Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s Blessing (AIJB) seeks a grant (or a combination of grants) totaling $150,000 in support of technology investments and loan portfolio expansion for Jumpstart Africa Investment Services (JSA), and for creation and launching of a continent supporting technological based initiative utilizing the methodology developed by Fred and Pauline along with the leading edge blockchain based technology of Inveniam.io to create the Impact Africa Fund.
JSA was incorporated in May 2016 with registration number 221553. Its primary role is to provide access to short and medium-term business capital to women heads of household, and long-term financing for less risk-averse investments that can be used to support ministry. Through this endeavor, JSA hopes to engage in Christian corporal works of mercy by creating employment and opportunities for poverty reduction through business. It will also invest in education, training, and building leaders in Church and society.
JSA is in partnership with Inveniam Capital Partners, a company which has built a powerful SaaS technology platform to assist financial professionals as they digitize securities utilizing the power of blockchain technology to model a new digital financial instrument (DFI). Inveniam believes these notarized and validated, digital assets will allow capital to flow more efficiently and materially reduce costs. Inveniam’s software empowers the move from a journal ledger and phone credits to a data eco-system putting the emphasis where it belongs on the entrepreneur. Inveniam will keep the phone but add exponential capacity to its usefulness within the typical phone footprint. This software will eliminate the journal and create an immutable record that is saved for a lifetime with easy access.
Using Inveniam’s software and the funding from this grant, AIJB and JSA will help launch and partner with the Impact Africa Fund to expand the reach to locations across the continent with JSA handling hands on work in Uganda, and Impact Africa focusing on the rest of the continent. These entities seek to build a platform that can transform millions of African lives. By contributing knowledge, technology and funds in the local economy, the partnership will provide the tools for individuals to take responsibility for their own development, so they can impact the societies around them in a sustainable way for generations to come.
This impact will be created by leapfrogging legacy banking technology and systems and onboarding Africa to the future of digital finance and e-money. (See below for specific uses of the grant funding.)
The Purpose Statement of Jumpstart Africa is “Upholding the dignity of the human person through investment, business and work.” The vision is sustained livelihoods through business and the mission is connecting people and empowering communities through provision of financial services (increasing access to capital/ affordability and flexibility).
Women in developing countries are vulnerable to extreme poverty because they face greater burdens of unpaid work, have fewer assets and productive resources than men, are exposed to gender-based violence, and are more likely to be forced into early marriage. According to a UN report, nearly 75 percent of the world’s women cannot get formal bank loans because they lack permanent employment and title deeds to land or housing that they can offer as security, and/or because the laws of their countries classify them as minors and therefore not eligible to make legal transactions. (1) In Uganda, women access only 9 percent of the available credit. This figure declines to one percent (1%) in rural areas. (2)
The Purpose Statement of Jumpstart Africa is “Upholding the dignity of the human person through investment, business and work.” The vision is sustained livelihoods through business and the mission is connecting people and empowering communities through provision of financial services (increasing access to capital/ affordability and flexibility).
Women in developing countries are vulnerable to extreme poverty because they face greater burdens of unpaid work, have fewer assets and productive resources than men, are exposed to gender-based violence, and are more likely to be forced into early marriage. According to a UN report, nearly 75 percent of the world’s women cannot get formal bank loans because they lack permanent employment and title deeds to land or housing that they can offer as security, and/or because the laws of their countries classify them as minors and therefore not eligible to make legal transactions. (1) In Uganda, women access only 9 percent of the available credit. This figure declines to one percent (1%) in rural areas. (2)
Key objectives of Jumpstart and specific use of grant capital related to this application:
- (a) $50,000 – to provide funds necessary for:
- i) migration of data to new software,
- ii) purchase tablets for field personnel to enhance efficiency, lower risks and
- iii) provide a technology platform that allows for the use of mobile money by mid-2020. We have identified three providers:
- Musoni Microfinance for accounting and reporting.
- Yo! Payments as mobile money aggregator.
- Inveniam for tokenization.
This technology enhancement will also provide the transitional step to a planned Phase II implementation of blockchain technology and individual loan tokenization by late-2020. The implementation of block chain technology will position JSA as a best-in-class micro-lending institution in Uganda and allow for rapid scaling of operations to all English-speaking Africa.
(b) $20,000 – for on-site training required to implement new technologies and improved operational processes. The training will be primarily delivered by DevPro and Atlantic Consulting Solutions.
(c) $35,000 – to set up the legal and tax structures for expansion of the Jumpstart Africa Fund and launching of the Impact Africa Fund. These costs are for structuring of a fund which will span the continents and allow for use of funds and for the possibility of trading securities from across the globe. The grantors will be updated on the progress of this initiative as it attempts to use micro lending to exponentially lift the entrepreneur, possibly generations in advance of what they may otherwise be able to advance for the work, Greenspoon Marder LLP based out of Miami, Florida is the law firm that will handle the legal affairs of the fund and Hassans International Law Firm based out of Gibraltar will be used to optimize the tax treaties between the countries around the globe.
(d) $20,000 – for travel to implement onsite new improvements. This will be delivered by Emerge Dynamics, DevPro and Atlantic Consulting Solutions.
(e) $25,000 – to expand the current loan portfolio of JSA, allowing for increased lending to approximately 125 women (at an average loan size of $200). This portion of the grant will help JSA maintain its current growth in lending activity during the software implementation phase with no-cost capital. This will allow for payment to employees and engagement in management process improvements that are key for organizational growth without the need to increase transaction costs to clients.
In addition to the above grant,
- Inveniam Capital Partners is providing an in-kind matching contribution of a minimum of $250,000 which will include access to its technology and technology and operations team during this validation process.
- Emerge Dynamics has provided to date $65,000 in cash grants and loans and in-kind work of $25,000.
- Atlantic Consulting Solutions has provided $46,000 of in-kind work through its consulting and project management involvement.