Denis Opudo
Africa has the highest number of the unbanked population. Consequently, this has led to slow economic growth in the continent. This is due to inability to access loans or credits for business growth. However, many startups have come in to bridge that wide gap. Wala is a blockchain startup based in South Africa. It offers services to both the unbanked and underserved individuals in Africa. The startup is on a verge of giving loans of 100 Million of its Dala tokens to Ugandan farmers. The loan will help them in buying fertilizer. The tokens are worth $10 million and a total of 50,000 small-scale farmers will benefit from the initiative.
The initiative is due to the partnership between Wala, FinComEco and Block Commodities Limited. The latter is a startup that majors in commodity trade and it operates all over Africa. FinComEco is a financial and commodities ecosystem. It offers financial support within the agricultural value chain. The partnership will see individuals benefit from loans in form of Dala. Dala is a cryptocurrency token. It was developed to give instant, no charges, and border-less loans. The disbursement of the loans to the Ugandan farmers is ongoing curtsy of FinComEco and Block commodities. With time the same exercises will take place in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Republic of Congo.
The main aim of the initiative is to empower the small-scale farmers with fertilizer. This will help to improve the value of the produce gotten from farming by the small-scale farmers. The farmers will also get financial support and a follow up of their commodities. The follow-up activity will take place using the blockchain technology platform. The partnership bridges the wide gap that has always been there on accessing affordable financial services.
According to the Block Commodities CEO Chris Cleverly, the partnership will as well reduce the financial difficulties faced by farmers globally. Currently, Wala has partnered with Spazapp and Mvendr. The latter is a mobile platform that allows upcoming entrepreneurs to sell their goods. Spazapp is a platform that offers e-commerce management services for small merchants. It helps them to manage and buy new supply from brands and wholesales. The two startups offer Wala’s customers the ability to carry out transactions with Dala’s over 100,000 merchants across Africa. Furthermore, the partnership improves Dala payment methods for merchants, suppliers, and consumers.
The partnership between Wala and the other startups shows the ability of blockchain technology in empowering the 3.5 billion unbanked consumers globally. This is according to CEO of Wala and director of the Dala Foundation Tricia Martinez. Such partnership helps in bringing African consumers closer to financial support. This bridges the traditional gap that was there between African consumers and providers of financial services.
