Ugandan agro-dealers can now take advantage of a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) program due to a collaboration between EzyAgric and Kenyan fintech Pezesha. EzyAgric is a platform that offers marketing services and value chain digitization to Kenyan farmers.
Through short-term finance that enables them to refill and also quickly directs them to be authentic and reasonable inputs while allowing them to pay later, the new deal will empower dealers of agricultural inputs in Uganda.
“As demand for Buy Now Pay Later services grows in Uganda, our customers have pointed out that the agriculture sector should not be excluded in the wave that is heralding more inclusive financial services in the country,“ said George William Luyinda, CEO of EzyAgric.
“The merchants and farmers trusting EzyAgric to deliver quality farm inputs to them want greater choice and more flexible payment options whenever they shop with us,” George added.
Pezesha, a company based in Kenya, has given SMEs in all of its markets access to flexible financing options that help them stay afloat.
George notes that EzyAgric can respond quicker to the needs of small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Uganda thanks to Pezesha’s digital lending infrastructure while also boosting our user retention and profitability.
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Benefits of This Partnership
As a result of the partnership, distributors of agricultural inputs who partner with EzyAgric will be able to apply for inventory financing in the form of short-term credit to purchase real, reasonably priced inputs stock when they require it and pay for it later.
As Ugandan farmers prepare for the new season, the merchants can acquire fast working capital and expand the amount of inventory by using just-in-time financing.
The alliance between EzyAgric and Pezesha comes at a critical moment when concerns about food security in the area are being raised due to rising living expenses and increases in the price of agricultural inputs.
Furthermore, this agreement would boost Uganda’s agriculture sector, which accounts for more than 25% of the country’s GDP (World Bank). EzyAgric would help more than 1000 merchants who require quick money to buy shares.
“We are excited about our partnership with EzyAgric to provide inventory needs and working capital to their merchants. These merchants are underserved as they can not access affordable credit because they are scattered in rural areas and have limited information to determine their ability for loan repayment. With an already developed digital merchant network on a single platform – EzyAgric; Pezesha Uganda can now serve a wide range of merchants. The access to our convenient and affordable loans will enable the merchants to stock critical seasonal inputs ahead of farming seasons,” Jessica Valerie Tusiime, Pezesha’s Operations Lead in Uganda, said.
If both parties fulfil their agreement to use tech to boost Uganda’s agricultural economy, we would see an upgrade to the agricultural sector, which would bring about more hands in that sector, resulting in more food for the nation.
Pezesha Raises pre-Series Funding Round Of $11 Million To Upgrade Its Platform
Pezesha, an embedded Fintech company headquartered in Kenya, has raised $11 million in pre-series A funding to expand its platform. The round included $5 million in debt and $6 million in equity.
The fundraising round, spearheaded by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II (WWBCP II), aims to expand the company’s activities into new countries in Sub-Saharan Africa while scaling up operations in its key regions.
Hilda Moraa, the founder of Pezesha, commented:“ We are excited about attracting institutional investors led by the Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II to harness our growth plans and push our mission to the next level. We are equally excited that WWBCP II intentionally invests in women, which allows us to cement inclusivity in our growth plans as a sustainable path towards our vision of building Africa’s MSME lending infrastructure.
Additionally, this round has brought together strategic investors who underpin the fundamentals of financial inclusion in their thesis, and we believe these combined experiences will help us accelerate and enable millions of MSMEs across African value chains to access affordable working capital.”
Pezesha provides a B2B digital lending infrastructure that emphasizes giving financially disadvantaged SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa access to inexpensive working capital. According to estimates, this industry has a $328 billion financing deficit.
Hilda Moraa, a second-time fintech entrepreneur who successfully sold her first fintech company in 2015, created Pezesha in 2017. Pezesha will use the money from this investment to strengthen its position in East Africa and extend its network of online lenders across the continent of West Africa.
With its headquarters in Kenya, Pezesha has concentrated on finding solutions to difficult infrastructure issues that leave MSMEs in the “missing middle.” Pezesha, a pioneer in embedded finance in Africa, provides productive credit to tech-enabled platforms like Twiga Foods, Jumia, and Marketforce, among dozens of others. By bridging the MSME information gap and mending fragmented value chains.
Partners offer credit and other financial services to their merchant network at the time of sale by effortlessly integrating with Pezesha’s APIs. MSMEs receive real-time loan offers to buy stock and pay later thanks to Pezesha’s credit-scoring APIs, which serve as the driving force behind a straightforward but reliable process.
To help MSMEs who do not qualify for loans build their credit and assure prudent borrowing as they advance up the Pezesha financial ladder, Pezesha also provides financial literacy classes and debt counselling. Pezesha has increased the value of its disbursements by over 2,000% in the past two years by disbursing more than 100,000 loans to MSMEs in Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana.