December 2, 2021

Untapped Global and Asaak Partner to Finance 2,000+ Motorbikes in Uganda

Partnership expands financing options for African entrepreneurs through Smart Asset Financing™

KAMPALA, Uganda, Dec. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Untapped Global, an innovative investment company focused on emerging markets, announced today a scale up of its partnership with Asaak, a financial services provider to unbanked Ugandan entrepreneurs, to provide financing for over 2,000 motorcycles over the next 12 months.

The partnership will revolutionise motorcycle leasing in Uganda, by leveraging the rapid digitization happening across the continent. In the past, access to money-making assets such as motorbikes was limited to those who could afford to purchase them in full, and markets were dominated by informal lenders. Now, companies like Asaak are digitizing the lending process, making it safer and easier for entrepreneurs to lease and finance their own assets – a key to economic development on the continent.

Asaak offers financial services via a digital platform to entrepreneurs who otherwise would not have access. Asaak’s boda boda (motorbike) financing program approves drivers for loans based on financial and behavioral data, such as the number of trips completed on mobility apps, including Bolt (Taxify), Safeboda, Uber and Jumia. Most boda drivers rent motorcycles because they cannot afford to buy one in cash, nor do they have the formal credit or income history to qualify for a bank loan. This is where Smart Asset Financing™ comes in.

Untapped Global’s Smart Asset Financing investment model finances revenue-generating assets for entrepreneurs and SMEs in the world’s fastest-growing emerging markets, such as Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and Mexico. Untapped and Asaak had a successful initial pilot in November 2020 to finance 40 motorbikes, and this month, Untapped signed on to provide scale-up financing for over 2000 vehicles in the next 12 months.

The pilot and scale up prove Untapped Global’s innovative Smart Asset Financing model offers great potential for follow-on funding for growing partners. The company uses real-time IoT data for the assets it finances to track key metrics such as usage and revenue, allowing for faster due diligence. While Asaak’s fast growth and expansion have enabled an equally fast scale-up of investment from its financing partner.

“Mobility is an important driver of economic development in Africa, and digitizing financing for boda bodas is key to making transport more accessible and affordable,” says Jim Chu, Founder and CEO at Untapped. “We look forward to providing the financing to help Asaak scale their business as much as they, and their entrepreneurs, need.”

“Our goal at Asaak is to make it easier for gig economy workers across Africa to access sustainable financial services,” Dylan Terrill, Chief Business Officer of Asaak said. “The team at Untapped is aligned with that goal and our growing partnership underscores the dedication to ensure that business owners have the opportunity to reach their full economic potential.”

Untapped Global is currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder to enable any investor large or small to participate in the movement to empower entrepreneurship around the world.

About Untapped Global
Based in San Francisco with teams in East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe, Untapped Global is reshaping profitable investing in frontier markets. On a mission to empower the next billion entrepreneurs to scale to their full potential, Untapped creates opportunity by connecting frontier market innovators to global investors through its Smart Asset Financing™ platform that provides CAPEX financing for revenue-generating assets. Press or other inquiries please reach out to Lundie@untapped-global.com.

About Asaak
Asaak is an African fintech company that provides asset financing to entrepreneurs across Africa. In 2019, they launched a motorcycle financing product for taxi (“boda”) drivers in partnership with the country’s largest ride hailing apps: Jumia, Uber, SafeBoda, and Bolt. Asaak is backed by leading American and African VCs (Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, 500 Startups, HOF Capital, Catalyst Fund). For more information, visit www.asaak.com or contact press@asaak.com

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1700940/Asaak_Boda_Boda_Driver.jpg

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1640513/Untapped_Global_Logo.jpg

December 2, 2021

UN Human Rights Chief Makes First Visit to Burkina Faso

The United Nations’ human rights chief has called for increased efforts to protect the vulnerable in Burkina Faso’s growing conflict with Islamist militants. Rights groups say Burkina Faso has struggled to uphold human rights during its long-running conflict with armed groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, held a press conference in Ouagadougou Wednesday at the end of a three-day visit to Burkina Faso. It was the first time a U.N. human rights chief had visited the country. Her office said in October it was setting up a presence in the country to support the government.

Bachelet noted the “challenging context,” of a six-year conflict with armed groups linked to al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and local banditry. She cited allegations of summary executions, abductions, forced disappearances and sexual violence by violent extremist groups, local defense groups, national security and defense forces, among others.

A woman who escaped the unrest told VOA earlier this year about how her husband was abducted one night from an internally displaced persons camp close to the town of Ouahigouya.

Asked who took her husband, she said, “I don’t know if they were volunteers or security, but I know they weren’t terrorists.” She added, “The only thing I want right now is to be sure that nothing will happen to me and my family. The message I have for the government is to make sure that we stay alive, where we are now.”

Burkinabe authorities did not respond to a request for an interview on this abduction.

Rights groups have said that extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances by security forces are widespread in Burkina Faso, with hundreds of families having lost relatives

Asked what the new U.N. human rights office could do to prevent attacks on the civilian population, Bachelet said this.

“We believe that these attacks must stop immediately. Those attacks against the population and the population must be protected … And today with the civil society groups they said justice is important. That is why we have said to the government that all perpetrators be brought to justice,” she said.

So far, no one in Burkina Faso has been convicted of extrajudicial killings against civilians.

