United Bank for Africa (UBA) has collaborated with the award-winning U.S. -based FinTech powerhouse Ovamba Solutions Inc. to provide modern solutions to Cameroon’s small and medium-sized business customers. UBA has engaged with Ovamba’s flagship innovation, “Growth-As-A-Service,” a TradeTech solution designed for businesses involved in trade, imports, and manufacturing.
Ovamba — founded in 2013 — began operations in Cameroon in 2014 and focuses on making business growth simpler.
“Ovamba provides short-term capital to micro, small and medium-sized businesses in Africa, emerging markets and the GCC for trade, inventory purchases and growth. The capital is provided by International investors from the US, U.K. and Japan,” according to their website.
They were inspired by how the under-developed business ecosystem was exacerbating the problem of access to capital. Ovamba’s technology aims to give creative freedom of innovation to markets and demographics previously restricted by traditional regulation and leadership. As of early 2019, Ovamba had funded approximately 270 small businesses with over $25.4 million.
According to Dominique Mahend, CEO of UBA Cameroon, the new partnership will “better serve businesses in the informal sector who need financing but do not meet the conditions set for credit by banks.”
UBA plans to use BankPartner Lite to connect with eligible customers who previously failed to qualify for traditional loans. These customers will benefit from Ovamba Plus, Ovamba’s mobile app, which facilitates an unconventional approach to business funding and growth.
