Changing Economies for the Little Guy
On the panel, Fin and Tech for Good, Sofie spoke about the work of hiveonline in Niger and highlighting the importance of supporting the inspiring local women entrepreneurs.
In conditions in rural Niger, where entrepreneurship is less of a choice and more of a survival mechanism, the women are growing businesses through dedication, talent and skills. And in spite of such setbacks as limited formal education and minimal access to electricity, these women are strengthening their communities through hard work.
Alexandre Mars, Epic and blisce, said: “Short-term and one-off efforts are not enough anymore in light of what is happening in our society. We have a collective responsibility to do better. Companies are on the frontlines of making that change possible. They need to deliver a long-term vision about how they plan to positively impact the cities, countries and communities they operate in.”
hiveonline is one of the frontline companies striving to deliver that long-term vision. As Sofie said, “Our goal is to establish the distributed economy, where communities can take control of building businesses and wealth to create more sustainable environments.”
A Logical Way of Making Economies More Functional
hiveonline facilitates access to additional financial capital: working within local constraints to design a savings group platform tolerant of low connectivity and compatible with feature phones, able to work on being charged only once a week with a solar panel.
Once the communities get accessed to capital, the benefits multiply. The communities develop themselves through better infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
More on Paris Fintech:
Co-panelist on Fin and Tech for Good included: David Reiling, Sunrise Banks; Alexandre Mars, Epic and blisce; Emmalyn Shaw, Flourish Ventures. The debate was moderated by Ali Paterson, Fintech Finance.
Learn more about the Paris Fintech Forum here: https://parisfintechforum.com/
