Tech in Africa
Nigeria fintech startup Carbon disclosed its financials for the first time. This was a surprise move for an African startup, which normally tend to keep their financials off public scrutiny. In the past, Rocket Internet would include all of Jumia’s financials into their yearly reports before going public. At that time, a German investment outfit was one of the founding members of the company.
Carbon was founded in 2012 by brothers Chijioke Dozie and Ngozi Dozie. The two brothers started by targeting the digital lending market which was niche by then, before offering a wide range of extra services from savings, to payments and investments.
In 2019, Chijioke Dozie the CEO of Carbon cited recruitment purposes and clientele as the main reasons why the company disclosed its public financials. They intend to make this a regular habit in the second quarter after two years.
The company’s annual report reveals growth in profit and loss, gross earnings, total assets, net impairment loss, equity, liabilities, and others. As we wait for the annual 2020 report, this is the year in review of how Carbon grew.
- In 2020 the company processed upwards of $241.35 million – an 89% increase from the amount processed in the previous year.
- Its lending arm disbursed $63 million – a 9.1% increase from the 2019 financial year.
- Investments on the platform increased exponentially to ~$32.55 million – a 365% increase from the previous year.
Carbon attributes the current progress to the launch of its iOS app and the introduction of a new USSD banking feature targeting low-income customers. A social chat feature helps achieve faster transactions.
Source: TechCrunch
