Carbon, a Nigerian digital financial services company, has expanded its operation to Kenya, to drive purposeful and responsible lending.
The company boasted that Kenyans would now access instant loans, using their National ID number and a selfie, as well as the phone number associated to their mobile wallet. It added that its users would also have access to pay utility bills and buy airtime.
“This expansion presents an opportunity to bring some learnings from other African successful fintech markets to Kenya. It also enables us to explore what has made the Kenyan financial services industry so successful and how this success can be replicated in other markets.
“Our vision is to be a Pan-African digital bank for Africans and Africans in the diaspora. Taking our services to Kenya represents the first step in realising that vision and truly delivering financial services that Africans at home and abroad need to thrive and excel,” said Chijioke Dozie, CEO and co-founder of Carbon.
Meanwhile, according to the Kenyan Central Bank, the country’s mobile payment sector is currently valued at $36 billion with the sector expected to reach a $125 billion valuation by 2025.
More than 60% of Kenyans are estimated to own a smartphone with more than one in four (27%) having taken a digital loan, making the country a top destination for fintech companies.
[READ MORE: Carbon to empower more start-ups with new platform]
Carbon said it has 1.8 million users and has been providing economic units with access to credit, simple payments solutions, high-yield investment opportunities and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management since 2016. The company has reportedly disbursed more than $35.6 million in loans.
Carbon secured a $5 million debt facility from Lendable, a New York and Nairobi-based technology-enabled funding provider, in March 2019. The company, which was formerly known as PayLater before rebranding to Carbon, recently launched a new platform in a bid to empower start-ups.