Ezra, the leading microlending fintech, has partnered with Kacha Digital Financial Services S.C. and Global Bank of Ethiopia to launch a digital lending service in Ethiopia.A trailblazer in digital finance, Kacha is transforming the nation's financial sector. Licensed by the National Bank of Ethiopia, its scope of services also includes payments, airtime and currency exchange. This new partnership with Ezra reflects both companies’ shared commitment to providing inclusive services that empower financially underserved communities.Ezra has worked with Kacha to develop a Platform as a Service (PaaS) model which facilitates the seamless integration of credit solutions into Kacha’s wallet infrastructure. With Kacha as the customer-facing entity and Ezra as the technology and scoring provider, this partnership has been designed to provide individuals and MSMEs across Ethiopia with a simplified and affordable digital pathway to loan products.The collaboration was celebrated on Saturday, August 26th at an informative digital lending service workshop and formal agreement signing ceremony. It was attended by esteemed representatives and senior figures from public and private sector banks and microfinance institutions. The event reflected the overarching goals for the new partnership, with an emphasis on the importance of digitally accessible short-term loans for financially underserved individuals and MSMEs.Abraham Tilahun, CEO of Kacha, spoke at the event and underscored the transformative potential of digital lending in empowering end-users, and how this can contribute to economic growth and financial inclusion: "Our alliance with NIB International Bank and Global Bank Ethiopia, serving a combined customer base exceeding 4 million, aligns with the National Bank's initiatives to combat inflation. This partnership extends the reach of financial inclusion and makes credit services accessible to the mainstream economy." Sahilemichael Mekonen, Chief Retail Banking Officer at the Global Bank of Ethiopia (formerly Debub Global Bank), said: "Today's partnership aligns seamlessly with our unique five-year strategic plan. Through digitally accessible small loans and innovative remittance services, we are committed to fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as individuals contributing to the sustainable development of our nation." Dinko Svetic, Vice President of Growth at Ezra, said: “We are delighted to be embarking upon this vital journey with Kacha, Global Bank of Ethiopia, NIB International Bank and certainly more banks in the near future. At Ezra, our mission is to design, develop, and deliver lending solutions which meet the needs of financially underserved individuals across the world - and we are committed to this partnership and the difference it is going to make to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Ethiopia.”

Ezra, the microlending fintech which provides ‘easy and rapid’ credit solutions across Africa and emerging markets, has announced the appointment of Andrew Goodrich as its Chief Risk Officer. This appointment is a key milestone in Ezra’s ambitious expansion strategy to support the financially underserved in emerging economies.Bringing with him more than 30 years’ experience to the role, Andrew will oversee the data engineering, predictive analytics, and credit risk/fraud functions at Ezra, progressing, ensuring business optimisation is achieved through enhanced standardisation and credit risk management governance. In addition, he will be tasked with streamlining efficiencies within these functions across the many markets that Ezra operates.Andrew, who has spent much of his life in South Africa, will be based out of Ezra’s Dubai office. Prior to joining Ezra, Andrew held the position of BankTech Executive at MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator. During his tenure, Andrew was accountable for defining, establishing and driving the BankTech strategy, a new credit product unicorn vertical within MTN Group. Andrew has also worked as Credit Risk Director with JUMO, where he established the credit risk, prediction and fraud analytics structure, focused on standardisation, and drove enhanced prediction and credit risk value to the internal and external stakeholders.Some of Andrew’s other career highlights involve working for a number of start-ups. These include a niche credit risk solutions consultancy, which was successful in assisting several start-ups in South Africa, as well as an e-commerce / digital credit provider, and numerous fintech and finserv businesses throughout Africa and Asia.In his new role, Andrew will report directly to CEO, Erwan Gelebart, and will be part of the company’s leadership team.Commenting on his appointment, Andrew Goodrich said: “I’m excited to help drive a financial inclusion agenda with a forward-thinking company like Ezra. My mandate will cover the full spectrum of credit risk by serving financial credit in a responsible manner, especially in emerging markets, where we have an opportunity to help our customers to get their foot onto the financial services ladder. I relish driving a sustainable approach so that we can build long-term relationships with customers, supporting and providing them with relevant credit products.Overall, risk management is essential for maintaining the balance between providing access to credit and protecting both lenders and consumers. I am excited to help drive our company’s vision and, with our partners, leverage alternative credit scoring to make a difference to peoples’ lives.”Commenting on his appointment, Erwan Gelebert, CEO at Ezra said: “We are thrilled to welcome Andrew to the team. With decades of experience in the consumer finance and financial services industry, Andrew will play an integral role in helping to fortify our presence, especially in emerging markets where we work with banks, telecoms, mobile wallets and utilities, to help companies to innovate faster and fulfil their customer needs at scale.”