD 600 million) and a gross loan portfolio of ZMK 5.2 billion (USD 445 million). Absa is 15-percent held by UK-based Barclays Bank PLC.

Jumo, which serves 10 countries, describes its expertise as working with banks on “managing risk, preventing fraud and automating decision making.” Its investors include Mauritius-based private equity firm Leapfrog, Bermuda-based venture capital firm Vostok and UK-based investment management firm Gemcorp. Since its founding in 2010, Jumo has held a total of 7 financing rounds raising a total of USD 79 million.

By Michelle Fleming, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Barclays Zambia press release
https://www.zm.barclaysafrica.com/content/dam/zambia/barclays/pdf/press_release/barclays-mtn-and-jumo-link-hands-to-deepen-financial-inclusion.pdf

Barclays Zambia Annual Report 2017
https://www.zm.barclaysafrica.com/content/dam/zambia/barclays/pdf/reports/2017-annual-report.pdf

ABSA shareholding structure
https://www.absa.africa/absaafrica/investor-relations/shareholders/

MoMo homepage
http://www.mtnzambia.com

Jumo homepage
https://www.jumo.world

Jumo Financial Information
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/jumo-2#section-funding-rounds

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MTN, Airtel Launch Rwanda-to-Tanzania Mobile Remittance Service
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mtn-airtel-launch-rwanda-to-tanzania-mobile-remittance-service/

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