Consolidating Mobility, Fintech Firms For Better Logistics Sector

When a transportation firm partners with a Fintech, there will be resonating experiences within all sectors touched by the logistics industry.

This is the summary of a recent synergy involving two firms involved in mobility and financial services. 

In a recent development, a mobility and Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure startup in Nigeria, Motor Africa, and OnePipe, a fintech, have launched lending as a service (LaaS) proposition to help mobility entrepreneurs gain access to working capital in the form of an overdraft to finance car repairs, purchase genuine spare parts, vehicle and personal insurance, smartphones, and cash for individual and family welfare support needs.

The technology, which generates analytical telemetry and remittance income data, assists registered lenders in making informed lending decisions while managing seamless credit repayments. 

Motor Africa, a trading name of Envio Logistics Inc., has activated more than 2,000 vehicles already on its platform and is now poised to enable those vehicle owners (who currently use the platform to lease their cars to verified drivers on e-hailing services and local transport services) have access to credit services.

This service manages driver repayments to the vehicle owner and provides car maintenance oversights at partnered workshops. 

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of envio Logistics Inc, Sylvester Chude, who has been an active participant in the mobility industry, stated that cooperating with OnePipe would facilitate automatic payout settlements to vehicle owners and lending partners.

“Commercial transportation is a crucial service for the growth of any economy, and the role of technology and innovation is essential for its success in Africa.”

Commercial mobility in Africa is estimated to be a $150 billion market according to an article by the AfDB and was expected to grow at 8.5 per cent between 2018 and 2023. 

The OnePipe CEO and founder said that working with Motor Africa will assist in addressing the challenges African mobility entrepreneurs experience when trying to get working capital financing. 

The platform is open to fleet operators who have previously leased cars to drivers providing various mobility services.

In addition, Chude confirmed that the objective of Motor Africa is to facilitate the participation of financial institutions and individuals in funding the car supply gap in order to increase mobility in Africa. 

The lending as a service infrastructure, which utilizes hybrid telemetry IOT systems, enables lending partners to create loan products with interest rates and repayment terms and manage credit requests, automatic underwriting, cash disbursement, and repayment collection.

The repayment collection service enables credit subscribers to make repayments via bank transfer to a dedicated repayment wallet before due dates, failing which the system will automatically disable the engine of the collateralized vehicle and share the geo-location with Motor Africa recovery agents in the event of a repayment default.

The Motor Africa service is recommended for hosts leasing out cars for e-hailing services or local last-mile transport services, drivers seeking cars on short-term lease or hire purchase, and financial institutions offering drive-to-own services or lending.

Motor Africa is now offering its services in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Benin, and Portharcourt, and aims to announce further locations in the second quarter of 2023.