Nairobi, Kenya - Pesapal, a leading payment gateway in Kenya, has partnered with Sokohela, a digital credit provider licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), to launch a new credit product for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya. The loan product will offer fast and flexible financing solutions for SMEs that face challenges in accessing credit from traditional sources.
Pesapal's Founder, Mr. Agosta Liko, said that the launch of Pesapal Credit is part of the company's mission to provide innovative and inclusive payment solutions for businesses and consumers in Kenya.
"SMEs are the engine of our economy, but they often face difficulty accessing credit due to high-interest rates, stringent collateral requirements, lengthy procedures, and lack of financial records. We understand these challenges and have partnered with Sokohela to address them. We're all about our merchants being confident with their financial decisions and becoming world-class at what they do – regardless of their size. We design our tools on the Pesapal platform to help entrepreneurs achieve their business goals without overextending. Finance terms are transparent and easy to understand, supporting comfortable repayment management," Mr. Agosta said.
Pesapal Sokohela Loan offers SMEs a range of benefits, such as:
Sokohela's CEO, Mr. Nickson Onyango, said that the partnership with Pesapal is a strategic move to leverage Pesapal's extensive network of merchants and customers across various sectors, such as hospitality, retail, education, and travel.
"Our partnership is a testament to the power of collaboration in driving innovation and growth in Africa's digital economy. We are confident we will unlock new capital streams for SMEs, enabling them to scale efficiently. We are excited to partner with Pesapal, a trusted and reputable payment service provider in Kenya. Together, we aim to reach out to more SMEs and offer them convenient and affordable credit solutions that suit their needs. We believe that by doing this, we are supporting SMEs and our country's social and economic development," Mr. Onyango said.
The Merchant Credit solution is powered by Pesapal’s proprietary credit scoring algorithm that analyzes the transaction data of SMEs from various sources, such as mobile money, e-commerce platforms and POS systems. This allows us to offer customized and affordable loans to SMEs based on their cash flow and business performance.
Pesapal is the largest payment gateway in Kenya, with thousands of merchants and consumers across East Africa. It offers various payment products and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions, such as online payments, point-of-sale payments, mobile payments, bill payments, and event ticketing.
Sokohela is a digital credit provider that offers tailor-made loan products to SMEs in Kenya. It uses artificial intelligence and data analytics to assess the creditworthiness of SMEs and provide them with instant loans via mobile money platforms. Sokohela is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya.
About Pesapal Ltd
Thousands of businesses and customers trust us to simplify and secure their payments. Founded in 2009, we're the leading payment services company with local know-how in building payment and business tools for Africa. Pesapal has 300+ people in 5 African countries – and we're adding more. We're on track to connect a million African entrepreneurs and customers to e-commerce, digital payments and the global financial system by 2030. www.pesapal.com/about-us
About Sokohela
Sokohela is a digital tools provider for MSMEs in the urban agricultural value chain. We aim to empower fruit vendors, groceries (mama mbogas), small fast-food outlets, cereals shops and other food vendors by use of digital technology to offer empowering tools and resources built to address poverty's interconnected root causes in a scalable way. Sokohela is on a pathway to build the largest network of profitable Agric Value Chain MSMEs in Africa through technology. https://sokohela.com/
