Owoafara, a woman-owned financial inclusion firm in Nigeria, recently sold an equity stake of undisclosed size and price to ShEquity, a Mauritius-based investor in African firms owned and led by women. Owoafara’s services include payment cards, a general-purpose financial services app Fara and a peer-to-peer lending app Rouzo. Fara facilitates savings, payment, lending, insurance and pension services.
Owoafara CEO Tale Alimi noted the firm’s plans to expand in West Africa, adding, “Eighty percent of our current loan book are to unbanked women micro-entrepreneurs. We are proud that our products promote an inclusive fintech [financial technology] sector wherein hardworking informal women entrepreneurs can increase their earnings capacity and strengthen their economic agility.… ShEquity’s investment will support us in reaching 1 million underserved micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses by 2023.”
ShEquity has enrolled 90 firms in its incubator programs, which it launched in 2021. Meanwhile the investment firm has deployed all of the funds from its special purpose vehicle into nine investees, which together serve 14 million people. Going forward, ShEquity is transitioning to venture capital fund structure.
Sources and Additional Resources
ShEquity press release
https://shequity.com/press-release-shequity-invests-in-woman-owned-and-led-financial-inclusion-startup-owoafara/
Owoafara homepage
https://www.owoafara.com
Fara homepage
https://myfara.org
Rouzo homepage
https://www.rouzo.org
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