Cellulant: Connecting Africa with Blockchain Technology

At Endeavor, we believe: To understand impact, you need to go beyond numbers and look to people. We’re proud to share what impact means to Endeavor’s network through stories of the people powering big ideas, and the lives Endeavor Entrepreneurs have transformed. These are Endeavor’s Faces of Impact. 

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Cellulant is a digital payments service provider — but founders Ken Njoroge and Bolaji Akinboro maintain that the company’s core mission is really all about connecting African consumers to what matters to them. In regions where financial inclusion is limited, mobile money promises a lower-cost, more scalable alternative to traditional banking. With its digital payments platforms, Cellulant is formalizing previously informal markets and opening new doors for merchants, banks, farmers, mobile operators, and microentrepreneurs.

Tens of millions of farmers across the continent use Cellulant’s blockchain-enabled technology to connect to markets, helping them sell their goods widely, more easily, and at a fair price — increasing their income by an average of over $1,000.

Cellulant’s technology is also creating new jobs and democratizing access to banking by empowering micro-entrepreneurs to set up “Neighborhood Banker” kiosks, which provide financial services such as loans, cash withdrawal, and bill payment in historically unbanked communities — a win-win situation.

“I had spent many weeks visiting firms that promised to help with job placements for recent graduates without success,” said Emmanuel, a Neighborhood Banker who was unable to find a job after graduating from college. “I am so happy that now I have a source of livelihood that allows me to live comfortably and enables me to help other young people get jobs and become financially stable.”