British International Investment

MoneyFellows

North AfricaCommunications & IT services

MoneyFellows is a group lending and savings platform in Egypt, which has has digitised the concept of ‘money circles’. Its mobile-based platform has made it more scalable, safe, and efficient.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

This investment is part of our 'VC Scale-up' strategy to support the growth of the most impactful companies in our venture capital funds portfolio. Our investment in MoneyFellows aims to improve economic opportunities for financially excluded individuals in Egypt via improved access to finance.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Sustained and potentially improved economic opportunities for individuals, via increased access to a more affordable and diverse set of financial products (SDG 8.10)

How?

Primary Secondary
  • Direct:MoneyFellows digitises traditional Egyptian money circles to meet the financial needs of its clients in a safe, affordable and convenient way. It offers individuals digital savings, loan products, with payment and 'Buy now, Pay later' (BNPL) products under development. These products increase and maintain household well-being and resilience by growing and protecting savings, enabling productive investments, managing cashflows and saving time. Digital finance service access can also be used to secure access to basic goods/services such as energy, food, education and healthcare.
  • Catalysing markets: If MoneyFellows can reach profitable scale, it has the potential to disrupt the traditional 'Rotating Savings and Credit Association' (ROSCA) market in Egypt.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Customers

Egypt, mostly concentrated in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria

At the point of investment, company data suggests that 76% of the client base is financially excluded and 44% female. We estimate that c.35% of clients are low-income defined as living below $5.50 per person per day (2017 PPP).

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

The number of users is expected to grow from c.250k around the time of our investment to 1 million by the end of 2024.

  • Depth: MoneyFellows’ low cost of capital allows it to offer lower implied APRs and higher savings rates to customers, compared to banks.
  • Duration: The benefits of financial services are likely to sustain beyond the duration of our investment.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial: Capital is not offered in sufficient quantity.
  • Value: Improvement of processes, practices or standards. We will support MoneyFellows' financial consumer protection policies and procedures.

Impact score

Impact score (at point of investment)

The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here.

The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party.

7

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.

  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We partnered with our fund manager to co-invest in this company, including by relying on our fund manager's ESDD.

Environmental and social risk

Low

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]

  • Key facts

    First published

    When the investment was first published on the website database.

    :
    October 2023
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D5445
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    North Africa
    Country

    The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.

    :
    Egypt
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Communications & IT services

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Equity
    Start date :
    June 2023
    Amount :
    $2.5m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    Egypt

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