By Mark Kawalya
Nexen is a microcredit institution that is among the few in Uganda that adopts a purely cashless model of carrying out its credit offering processes.
Founded in 2016, the Fintech supports micro-enterprises and has developed a hassle-free credit system that is bolstered by advanced financial services technology.
Although Uganda is still classified as one of the underdeveloped countries, the country is home to a young population that ranks highest globally in entrepreneurship. The resulting opportunity for financing is what drives companies like Nexen to make attempts at tapping into this market.
Nexen offers low-interest credit to these low-income entrepreneurs, with amounts ranging from $150 to $8,000 with repayment periods running from one month to twelve months.
Repayment terms are tailor-made to suit the repayments of the clients after an in-depth analysis and understanding of their personal and business needs.
Loan applicants are also put through a round of training to upscale their financial literacy skills, which helps them effectively make use of the loan facility to grow their business.
Co-founded by Joseph Lukalu and Ivan Mandela, Nexen, which is a contraction of “Next Generation” plans to transition from a microcredit institution into a fully-fledged bank that will tailor its services to ordinary Ugandans who, many times, are not able to fully meet the prerequisites of mainstream banks. The firm aims to achieve this ambitious goal by leveraging technology and relying on its client-centric growth approach.
Nexen offers various credit packages that spell out different terms based on the worth of the business as follows:
The starter offering is the Karibu package that is offered to new clients with businesses that have $550 in stock. The loan bracket is between $250 to $500, payable within 3 months at 8% interest.
Tambula is a loan package that is given to repeat clients that have three cycles with businesses holding $550. Loans range from $500 to $4000 with a lower interest rate of 5% payable for up to 12 months.
The Weyagale loan package is disbursed to clients with 6 borrowing cycles having businesses with $2500 in stock. The loan range is between $2000 to $8000 with a 3.5% with a payment period up to 12 months.
The last package is the Nexen Xpress category, offered to new clients with $400 in stock and loan amounts averaging between $150 to $400 at 12% interest payable within 2 months.
Since its inception, the firm has disbursed more than 8,000 loans across the various packages.
