The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features M-KOPA Chief Executive Officer Jesse Moore. On the episode, Moore explains the business model and mission of M-KOPA, a financial technology company that provides smartphones and financial services to workers in Africa who lack access to bank accounts.
Moore spoke with Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker last December during Decker’s visit to the Mathematica offices in Nairobi, Kenya.
M-KOPA, which is headquartered in Nairobi, provides financing to “everyday earners” in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa so that they can afford smartphones. Everyday earners, he explains on the episode, include hairdressers, motorcycle taxi drivers, farmers, and carpenters who have regular but informal work. For these earners, Moore says, covering the upfront cost of a phone would take months, if not years, of saving.
Find a blog summarizing highlights from the conversation, plus the full transcript here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-a-fintech-company-helps-workers-in-africa-access-credit-and-savings-with-smartphones