Many young corporates harbour dreams that would satisfy their heart’s desires. They would like to have nice cars, trendy phones, beautiful TV sets, durable furniture, name it!

But their meagre salaries are only enough for their daily essential needs. So, they keep dreaming! 

However, PayLater Uganda has come to make these dreams a reality by introducing an online buy-now-pay-later model of property acquisition.

Started in 2021, this e-commerce platform has made it easy for Ugandans to purchase commodities ranging from electronics to kitchen appliances to smartphones to furniture, car tyres to beauty products at their own pace and convenience.

“It is a fact that most Ugandans cannot afford to buy genuine commodities in one go. So, we introduced this digital lease-to-own platform where they can pay in installments and acquire the property of their dreams,” says Aaron Kasozi, the PayLater CEO.

Convenient 

Kasozi says that they have about 15 approved suppliers of genuine branded products. So, if someone wants a product, they just visit www.paylaterug.com  where all product categories are listed. 

The customer just needs to create an account, generate password and then apply for a product of their choice. Then the system picks customer details such as employment, how much they earn, next of kin, residential address, among others.

“Once the application is received, we have to vet the customer through the Know-Your-Customer system where they are asked for a copy of national ID, bank statement and other documented income sources and work ID. If a customer passes the credit rating process, then we can go to the next step,” he says.

Once vetting is done, the customer is contacted and written to formally to tell them whether they qualify for a product or not.

“If they qualify, we sign a contract with the client and we engage the supplier and the customer pays the initial deposit. We break down the value of the product into six equal installments to ensure that the client pays up within six months,” Kasozi says, noting that only digital payments are accepted through FlexiPay, Visa, Mastercard and mobile money. They don’t accept cash at all.

Kasozi further explains that they work within a 30% rating whereby if someone earns Shs 1m per month, they should only qualify for a product where they will need to make monthly remittances of Shs 300,000.

To reduce risks, Kasozi says they work hand-in-hand with the credit reference bureau but also mainly focus on people in employment where due diligence can easily be done. So far, more than 300 people have been able to own different products through this platform.

“It is very promising. We have had over 190,000 website hits and every month we get over 800 applications. Unfortunately, most of them do not qualify,” he said, before complimenting the 40Days40FinTechs initiative for extending a helping hand to startups that normally do not have the resources for marketing, customer education and awareness.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

PayLater is the 11th participant in Season Three of the #40Days40FinTechs initiative that seeks to shine a light on the unique stories about innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space.

The initiative is run by HiPipo in partnership with the Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies with support from the Gates Foundation.

According to the HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, initiatives such as PayLater are testament to the rising cases of adoption of online trading and other digital financial services.

“PayLater is a well-thought-out initiative because it touches the nerve of many young people. Many people are looking out for genuine products that they can acquire conveniently and PayLater provides just that,” Kawooya said.

He further called on digital innovators and FinTechs around East Africa to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. The Observer

More than 6.6 million votes in 15 battleground counties hold key to who between Deputy President William Ruto and Azimio flagbearer Raila Odinga will win the presidential elections.

The figures released on Wednesday night by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission have defined the regions Ruto and Raila must concentrate on to win the 6.6 million votes in the swing counties, even as parties ensure their strongholds remain intact.

Based on recent political trends and previous presidential results, Kakamega, Narok, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Kajiado, Turkana, Samburu and Nairobi are swing counties with 6,664.368 votes.

Ruto and Raila are therefore expected to engage in a political battle which observers say will not only be bruising, but demanding and expensive as they unleash resources that could make this the most expensive campaign in Kenya’s history.

The political battle for the swing counties will decide who wins majority of the 22,120,458 registered voters.

Whereas Kenya Kwanza Alliance has 19 counties as their strongholds, Azimio boasts 13 areas they expect to sweep almost all presidential votes.

Ruto and Raila need to muster over half of the 6.6 million votes in the 15 counties earmarked as swing counties.

Kenya Kwanza has identified Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Kiambu, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Baringo, Laikipia, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu, Bungoma, Kericho and Bomet as safe counties, where it has a commanding presence.

For Azimio, Vihiga, Busia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Taita Taveta and Mombasa are taken as their strongholds.

Kenya Kwanza Alliance, according to Belgut MP Nelson Koech, insists that Vihiga, Mombasa and Makueni with a combined 1,431,357 registered voters — are also swing counties, making the total number of votes up for grabs 8,095,725.

"We have made significant inroads in the three counties and they are no longer Azimio zones, we are nearly 50-50 now or by the time of polls," said Koech.

Uhuru won the 2017 elections with 8,203,290 against Raila’s 6,762,224. However, the Azimio flagbearer led in 26 out of 47 counties.

In 2017, Raila led in the counties of Kilifi (274,179), Uhuru (49,575), Kakamega (483,157) Uhuru (63,399), Kwale (138,565) Uhuru (43,694) and Bungoma (284,786) Uhuru (126,475). 

However, the political moves by ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula and Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi have significantly changed the political arithmetic in the four counties and might complicate things for Raila.

Nairobi County, with 2,251,929 registered voters, is the biggest swing bloc that the DP and the Azimio flagbearer are keen to bag. In 2017, Raila got 828,826 while Uhuru garnered 791,291 votes. - Jacob Ngetich, The Standard