Customer Insights from Borrowers in Nigeria Show SympliFi Helps People Grow their Businesses
May 15, 2023

Early in 2023, our partner CGAP, commissioned 60 Decibels, an Impact measurement firm, to survey SympliFi borrowers in Nigeria to help us understand our impact.

SympliFi is deeply anchored in its founding mission to create economic opportunity and accelerate financial inclusion by increasing access and decreasing the cost of credit for the millions of underbanked MSEs in emerging markets. Since it launched in 2021, SympliFi has pioneered a solution that enables underserved entrepreneurs  in Africa to get instant access to low interest credit by using their friends and family in the UK and EU (and soon the US) as digital guarantors on loans using the SympliFi app. The fully digital process is completed in seconds and the guarantor earns money for helping, while the borrower builds credit responsibly at much lower rates for income generating activities. 

 

To understand the scope of what SympliFi is trying to achieve, here is some context. Of the countries where SympliFi currently operates, Nigeria has the highest number of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa with 41.5 million MSMEs, the majority being microentrepreneurs. Only 11.4 percent of enterprises in Nigeria have access to a bank loan or line of credit, whereas 45% borrow from friends and family to meet their financing needs. More broadly speaking, over half of Nigeria’s adult population has no access to financial services.

So what did we learn about our impact?

💠We are increasing access to credit. 78% of borrowers surveyed accessed financial services for the first time and 91% said they could not find a good alternative.

💠We are helping people grow their business and creating economic opportunity. 82% reported that the money they earned from their businesses increased because of SympliFi.

💠We are improving wellbeing. 75% of borrowers reported improved quality of life.


Thanks to the 60 Decibels team and our partner CGAP for helping us on the journey to achieving our mission and measuring our impact!