About us – BaeMSME

Bae-MSME Fund has simplified Savings, and unlocked CHEAP Credit to give every Malawian access to financial opportunity

Join Thousands Registered Members Today & Begin to Thrive!

OUR FOCUS

We founded bae-MSME Fund to eliminate the HIGH COST bad debt creates on start-ups, informal businesses and small-scale entrepreneurs, and also reduce financial barriers women and youth often face to buy income-generating assets and thrive as business-owners.

We fulfill this mission by bringing a world-class voluntary digital savings platform to every person, every home and every business, that lets you access the capital you need to start-up and build a thriving business.

Mission

We’re on a mission to unlock a savings culture for youth and women by mobilizing voluntary savings that prepare Savers for a productive future. Funds are loaned to members to fund productive investments in growth enterprises, education and agriculture.

Vision

To be the most loved, inclusive mobile financial partner, developing appropriate products that seek to make a difference in the lives of ambitious young people and women at the bottom-of-the-pyramid, to satisfy the local demand for voluntary savings and micro-credit.

Values

Trust & Inclusiveness.
Integrity, Ethics & Transparency.
Innovation & Convenience.
Professionalism & Cooperation.
Customer First & Teamwork.
Leveraging technology to effect change and scale.

PRODUCT RANGE

According to a 2018 report by the Daily Times, quoting the Institute of Bankers in Malawi; 75% of Malawi’s population had no access to formal banking services. This revealed a staggering only 25% were banked. This informed us as to the extent of financial exclusion the country faces especially on the majority poor.

Further secondary research was a major eye-opener, as it pointed to the fact that YOUTH, WOMEN and Micro entrepreneurs, particularly those from urban slums faced tougher conditions to finance their businesses, since they lacked collateral, and if they accessed credit, it was at very high rates and faced a lengthy and inhuman waiting period.

Bae-MSME Fund was birthed to tackle the credit gap that exists, and eliminate cumbersome loan processes, by bringing a more human alternative, organized savings and lending platform. Join us today!

We support outcomes of 7 Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere
SDG 2 – End hunger,
SDG 3 – Ensure healthy lives,
SDG 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls
SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,
SDG 8 – Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all and
SDG 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Founder

Gaiton Muwowo

MBA, MCIM, Chartered Marketer

Gaiton is a chartered marketer by training and a social entrepreneur by passion. He’s a father of three, two girls and a boy. He has worked for several organizations in Malawi at middle and senior management level. Apart from Malawi, he has had a two-year work stint in Uganda.

Along the way, during the time he was working as a marketer making the usual sales and marketing errands, he observed that a lot of youth and women were predominantly doing piece- work and also engaged in informal businesses. You find these piece workers (Ganyu boys) or informal traders in slums of townships and wholesaling hub-towns like Limbe. These ‘youthful Ganyu’ persons, some of them are boys and girls who have done school certificate of education but do not have decent jobs. The women micro-entrepreneurs are hardworking business people, but they lack right resources to grow their business. The bottom-line is that without access to cheap credit and best business practices training, it is difficult for them to grow.

When Gaiton took a break from formal employment, he established a company focused on online magazine publishing, digital marketing, graphic design and print works. It is during this time that he experienced first-hand, how difficult it is for start-up entrepreneurs to access Credit in Malawi.

Gaiton applied for an overdraft facility at a local bank (Name withheld for obvious reasons) where he had transacted for an unbroken period of over 5 years, but his application was rejected on grounds that they wanted collateral and it had to be a house or a vehicle. That aside, after they received an application, they requested for business audited accounts and vehicle blue book to support the overdraft application. The vehicle was valued and inspection certificate submitted together with the accounts. The requested documents were submitted within 48 hours. It took several reminders for him to know the fate of the application.

The overdraft facility was just for $500. The communication about the rejection took forever and the problem that prompted the overdraft had long been sorted. The other striking issue was that the lending rate was 45%. The overdraft was supposed to finance an order for supply of calendars.

The idea of launching a for-profit financial platform that leverages on financial technology to deepen the values of self-help and togetherness was birthed. It ticked in his mind that if someone who had been in employment for over 10 years could have difficulty accessing an overdraft, what about the more than 80% small business owners who are unbanked in Malawi, like the millions of small business-owners we find in urban slums, rural areas and market women. Bae-MSME Fund was registered ready for the majority financially excluded Malawians.

Gaiton then arranged a meeting with; Bupe, Stella, Chikondi, and Christopher who are themselves small business owners and presented to them the services on offer and they joined as the first customers and a voluntary supervising committee of 5 youthful people was formed. They were excited for once at the prospect of a real opportunity to create the future they want without hassle. They immediately signed up as members of Bae-MSME Fund by completing membership forms. They appreciated the fact that so far in Malawi, no financial entity is tackling the credit gap small business owners face when staring-out. They also agreed with Gaiton that, indeed there was lack of flexible credit facilities for ambitious youth.

bae-MSME Fund was launched to help young people, WOMEN and micro-entrepreneurs to begin to Save money so that they can invest it and spend it productively in future and also to foster increased access to income generating assets that power their business through the lease-to-own credit model.

Bae-MSME Fund is a grassroots movement for ambitious youth and women who’re the majority underserved, and empowers members economically through mobilization of savings and provision of affordable borrow plans.

Here we are today! Stop borrowing money from family and friends, why should you put in question your dignity? You can SAVE and maintain your own non-withdrawable wallet using bae-MSME Fund products.

We derive pride from the overwhelming support we have received since inception from a dynamic youth and female community and Malawi Diaspora market segment. It is our goal to thrive as our clients thrive, through a tech-platform that captures urban and rural community.

Why Thousands Prefer bae-MSME Fund

The platform offers affordable borrow plans.
Personalized customer service.
It is an efficient digital service available to everyone
Fast borrowing, really fast at competitive rates.
Transparent pricing.

Start your journey to financial freedom.

Bae-MSME Fund MONEY PRINCIPLES

These principles guide us how we view money, investment, spending and improving life:

Most MSMEs are debt-burdened emanating from dependence on bank loans.
If borrowing from traditional banks worked and works well then noone would be losing assets such as houses and vehicles; check your newspapers daily and see the crisis LIVE
Saving money for productive future use is easier when you don’t feel it.
Money should be enjoyed when you’ve it.
Investing, spending feels better when you are free of guilt.
Investing into a business or project makes it much sweeter and stress-free.
The right information provides us the power and edge to make good decisions.
It’s not all debt that is bad. Bad Debt takes away your freedom and good debt sets you on a path to prosperity through investing in business and purchasing assets that help grow your business or dream project.
Technology can help us access services that were difficult to access in the past, just on touch of a button; you can join and start Saving; using a gadget in your hand- the Mobile Phone.
Borrowing money from family and friends can be cause of shame. In this generation, it should be last resort.
Innovation and product benefits bring satisfaction.
No one should be a slave to Bad Debt, that is if you were able to access it, as traditional financial institutions still offer prohibitive conditions and the application process can drag to over three months and all this just to be told that, your application was not considered.
You only light up your life when you begin to control your money.
One brick at a Time; Begin to make small SAVINGS today to build a productive and brighter future.

The Supervisory TEAM

Behind this Mobile and Standing Order-only Savings and Credit platform