M-Kopa solar CEO and founder Jesse Moore together with a customer
Everline Adhiambo, receiving an energy saving jiko from one of the
firm’s employees Njeri Gikami. FILE PHOTO | LILIAN OCHIENG
Equity Bank’s Equitel and solar energy firm M-Kopa are among
four Kenyan winners of over Sh1 billion MasterCard fund meant to develop
rural areas.
Other firms that will benefit from the
kitty dubbed ‘The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity 2015’
are APA Insurance, Musoni Kenya and Olam Uganda Ltd.
The
companies were awarded for creative innovations that scale up financial
inclusion and access to services such as mobile banking, savings
accounts, insurance and credit.
"There were many
impressive companies that entered this competition with proposals to
scale up their work and make a real difference in the financial lives of
people living in poverty," said Ann Miles, Director of Financial
Inclusion & Youth Livelihoods at the MasterCard Foundation.
"These
five, however, displayed an innovative approach backed by a solid
business proposal and a commitment to excellence that convinced us to
support their efforts," she added.
Kenyan startup
M-Kopa, established in 2009 by Nick Hughes and Jesse Moore, is
passionate about affordable energy and has so far connected over 280,000
homes across east Africa.
Equitel on the other hand was awarded for ensuring financial inclusivity through its mobile-based loans platform.
Many
poor rural homes in Africa remain financially excluded, with the Sh1
billion fund targeting nearly eight million people in rural areas of
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It has set out with the ambitious aim to
connect them with power, insurance and financial services by the year
2020.
Nick Hughes, the chief product officer and
co-founder of M-Kopa said he hoped the project with MasterCard
Foundation will help more low income Tanzanians access clean energy,
agricultural inputs and financial services.
laochieng@ke.nationmedia.com
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