Tech in Africa
Kenya’s Pezesha, a debt-based crowdfunding platform has received the green light to kickstart its operations in the local market. The clearance was issued by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) which granted them a ‘No Objection’ after successfully making it through a year of testing in their Regulatory Sandbox that began in March 2019.
Founded in 2016, Pezesha is no stranger to success having won the ‘Best Catapulter Award’ at the Catapult: Inclusion Africa fintech Bootcamp held in Luxemburg’s LHoFT in March. They received a €3000 prize money and free membership at LHoFT.
Pezesha is now in a position to enable entrepreneurs and other firms to have the opportunity to raise and collect funds from investors, donors, and contributors. The CMA issued no objection to Pezesha’s financial risk management framework, capital market transaction control procedures, and operational processes.
In a press release, CMA chief (Acting) Mr. Wyckliffe Shamiah said, “We are glad to note that Pezesha effectively tested its crowdfunding innovation and achieved its testing objectives and control boundaries between July 2019 and July 2020. This positive outcome is a clear demonstration of the unique opportunities arising from the sandbox environment and potential for scaling up innovative ideas.“
The CEO at Pezesha, Hilda Moraa, also made a few remarks captured in this excerpt, “At Pezesha, we believe the approval highlights our commitment to build trust of all key stakeholders within our digital ecosystem and the capital markets. Our goal is to introduce innovative products for investors aimed at providing SMEs access to capital.”
More on the press release at CMA
