The second edition of the African Microfinance Week (referred to as SAM according to the French acronym) was hosted in Dakar Senegal, from the 29th of June to the 3rd of July 2015. SAM, which started three years ago was designed to be a place where all of Africa’s inclusive financial professionals meet and exchange ideas. Today, it is forum which actively promotes and accelerates financial inclusion and economic growth on the continent. The event brought together microfinance players from the entire industry (investors, MFIs, researchers, banks, networks just to name a few) making this a unified African platform to exchange and reflect on the industry. This year’s event was characterized by a diversity of side events (panels) and the newly introduced Innovation Fair. For Musoni, the event was perfectly in line with its strategy of expanding to West Africa.

Musoni was invited to speak on a panel about the Musoni App. Speaking on the theme, “A human-centered approach to design digital financial products for small holders”  Musoni’s CEO, Cameron Goldie-Scot reiterated the importance of understanding the needs of the customer during the creation of digital financial products. [testimonial_slider autorotate=””] [testimonial name=”Cameron Goldie-Scot, CEO Musoni” quote=”Field Officers were actively involved in the creation process of the Musoni App” id=”t1″] [/testimonial_slider] [image_with_animation animation=”Fade In” image_url=”https://musonisystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/20150701_115312.jpg” delay=””] [/image_with_animation]He explained how Musoni used the human-centered approach to design the Musoni tablet app ( for field officers) and the newly launched ‘Client Facing App’ (for end customers). The presentation unveiled the steps taken during the creation of the app. Field officers were part of the design team and their feedback was used to develop the Musoni app.  Being part of the panel offered Musoni a great exposure in West Africa and provided the opportunity for the audience to learn about the Musoni System.

The end of this plenary session ushered in the opening of the Innovation Fair. The Innovation Fair (which was a combination of two areas: a presentation area and a meeting area with exhibition stands), offered the opportunity to meet and acquire feedback on how to tailor the system to meet the needs of MFIs in West Africa. [image_with_animation animation=”Fade In” image_url=”https://musonisystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2015-07-20-13.52.09_resized.jpg” delay=””] [/image_with_animation]

Currently, Musoni is working on the french version of the Musoni System as a result of the feedback from french speaking MFIs from Senegal, Benin, Congo, Burkina Faso just to name a few. More so, the event provided an opportunity for all the innovators to exchange ideas about their products and their efforts to facilitate financial inclusion in rural Africa. The event was a success and we are looking forward to the next African Microfinance Week.