Greenland
Fedha Limited (GFL), a microfinance institution for small-scale tea
farmers in Kenya, has implemented a new software solution to improve its
efficiency and remain competitive in the market. According to the
institution, it had chosen the Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform.
Greenland
Fedha Limited (GFL), a microfinance institution for small-scale tea
farmers in Kenya, has implemented a new software solution to improve its
efficiency and remain competitive in the market. According to the
institution, it had chosen the Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform.
GFL
is wholly owned by the Kenya Tea De v e l o p m e n t Agency (KTDA)
Holdings and provides financial services to the tea sub sector in the
country. According to GFL, the institution is unique in that it offers
its loan recipients the option to apply for and repay their loans using
green leaf as collateral, with specific formulas in place to work out
the interest and repayment rate. The manual system it had in place,
prior to the installation of the new system, was cumbersome to log
loans, work out interest rates, manage inventory and run the business
effectively. This made it challenging to compete with commercial banks
and other microfinance lenders.
Most
notably, GFL was able to build a mobile payment solution with the help
of the latest system. “This has changed the way we operate because we
are now able to get money to farmers regardless of whether they have a
bank account or how remote their farms are – by simply paying the money
directly into their mobile phones. It’s also now possible for our
customers to access the system on the go and work out their qualifying
loan amount and repayment installment,” explains Waiharo. The mobile
solution has been such a success that GFL has developed a separate
mobile sales unit. Kunle Awosika, Country Manager, Microsoft Kenya says,
“A recent study from the Boston Consulting Group states that SMEs that
embrace technology can increase revenues 15 percentage points faster and
create jobs almost twice as fast. SMEs like GFL are contributing to a
growing economy across the world and especially an economy like Kenya,
where their contribution adds about 40% to the GDP”.
According
to Waiharo, “Thanks to GFL’s implementation of the latest system, the
MFI sales volume has increased and its business processes have become
more streamlined, flexible and efficient. The software’s scalability
also means that GFL can progress with its future plans to build its
versatile mobile banking platform that is can expand beyond the tea
sector.
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