Back in 2022, Lydia Wangui Nderitu, a married Kenyan woman with three daughters, used to hawk porridge around the Makina area. As a hawker, Lydia used to start each day by tallying her previous day’s earnings to buy raw materials to run the business for the day. When banks denied her a loan for business expansion due to a lack of guarantors, she discovered M-KOPA and got a pay-as-you-go phone. After two months of paying well, she received an eligibility SMS for a KSH 7,000 loan. “I needed some capital to expand my business very easily,” she recounted, “and I was able to acquire the loan in just a few seconds.”
With the phone, she searched recipes and joined online courses, which all helped boost her business. For her, “The M-KOPA phone makes you feel amazing because you get the cash loan, the insurance, and free data. It’s more than a phone. It’s my bank.” She has since gotten 2 new phones after that and 1 additional KSH 7,000 loan. Today, she calls herself a “business person in the hotel industry” after setting up a mini hotel in Makina market, where she sells some food and beverages. Over three years, she moved from hawking to not just owning a physical location, but also making deliveries. People who know her personally know that things began to change for her the day she discovered M-KOPA.
The Struggle
For millions of Every Day Earners like Lydia, access to digital loans can serve as a turning point for their businesses and lives at large. Because traditional banks often demand things that small traders don’t have (e.g. collateral, proof of income, formal credit score, etc.), many of them remain stuck in the cycle of earning and pumping the money back into the business, for sustainability and continuity – with no real positive impact on their financial welfare and overall wellbeing.
We are changing that with our digital loan service.
The M-KOPA Shift
At M-KOPA, we believe that everyone deserves access to the financial services they need to progress. Our model caters to the millions of hardworking people across Africa for whom access to formal financial services remains out of reach.
With a small deposit, customers can get instant access to a high-quality smartphone and begin using it to power their life and business. Our daily repayment model is designed to match our customers’ cash flow patterns.
After 2 months of regular payments, creditworthy customers get access to a digital loan. The loan amount starts small but increases as the customer grows their credit history with us. Our flexible repayment model enables customers to build financial stability and discipline over time.
Beyond financial stability, it is a source of hope for some.
From Hopeless to Empowered
Susan, a trader in Uganda, had relied on her smartphone for her businesses – a small drug shop and a family-run bakery – until the day it got stolen, leaving her feeling hopeless. She lost contact with both my local and international customers. “I couldn’t take orders, follow up with patients, or advertise the cakes. Everything just went dark,” she recalled.
It was while reporting the phone theft at the police station that she ran into an old friend who introduced her to M-KOPA. Getting an M-KOPA smartphone (with just an initial deposit) served as the turning point for her business. She started adding back her contacts and advertising again through WhatsApp. She could now receive cake orders and check in on her patients after every visit, all from her phone.
Soon after, her agent informed her about M-KOPA’s cash loans. She applied and was approved for a UGX 500,000 loan. “It came as a blessing for my bakery since I wanted to buy a bigger mixer to accommodate bigger cakes,” she said. She also restocked medicine for her drug shop, which means more profit.
Today, Susan is back on her feet and growing. For her, M-KOPA wasn’t just a loan provider. “It gave me back the hope I had lost,” she shared.
For traders like Lydia and Susan, who now proudly call themselves entrepreneurs, what they lacked was not hustle, because they already had that drive in them – it was trust and capital. And with M-KOPA, they found both, plus a shift in living standard and mindset.
“The most significant change I’ve experienced with M-KOPA is the increase in revenue after getting more customers,” Lydia recounted excitedly. “I got more sales and workload, which made me create employment. I’m so proud of it. Now with the increased income, I’ve also upgraded my living standards. I’ve been able to run my family without much struggle. Also, with this same phone, I’ve got to learn a lot of things,” she added.
Beyond Scaling Businesses
With our digital financial services, we’re not just filling a gap, we’re building a bridge – connecting Every Day Earners and Small Traders to the digital economy, one phone/loan, one business, and one family at a time.
Ridwan Atoyebi was “impressed” after his friend showed off an M-KOPA Samsung A12, which led him to get one himself after hearing it came with a flexible NGN 600 per day payment model. Iyanda, who runs a photocopying, printer repair, and sales business, expanded his operations and boosted profits by getting a NGN 250,000 M-KOPA loan. And for Taoheed Olajide, an AC repairer, a small cash loan provided crucial “relief during a tough period” for his family.
More people are taking advantage of our financial solutions, and their stories are a testament to the tangible benefits of accessible digital loans from M-KOPA.
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