Why African Banks Reject Borrowers They Don’t Understand with Dalumuzi Mhlanga
Unlocking AfricaPlay episode
Show notes
Episode 243 with Dalumuzi Mhlanga, Founder and CEO of Notto, an alternative credit bureau building the infrastructure to help financial institutions assess creditworthiness and expand responsible lending across Africa.
Dalumuzi has more than a decade of experience spanning telecommunications, technology and international development, working at the intersection of data, systems and economic opportunity. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MSc and MBA from the University of Oxford. Through Notto, he is helping lenders understand financial behaviour that conventional credit records often overlook, including rent, utility payments and mobile money activity. Operating across South Africa and Zimbabwe, Notto has analysed more than one billion transaction records to support more informed lending decisions.
In this episode, Dalumuzi examine why access to credit remains restricted even when banks have money available to lend, and what happens when economically active people and businesses remain invisible to conventional credit systems. He explains why adopting alternative data is increasingly an implementation challenge, examining what banks need to change across risk management, compliance and decision making to turn better information into meaningful access to finance.
Are African banks rejecting risky borrowers, or borrowers they simply do not understand?Could paying your rent and electricity bills reveal more about your creditworthiness than a conventional credit score?If banks have money to lend, why is better financial data still failing to unlock credit?Will alternative credit scoring open doors for excluded borrowers, or create new ways to shut them out?How many viable African businesses never get the chance to grow because lenders cannot see their economic potential?Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss Moove, Flutterwave and LemFi: Inside Silverbacks Holdings Investment Strategy? Make sure to check it out!
Many of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group:
www.etkgroup.co.uk
info@etkgroup.co.uk
