Where and Why it all began?
Living in a foreign land comes with its challenges, financial exclusion is chief among the many issues Africans grapple with, in the different countries they are based in. Without proper documentation one is unable to access quality financial services and is usually restricted to cash-based transactions. In this digital era everyone deserves the option to be able to transact from the comfort of their homes, at any time with negligible fees.
Africans based outside of their home countries also send money back home regularly. The cost of sending money in Sub-Saharan Africa is the highest globally, with people paying 10% or more for remittances. Most of the services are also brick and mortar based with limited operating hours, and people must travel long distances before they can collect money that has been sent to them.
Students travel regionally for university education. Finding
cost effective ways of paying their fees and sending them money for sustenance is always an issue. The options available are either time consuming, expensive or unsafe.
Whilst travelling within the SADC region for business or pleasure, one becomes financially excluded as soon as they leave their home country. Unless they have access to foreign currency and/or a Visa card, they will not be able to make use of their funds in their local bank account. Otherwise they must pay high fees to convert their cash to the legal tender in the respective jurisdiction they will be in.
Who and What is Uhuru?
Uhuruwallet seeks to address this inequality.
We will primarily offer Uhuruwallet over WhatsApp to cater to the growing number of people that have access to smartphones. WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption and allows for an easy interactive platform which makes transacting on Uhuruwallet intuitive. The Uhuru digital wallet will enable people to perform transaction such as person to person, person to merchant, cash-in, cash-out, utility bill payments, airtime purchases, and Dstv payments amongst other functionality.
Our Vision
Our vision is to become an interoperable, peer-to-peer platform with a borderless currency, that empowers people and enterprises to transact from anywhere, anytime.
Mission
Our mission is to develop innovative solutions that promote the concept of money without borders for individuals and businesses. Solutions that are simple to use, convenient, time efficient, cost effective and inclusive.
Core Values
As a team we value innovation, efficiency, commitment,reliability and simplicity. We believe these to be the key ingredients for success, as we strive to give our users excellent service delivery and optimal user experience.
Innovation
We know that through innovation, we will be able to change the way certain things are done, for the better. We aim to continuously provide relevant financial technology solutions that simplify life for us and for our users.
Efficiency
We will work tirelessly to make transactions time efficient. In the age of the Internet of Money, people should be able to send money as they would an email from anywhere in the world.
Commitment
We are committed to working as a team to achieve our goals, which are to simplify banking, save time and money and remove barriers that exclude others from active participation in the economy.
Reliability
We will consistently deliver on our promises, demonstrating our competence and character each time we communicate with each other and with our clients. In the end building trust in ourselves and in our products.
Simplicity
We will keep it simple; simple product designs with simple processes, because simple is understandable and memorable.