The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has granted financial technology (fintech) services start-up Uhuru Innovative Solutions (Uhuru) regulatory sandbox testing approval.

The founders of Uhuru identified this problem but realised that it was only half of the issue, the other half was that many people living abroad didn’t have affordable means by which to send money home.

While the blockchain is often touted as a game-changing technology that is capable of disrupting traditional finance, it is yet to fulfil this promise.

It is well known that remittances have kept Sub-Saharan Africa ticking for many years. Millions have fled their countries of birth due to economic crisis or war crimes. Desperate to provide for their families they have braved new worlds, often finding themselves in nations where they do not so much as speak the language. As their families’ only hope, migrants have taken up menial jobs that local residents regard as beneath them. The majority of those significantly small wages are sent home every month. These salaries are what those left at home depend on for all their needs such as food, water, medical supplies, clothing, school fees and transport. In some instances, these funds are utilised to assist their loved ones to start informal businesses.

There has been an incredibly high mobile penetration in emerging markets over the last decade. Previously marginalised people can therefore now access financial services using mobile wallets offered by Telco’s as a result. People can perform person to person, person to merchant, person to agent transactions with mobile banking. These mobile wallets enable easier, safer, quicker, cheaper and more reliable money transfers over a long distance.