Summary

<aside> 📢 Asaak offers mobile financial services to the unbanked in Africa. It is solving an important problem in a large market, has strong traction, and is led by a talented founding team with ambitious plans to become Africa's first digitally-native bank.

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If you want to read our accompanying article on African Fintech, click here.

Introduction

In a place like Sydney, house prices are a constant topic of conversation. Whether you're a mid-thirties couple or a recent university graduate, I'll bet my avocado toast that house prices have made you anxious before.

This anxiety is commonplace, but deep down, us Sydneysiders know we'll be ok. Why? Because we have access to credit.

Unfortunately, this luxury isn't enjoyed by everyone. In fact, in some countries, people struggle to get loans for everyday goods like motorcycles and phones.

This is a struggle that many Africans face, as the majority have neither a bank account nor access to credit.

This creates an enormous burden on those who need goods like a motorcycle to make a living, but find themselves paying 50% of their income to rent one.

This is a complex problem that wont be fixed easily. But one man – Kaivan Sattar – has wild ambitions to play a role in fixing it.