One of the biggest international problems many entrepreneurs continue to work on is the lack of financial accessibility for businesses in third-world countries. We've looked at other Founder Institute Graduates who've brought similar concepts to businesses from Asia to Europe.
In Africa, much of the same problems exist. A company called Ovamba recently became a leader in bringing financial inclusion to many struggling African businesses, mainly in Cameroon.
The latter region is Ovamba's home base, and the founder of the company, Viola Llewellyn, has an inspiring story.
As a Graduate of our Johannesburg Founder Institute, take a look at what her company's doing, some recent accolades, and Ovamba's future.
Viola Llewellyn's New Role at Slush
As noted in the title, Viola Llewellyn already has a major designation that's going to help spread word about Ovamba's virtues. A Finnish tech innovation conference called Slush recently named Viola as their first female African speaker in its history.
This prestigious role proves how much respect many have for Ovamba and what it's doing to expand business opportunity in emerging markets.
Viola recently stated her excitement about this development:
This is epic. Ovamba has worked hard to open the doors to financial inclusion."
She'll be discussing exactly what Ovamba's been doing to help more than small businesses in Cameroon. Along with the steps they provide in helping African businesses get credit to succeed, Viola plans to mention the technology they continue adding. This includes the new use of chatbots to help these businesses upgrade how they communicate.
It's just a preview of what Ovamba does to help African business owners keep up with the rest of the world.
How Does Ovamba Work?
The main goal of Viola's company is to provide short-term capital to micro, small, or medium-sized businesses. They focus on Africa, but also all emerging markets and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council).
All capital goes toward trade, inventory purchases, and overall growth. Participating businesses receive the capital from international investors, including those from the United States, the U.K., and Japan.
The company reiterates 80% of all small businesses in Africa still can't get access to the credit they need to grow. Thanks to Ovamba's mobile technology features, these businesses can get credit sent to them instantly without going through protracted red tape.
All it takes is a business filling out an application online, then receiving a decision within 48 hours. Financial offers are given based on the business's risk profile.
Viola Llewellyn's Rising Star
When Bill Gates predicted two years ago that Africa would eventually be able to use better financial technologies to progress, it paved the way for people like Viola Llewellyn to advance her company. When she started Ovamba in 2013 with Marvin Cole, they had a base in the U.S. initially before moving to Cameroon.
Viola had few competitors at first, but now she's standing alone in working beyond the general African business sector. Ovamba also helps many rural businesses there who make up the most underserved.
They're also focusing considerably on helping African businesswomen. As Viola puts it:
I think the African woman's place is wherever she decides to be. We are powerful, modern, global citizens, learned and more. With all these, we can conquer the world."
The Future of Ovamba
Thanks to Ovamba's partnership with Microsoft on the use of chatbots, they already have major corporate connections.
Last year, they partnered with lending and investor firms Crowdcredit and Courtyard Capital to help reach more SME's in Africa. With Ovamba being a fintech leader, their partnering with Courtyard Capital gave them more focus on the fintech sector.
Their constant push to innovate technologically is already giving them an edge with few to any competitors. Once they expand to other emerging markets, they'll already be armed with the tools they need to rise above the competitors trying to corner those regions.
