Avenews, a multinational financial technology company, is building the first financial super app for Kenya’s Agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (agri-SMEs).
The super app provides a comprehensive financial management tool that enables advanced ML (machine learning) algorithms to process hundreds of data points and create personalized financial products – including access to digital credit.
The one-stop-shop app assists agribusinesses with operations and team management, as well as digital invoicing and payments. Avenews’ Country Manager, Emmanuel Murai notes: “Agri-SMEs are the driving force behind Africa’s economic growth, but their financial needs often go unmet. With Avenews, agri-SMEs can finally make informed financial decisions and unlock a credit facility that will have them achieve their full business potential,” said Mr. Murai.
According to the World Bank, SMEs make up about 90% of business globally and employ over 50% of the workforce contributing up to 40% of the GDP in developing countries. However, agri-SMEs receive only 2-7% of total bank credit. An estimated 2.5M agri-SMEs are in need of financing solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, resulting in an $80 billion finance gap in the sector.
Avenews is providing a solution that includes an ML-powered credit platform for agri-SMEs to power their businesses, an operating system for agri-SMEs to manage their businesses, payments and digital banking services suitable for businesses, and an API marketplace for third-party services.
“With the Avenews Super App, businesses can access the capital they need through a high loan value. We encourage agri-businesses to unlock their full business potential by downloading the application whether for loan application or any other services they might need,” concluded Mr. Murai.