Jamborow, the blockchain-based fintech platform has reportedly raised $400,000 to launch in Nigeria
Jamborow, the African-focused blockchain-based B2B fintech platform looking to offer financial services to the unbanked in Africa, has reportedly raised $400,000 ahead of its Nigeria launch, according to Africa news outlet Bitconke on June 4.
Moses Onitilo, George Olusegun, and John Kamara, founders of Jamborow.
The new raise from its shareholders apparently comes just weeks before the startup is expected to close a seed funding as it prepares to launch in new African markets.
The Jamborow ecosystem leverages blockchain by helping small savings groups like Chamas in Kenya to enable them use immutable ledgers to save and transact. The fintech also employs smart contracts for KYC to onboard users.
Jamborow is the brainchild of three founders – Moses Onitilo, George Olusegun, and John Kamara, who trace their roots in Africa having lived and worked in the diaspora for over 20 years.
“Jamborow is a one-stop shop for financial inclusion,” said Onitilo in the podcast with Bitcoinke.
Jamborow is expected to go live in late June 2020. It already has partnerships in Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and Ivory Coast. In total, the startup claims to have partnerships in at least 7 African countries.
Crypto in Africa
In April, Google Trends data revealed that Lagos in Nigeria has the world’s highest volume of online searches for Bitcoin. A lot of this is driven by frustration toward existing payment solutions, with the likes of PayPal actually barring Nigerians from receiving international money transfers because of the country’s reputation for fraud.
Millions of innocent consumers are suffering as a result because they have no choice but to use alternatives which charge high fees. Some tout cryptocurrencies as a perfect solution, which enable enterprising Africans to receive payments as they form business connections around the world.
Surveys have also revealed that Africa, a hub for m-commerce, is a hotspot when it comes to owning crypto. About 5.5% of adult internet users worldwide own some form of digital currency, but three African nations lie above this average. According to Hootsuite’s 2019 Global Digital Yearbook, 10.7% of South Africans possess crypto — the highest of any country surveyed. Nigeria also makes the list at 7.8%, with Ghana at 7.3%.
As AZCoin News recently reported, South Africa’s financial regulator issued a policy document asserting that cryptocurrency and activities relating to virtual currencies “can no longer remain outside of the regulatory perimeter.”
Read more:
- World Regions With Fast-Growing Financial And Economic Potential Like Africa Could Become The Predominant Crypto Adopters
- Africa Will Play Its Part In The World Of Cryptocurrency And Bitcoin Trading, And The Evidence For This Is Here
- Crypto Adoption Appears To Be Growing Across The Continent Of Africa