Untapped Partners with Teliman to Finance Moto-Taxi Drivers in Mali.
Partnership expands financing options for African SMEs through Smart Asset Financing™
(Bamako, Mali, February 2021) Untapped Global is excited to announce its new partnership with Teliman — the first on-demand moto-taxi service in Bamako, Mali. Founded in 2018 by Abdoulaye Maiga and Hawa Traoré, Teliman connects urban commuters with professional drivers in Africa’s fastest-growing capital.
Teliman’s homegrown approach is an economically-adapted solution to a local problem. Maiga and Traoré observed that Mali was lacking the transportation and infrastructural options to meet the mobility needs of its growing population. Their approach was two fold — aggregate features of the motor taxi-solution established in other African markets, and formalize the industry to provide value for both passengers and drivers.
Teliman recruits and trains drivers, creating a formal workforce of franchisee drivers. 73% of Mali’s population works in the informal sector, meaning most lack the credit history to access bank loans, so drivers often resort to renting motorcycles which comes with a heavy financial burden. Teliman’s model allows motorcycle drivers to pay back their loan against a revenue-generating asset and gain equity in the business. Additionally, through their lease-to-own asset financing model, drivers can fully acquire their quality and low-fuel consumption motorcycles after a two-year lease period.
“Teliman has created nearly 400 quality jobs drivers and has generated over $650,000 in revenue for them,” said Kaivan Sattar, Founder and CTO of Teliman. “We hope to expand into other West African markets and take on 400 new drivers by the end of 2021. This partnership with Untapped provides the capital needed to increase capacity and gain strategic market share.”
Untapped Global finances revenue-generating assets for entrepreneurs and SMEs, from small pilots to scale-ups in a range of sectors including water, mobility, energy, and agro-processing, via a network of local operators all over Africa. Teliman will use Untapped’s Smart Asset Financing™ investment platform to facilitate growth for entrepreneurs in its operating markets. Smart Asset Financing™ leverages IoT technology to make investments safer and more profitable by tracking assets and capturing revenue in real-time.
“We’re pleased to partner with Teliman,” ays Jim Chu, CEO at Untapped Global. “We’re expanding our Smart Asset Financing model to bring more capital to more companies like Teliman that have the technology, assets, and know-how to scale their operations, but need the right capital to do it.”
About Untapped Global
Based in San Francisco with teams in East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe, Untapped Global is reshaping profitable investing in frontier markets. On a mission to empower the next billion entrepreneurs to scale to their full potential, Untapped creates opportunity by connecting frontier market innovators to global investors through its Smart Asset Financing™ platform that provides CAPEX financing for revenue-generating assets all over Africa.
About Teliman
Teliman is the very first Malian start-up offering a professional motorcycle-taxi service in Bamako via a network of trained and equipped drivers, a mobile application, a call-center, geo-location, and insurance in case of an accident. Teliman provides an affordable and efficient means of transport to get passengers to their desired destination avoiding traffic jams and ensuring maximum safety on the road. We have demonstrated strong growth potential with a scalable model. Our activities include the financing and provision of motorbikes, protection kits, insurance, and connection platform to boda-boda drivers based in Bamako.
Inquire about your asset financing needs at deals@untapped-global.com to get funded.
