Tarek Mouganie, founder of Affinity Africa, is tackling the challenge of financial exclusion in Ghana through digital finance. With over 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lacking official identity documents, Mouganie’s solution, Affinity Africa, is a digital bank that provides financial services to the unbanked and underbanked.
Mouganie’s journey began after working in the UK for several years. He decided to relocate to Ghana to help solve the problems of the country’s unbanked and underbanked. After four and a half years of building the company, Affinity Africa finally launched in 2022.
With no marketing spend, Affinity Africa has acquired 30,000 accounts, with 90% of customers opening their first-ever bank account.
The digital bank has helped customers save $23 million and provided $13 million worth of loans. The average revenue of borrowers has increased by 500%, and their employment base has grown by 3.5 times.
Mouganie believes that mobile money provides access, but there is a deeper need to be addressed for small business holders. Affinity Africa’s bank accounts are free, with no monthly charges, and provide interest across all accounts. The lending specifically focuses on small businesses, which traditional banks often neglect.
Mouganie attributes the problem of financial exclusion to how African governments run their economies. With a low tax-to-GDP ratio, governments lack revenue, leading to a huge informal sector. This, in turn, excludes small businesses from financial services, hindering their creation.
Mouganie emphasizes the importance of supporting small businesses, which in developed countries employ about 60% of the population and drive about 50% of government revenue.
In Ghana, Affinity Africa is working to change this narrative by providing financial services to small businesses and nurturing their growth.
Despite the challenges, Mouganie’s confidence in his vision led him to sell his house in London to invest in Affinity Africa. He worked closely with regulators to obtain a banking license, and his proposition of increasing financial inclusion resonated with the regulator’s goal of supporting economic growth and small businesses.
With Affinity Africa’s growth, Mouganie is transforming Ghana’s unbanked sector, one customer at a time. His digital bank is providing financial services to those who need it most, promoting financial inclusion and economic growth.
