By Mark Kawalya
A challenge faced across the board by many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania is reconciling the countless cash movements that occur in and out of the business. Processes like buying inputs, paying salaries, utility payments, tax and license obligations, along with a myriad of other cash flows, can be difficult to unify into a single system that can be a tool that benchmarks the company’s performance.
At the core of many businesses is the ability to secure their supply of inputs (buying) and to collect revenue (selling). ClickPesa, a Tanzanian startup, has a platform that facilitates these transactions and connects to existing mobile money wallets and bank accounts to enable these payments.
Co-founded by Richard Lema and Rick Groothuizen, the firm created a product that reduces the complexities in transactions through extensive conversations with entrepreneurs. This enabled the startup to create solutions that boost firms’ productivity while cutting costs. ClickPesa offers the following products.
E-Invoice
Running a business involves dealing with clients, which further involves providing invoices. ClickPesa provides a simple e-invoice solution that is suited for businesses that sell products or services both domestically and internationally.
Generating an invoice is easy and quick, giving businesses the option to receive payments using an existing bank account or directly into their ClickPesa account.
E-Bureau de Change
This is a solution that allows businesses to digitally exchange currencies remotely. For example, you may wish to change the funds in your wallet from USD to TZS. The firm offers SMEs good conversion rates through a live exchange rate comparison with banks. The firm has plans to introduce more currencies dependent on the demand for them.
In-store and online payments
This service is targeted at businesses that have physical stores or use the internet to sell their goods or services. The solution is appropriate for automating receipt of payments that ClickPesa handles on behalf of the client. The service provides a single unified infrastructure for accepting multiple payment channels.
Bulk Payments
As a business grows and its volume of transactions increase, many businesses hire an accountant to handle the transactions. ClickPesa provides an alternative solution which handles a business’s accounts, enabling bulk payouts to be made with a single click. With this feature, businesses can reduce costs and eliminate the possibility of making payment errors.
In 2019, the firm partnered with Dutch payment facilitator Ai2 to provide Tanzanian farmers in the agriculture and horticulture sectors with a cheaper and quicker way to receive payments from Europe. The partnership created value for the farmers, enabling them to collect payments directly without using middlemen.
