Blockchain Opens Up Kenya’s $20 Billion Informal Economy
- IBM-backed platform enables credit-scoring of small businesses
- SMEs in Africa face $331 billion lending gap, according to IFC
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Janeffer Wacheke’s fresh-vegetable stall in Nairobi uses technology that’s helping crack a problem Kenyan banks have so far failed to solve -- measuring the creditworthiness of traders in the country’s $20 billion informal economy.
The 40-year-old mother of two is among hundreds of small-scale retailers who can use her mobile phone to access loans to buy tomatoes, onions or bananas directly from producers and have them delivered by Kenyan startup Twiga Foods Ltd. That saves Wacheke a trip to the market, where she would have to haggle over prices and then transport the goods herself. It’s cutting her costs and helping her build a credit track record.