Daouda Diallo runs the Collective Against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities, a Burkinabe human rights group.

He told VOA it is important to respect the commitments of Burkina Faso at the regional and international levels because it has signed up to the universal declaration of human rights.

Most human rights abuses, however, are being carried out by armed groups, not security forces. Ousmane Diallo a researcher on Burkina Faso for Amnesty International says “the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has willfully targeted civilians and committed mass atrocities against them. I think one of the most symbolic cases was the attack on Solhan in June 2021.”

At the beginning of June, Burkina Faso saw its worst terrorist attack on civilians since the conflict with armed groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State started. At least 138 people were killed in the village of Solhan.

Source: Voice of America

December 2, 2021

Surge in Cooking Gas Prices in Nigeria Worries Suppliers, Environmentalists

Abuja resident Freda Igri was preparing to make her native afang soup for her family, but her cooking gas tank was empty.

The price to refill a 12.5 kg tank with gas — about $25 U.S. — was nearly triple the normal price, and she said she couldn’t afford to spend that much on gas alone.

“This scarcity of gas and the high price, it is unbearable, because going to the market right now, buying foodstuffs [is] costly, and coming back to cook again with the gas [is] costly. It’s not easy,” Igri said.

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers attributes the increase in the cost of the fuel to the introduction in August of a 7.5 percent import tax, or value-added tax, on gas in a bid to expand the country’s revenue base.

Up to 70 percent of the gas consumed locally in Nigeria comes from imports, even though the country is a major oil producer with huge gas reserves — ninth globally. Economists also say devaluation of the Nigerian naira currency and an unstable inflow of foreign exchange are driving up prices.

The situation is causing many Nigerians like Igri to turn to cheaper alternatives — firewood and charcoal.

“We just use it because it’s at least manageable,” Igri said. “If you want to go for gas, it’s quite expensive.”

The growing demand for charcoal fuel is helping local dealers like Ashiru Mohammed make more profit. He said he’s increasing his output. Business hadn’t been good because people were using gas, but now his customers are all buying charcoal, he said.

But environmentalists warn that the demand for charcoal could lead to serious deforestation. David Michael Terungwa, a conservationist and founder of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, wants authorities to reverse the gas import tax.

“There will be massive deforestation, which is already going on, but this hike in prices will even make it worse,” Terungwa said. “The average Nigerian could afford to use gas, but right now, not everybody can afford it.”

In November, the Nigerian gas dealers association called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the issue. Nigerian authorities have yet to respond, but at the recent global climate change summit, Buhari pledged to end deforestation by 2030 and carbon emissions by 2060 — a goal conservationists say now hangs in the balance.

Source: Voice of America

December 2, 2021

Two Soldiers Killed in Militant Attack in Benin, Army Says

Two soldiers were killed and several more were wounded when Islamist militants attacked a border security post in northern Benin on Wednesday night, the army said.

The raid in Porga region was the second in Benin this week. Islamist militants attacked an army patrol in the department of Alibori on Tuesday morning, army chief Colonel Fructueux Gbaguidi said in an internal statement on Thursday seen by Reuters.

The army killed one militant in Tuesday’s attack and another on Wednesday night, he said. An official statement by the army later confirmed the deaths and attributed the attacks to unidentified armed men.

Militant attacks are rare in Benin, but groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State are active in its northern neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger and have made increasing incursions south.

Islamist militant violence has ravaged much of West Africa’s Sahel region, and states on the Gulf of Guinea have reinforced security to try to keep it at bay.

“This new test reminds us in blood and pain that the danger on the ground is real,” Gbaguidi said in his note to officers.

Benin had not reported an Islamist attack since 2019, when two French tourists were kidnapped in a national park and later taken by the militants into Burkina Faso. They were rescued by the French military.

Neighboring Togo said last month it had repelled an attack near its northern border, which was the first by suspected Islamists in the country.

Source: Voice of America

December 2, 2021

East African Standby Force director visits President of Seychelles

The possible maritime security assistance to Seychelles by the East African Standby Force (EASF) was one of the areas discussed between the director of the force and President Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday.

The EASF Director, Brigadier General Getachew Shiferaw Fayisa, paid a courtesy visit to the President at State House.

“We updated the President on areas that EASF needs cooperation. We also updated him on how to strengthen the regional security,” Fayisa told reporters.

Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, is one of the 10 countries that make up the EASF alongside Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Somalia.

As the organisation consists of multi-dimensional forces, “our member states need different things in areas of security; for Seychelles, it is in the area of maritime. We as EASF also have a maritime side and we are working on it,” said the director.

The Eastern Africa Standby Force is a regional organisation whose mandate is to enhance peace and security in the Eastern Africa region. It is one of the five regional multidimensional Forces of the African Standby Force (ASF) consisting of military, police and civilian components.

EASF was established as a regional mechanism to provide capability for rapid deployment of forces to carry out preventive deployment, rapid intervention, peace support/stability operations and peace enforcement.

“All those forces are responsible for our region’s peace and security. All those areas are areas that we work and cooperate together,” said Fayisa.

This is the first visit of a delegation from the EASF to Seychelles since October last year.

The Eastern Africa Standby Force deployed a team of 10 observers as part of the international election observer mission to observe the legislative and presidential elections process in October 2020.

Source: Seychelles News Agency