South African fintech startup Nomanini is expanding its recently launched supply chain finance solution StockNow to eight new African markets through a strategic partnership with financial services provider Baobab Group.
Founded in 2010, Nomanini has developed a platform that enables informal traders and micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets to distribute digital goods such as airtime and prepaid electricity.
The startup, which also offers micro-loans to traders and operates in markets such as Ghana and Mozambique, raised a $4 million funding round led by Standard Bankthe largest African bank, and completed by Goodwell Investmentsinvestment firm based in Amsterdam, 2019. Also US$1.5 million in bank financing in 2021.
Africa Disturbance Report last month at Nomanini’s launch StockNow, which connects FMCG stores and financial service providers to serve informal African retailers. The easy-to-use app enables informal micro and small traders to buy supplies digitally.
The startup has now agreed a strategic partnership with Baobab, a financial services group that, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services to half a million micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses. The company operates in eight African countries, to which Nomanini will now, over time, expand StockNow. These are Senegal, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Madagascar.
In its first project with the Baobab Group, Nomanini will launch StockNow in the DRC, while in the other seven markets, over the next five years, the partnership aims to reach a total merchant base of 820,000 micro, small and medium-sized merchants selling a wide range of consumer goods. , but they face numerous challenges such as access to responsible capital that hinders the growth of their business.
“Nomanini continues to identify innovative approaches to partnerships that allow us to remain at the forefront of connecting merchants to digital financial services to improve their business,” said CEO Vahid Monadjem.
“The partnership between Nomanini and Baobab Group is a powerful combination. It strategically aligns both companies to create services that provide the best value to sellers. Our understanding of Africa’s general trade sector is uniquely complementary to Baobab Group’s mission to make financial services more accessible, affordable, inclusive and transparent, and supports our intention to expand faster into markets in Africa that will benefit from inclusive finance. We believe this partnership will create compelling and sustainable value for the growing needs of Africa’s general trade sector.”
