Nigeria’s technology-enabled asset finance company, Mkobo Microfinance bank, has announced its partnership with Glovo to help finance motorcycles for young unemployed Nigerians, interested in becoming couriers.
In line with Mkobo’s mission to improve the lives of economically active Africans, the financing will be done through the Lifeline Asset Finance (LAF) program.
Under the LAF program, Mkobo finances income-generating assets for individuals and small businesses such as motorbikes to support logistics businesses. The pilot will start with 15 couriers at Glovo.
This has created a self-employment opportunity for many young Nigerians, giving them the ability to generate sustainable income, and taking them out of poverty.
Habeeb Adeokun, Founder/CEO of Mkobo, said according to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate in Nigeria rose to 33.3% in the last quarter of 2020. However, through this collaboration, Mkobo hopes to touch the lives of young Nigerians by providing lease-to-own and hire-purchase motorcycles, an asset to help beneficiaries generate sustainable income.
He further commented : “Our long-term goal at Mkobo is to support over 10,000 riders through Lifeline Asset Finance by 2026. This aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-1), to help eradicate poverty.”
Apart from offering a sustainable source of income to the riders, Mkobo’s Lifeline Asset Finance (LAF) provides riders with other benefits such as Fully Comprehensive Insurance, Life insurance, Medical Cover, Financial literacy, and a digital wallet on Mkobo.bank to help them also build up their savings.
Speaking at the handover event, the head of operations at Glovo, Juan Gómez-Angulo commented: “We are very excited about this partnership since we believe is a big step to give proper tools to young Nigerians willing to join Glovo and explore this source of income that otherwise due to the absence of a vehicle they weren’t able. With this initiative, not only will they be able to collaborate with Glovo, but also they will eventually get their own vehicle by having the opportunity of leasing it until owning it. Something that in a regular bank loan process, it would not be possible.”
One of the recipients, Oluchukwu Okolinta, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to own an asset that will allow him to support himself financially. He said, “I am overjoyed at the opportunity to participate in the lease-to-own program. I thank Mkobo for financing this motorcycle. Now I have a guaranteed weekly income to meet the demands of my family. I will make every effort to remit my contribution on time so that the bike can become my possession in the coming months.”
As a logistics firm or mobility as a service platform, Mkobo can also partner with your company to provide this opportunity to a large number of people to earn a living through self-employment.
About Mkobo Microfinance Bank
Mkobo Microfinance Bank is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). At Mkobo, our goal is to provide simple and affordable financial services to help improve the lives of 10,000,000 low-income earners in Africa by 2026. Founded in 2015, Mkobo is an impact-driven financial technology company.
As part of our efforts to improve the financial well-being of Nigerians, we will be launching Mkobo.bank – a digital bank for salary earners, self-employed, and entrepreneurs. Mkobo.bank allows salary Earners to access up to 50% of their accrued salary before Payday at ZERO interest!
To learn more about Life Asset Finance by Mkobo, visit the website.
About Glovo
Glovo is a pioneering multi-category app that connects customers with restaurants, grocery, and retail stores, and also includes an “anything” category that allows anyone to order whatever they want in their city. Founded in 2015 in Barcelona, Glovo is a tech-first, impact-driven company, operating in 25 markets and more than 1500 cities across Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. It is our vision to give everyone easy access to anything within their city so that our users can enjoy what they want when they want, and where they want.
