Kenyas Umati Capital wins Zambezi Prize competition

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation announced Umati Capital from Kenya as the overall winner of the Zambezi Prize competition at an awards ceremony held at the Fairview hotel in Nairobi.

Umati Capital was intern awarded USD 100,000 for their start-up venture that focuses on the provision of credit and related payment technologies.

Speaking during the ceremony, the Legatum Center’s Assistant Director of Programs Elizabeth Henry said, “We are aware that many financial service providers have been slow to develop appropriate products and services that are inclusive of marginalized groups.  Hence our commitment to support innovative ideas such as these, that have the potential to grow to scale and more importantly, have a deep social impact throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Entrepreneurs, who understand the needs of people in low-income countries, are essential in developing scalable and sustainable solutions to bring about broad-based prosperity. Through this competition, we are raising awareness of how entrepreneurs can do this in financial inclusion. ”

The rest of the winners of the Zambezi Prize competition, who were selected from a cross section of pan-African countries that took part in the competition included:

Kifiya from Ethopia who are a digital finance and payment services provider, delivering customer centric products to simplify transactions, Kifiya came in second and received a prize of USD 50,000.

Tugende from Uganda, whose project focuses on breaking the poverty cycle for motorcycle taxi drivers in Africa by providing an affordable and transparent lease-to-own option, won USD 25,000 setting them at third place.

Applicants from a total of seven countries submitted entries to compete for the Grand Prize of US $100,000 for the winner, with an additional US $100,000 divided among first and second runners up and other finalists.

Five countries namely, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa produced the 11 finalists that were recognized in today’s event. Six of those who were selected are from Kenya and are representative of a broad range of platforms and services present in the finance industry.

The finalists underscore the diversity of entrepreneurs in the competition, representing five countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa.  Six of the selected projects are from Kenya and are representative of a broad range of platforms and services present in the finance industry.

Other finalists were as follows; Chamasoft (Kenya), First Access (Tanzania), Nomanini (South Africa), MFS Africa, Pluspeople (Kenya), Agrilife (Kenya), M-Changa (Kenya)andF3 Life (Kenya).

The select group of finalists will also participate in a seminar (boot camp) sponsored by the Legatum Center at MIT in Cape Town in November 2015. This forum will present them with an opportunity to engage with a global entrepreneurial ecosystem and learn from experts in the financial inclusion field.