The 3rd Edition of The Kuunda Digest

At Kuunda, we work with a range of partners to develop tailored digital lending solutions. Our role is to bridge the gap between strategic partners (such as telcos, MMOs, fintech platforms, and e-commerce networks), balance sheet providers and financial institutions. The goal is to create seamless, sustainable lending ecosystems that are both efficient and scalable.

How It Works

We integrate with strategic partners who already have strong customer networks and transactional data. Instead of building lending products from scratch, they can use our infrastructure to offer liquidity solutions that suit their ecosystem. This can range from working capital for merchants to float for mobile money agents.

On the other side, balance sheet providers bring the necessary capital and regulatory expertise. Through Kuunda, they gain access to new customer segments with built-in risk assessment and credit decisioning tools. Our behavioural credit scoring and liquidity management systems make it easier to lend confidently in emerging markets.

Customisation & Collaboration

Every partnership is different, and we adapt accordingly. Some partners prefer a hands-on approach–co-developing lending models with us–while others use our plug-and-play solutions to expand their financial services. We provide data insights, automated risk management, and compliance support, but the way these tools are used varies based on each partner’s needs.

Our focus is on long-term, sustainable growth, ensuring that lending products are not only accessible but also viable for both the providers and end users.

What This Means for Our Partners

Rather than a one-size-fits-all product, Kuunda’s infrastructure is designed to be flexible. Partners can build lending solutions that align with their business model, leveraging our technology and expertise as needed. Whether it’s launching a new credit product or refining an existing one, we provide the tools to make it work efficiently.

Understanding how financial tools integrate into daily business operations is key to building meaningful partnerships. Recently, one of our team members, Sylvia, travelled to Lira and Bweyale to meet with Airtel’s Franchise Partners and explore collaboration opportunities to drive our growth campaigns.

“I had the chance to engage with Vinga Distributors, Keysen, Ramaya Tech, and Kitara—four partners collectively serving 2,000 agents with the support of nine Direct Sales Representatives (DSRs),” she shared. These partners play a critical role in the mobile money ecosystem, ensuring that agents across different regions have the liquidity they need to serve their customers effectively.

One of the standout takeaways from the visit was the level of market knowledge and operational efficiency these partners bring. Their relationships with agents run deep, allowing them to understand not just the numbers but also the behaviours and challenges at play. In addition, their mobility support—motorbikes provided by Airtel—gives them the ability to reach and serve up to 65% of agents daily, a crucial factor in ensuring service continuity in more remote locations.

However, a key challenge emerged: maintaining sufficient capital to meet daily float demands. “All partners emphasised how, in the absence of sufficient capital, Easy Float plays a critical role in helping them meet performance targets. When DSRs are unable to provide enough float, Easy Float steps in as a reliable alternative, ensuring that agents can continue transacting without disruption.” This insight reinforces the importance of accessible digital lending solutions in keeping the ecosystem running smoothly.

By engaging with partners on the ground, we gain firsthand insights into their needs, constraints, and growth potential. These visits are not just about business—they are about strengthening relationships, refining our solutions, and ensuring that financial tools like Easy Float are built with real-world challenges in mind. As we continue to collaborate with franchise partners, we remain committed to developing solutions that empower them and the agents they serve.

Financial inclusion is not just about providing access to credit—it is about creating financial systems that truly reflect the realities of the people they serve. In her TED Talk, fintech entrepreneur Viola Llewellyn highlights a critical challenge: traditional risk models, often designed for Western markets, fail to capture the way African businesses operate. The result? Many entrepreneurs are denied the capital they need to grow. Not because they are not creditworthy, but because the financial system does not recognise their ways of doing business.

Llewellyn draws on extensive research and local knowledge to advocate for risk models that account for Africa’s diverse cultures, economies, and informal financial practices. Many small businesses across the continent operate outside formal banking structures, relying instead on family networks, informal savings groups, and seasonal trade cycles. Traditional financial institutions struggle to assess their creditworthiness, but with the right technology and data, these businesses can be recognised for the reliable, resourceful, and sustainable enterprises they are.

At Kuunda, we have long understood this. Our Digital Lending as a Service model is built on the same fundamental belief that financial products must align with how African businesses truly function. Rather than relying on outdated credit scoring methods, we use alternative data—real-time mobile money transactions, spending behaviours, and digital financial footprints—to provide lenders with a more accurate picture of risk.

For example, a market vendor who takes out small loans to restock inventory daily may not have a formal credit history, but their consistent transaction patterns demonstrate reliability. Similarly, a shopkeeper who adjusts stock seasonally or closes temporarily for religious observances may appear high-risk to a traditional lender, but by looking at broader financial behaviours, we see their long-term stability.

Llewellyn’s talk reinforces an approach that Kuunda has championed for years: that financial solutions must be designed with a deep understanding of local realities.

### The future of financial inclusion in Africa depends on systems that reflect the businesses they aim to serve, rather than forcing entrepreneurs to conform to models that were never built for them.

Watch the full TEDTalk to get the full magnitude of this information and the impact it will have on future generations.