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Dear all - I'm Julia, the founder of Zidisha. I'd welcome comments and questions from anyone who would like to learn more about our P2P microlending platform. If you'd like to hear more about my own journey and the experiences that lead to the founding of Zidisha, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-kurnia/why-i-founded-zid...
Just a note that the default tweet is actually too long and needs to be manually edited.
thanks
Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the Zidisha statistics page† it says you have roughly 10% default rate but only 5% average interest rate. So if I make 10 loans of $1000 each, I expect to make $450 in interest and lose $1000 in principal to a default. That is a negative expected return. Why are Zidisha lenders willing to accept such terms? It seems like the interest rates should be higher given the risk of delinquency or default. † https://www.zi…
According to their FAQ [1], Zidisha is a charity, not a place to put your money if you want to get a return. (It would be interesting to compare social-impact-per-dollar of Zidisha versus, e.g. GiveDirectly [2], one of the best-known ways of doing good in the developing world [3].) [1]: https://www.zidisha.org/microfinance/faq.html - look for the question "Why does the Zidisha website not track the precise financial…
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So basically, I make a loan and then if the entrepreneurs makes a repayment, Zidisha can choose to give me my money as a "promotional gift." But wouldn't lenders have to pay taxes on their "promotional gifts"? And aren't I getting taxed on my entire loan (principal and interest), not just my interest income like with a normal loan?
I don't get it... why structure things this way?
Hi Paul, First of all, I would like to commend your worthy contribution to the good work the people at Zidisha are doing. There is something I want to draw to your attention to(searched and did not find your email) I am wondering how to balance the stereotyping to the "African Entrepreneur" while at the same time not forgetting the millions of small scale business owners in Africa. When I first saw the headline, I wa…
Part of what I like so much about YC is that we are open to entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world. In fact, the latest batch has founders from 23 different countries: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/411897120572989440 I think we've had Nigerian founders in the past, and I'd love to see more African entrepreneurs in the program. I believe it benefits everyone to have a more diverse set of perspectives in the batch…
Then again, reforming the business environment in many developing countries to make it an attractive destination for modest-sized equity investments in SMEs might prove a even bigger challenge than reforming US immigration...
I find the effort here commendable, but it will probably not take a very long time for these guys to realize that "Africa is not a country" . I'm Nigerian, and I have been to a few African countries. First of all the challenges you have to overcome while doing business in Nigeria alone, varies wildly from one City to another. Now comparing that to East Africa for example, the difference is night and day. It may serve…
We chose Kenya as the first country to pilot Zidisha, largely because it was the world leader in mobile phone-based payments, which we use to disburse the loans and receive payments electronically. Also, internet and Facebook penetration was especially high in Kenya, and that made it easy for many people to adopt and share our service.
We currently offer loans in these countries:
Benin Burkina Faso Ghana Guinea Indonesia Kenya Niger Senegal Zambia
I find the effort here commendable, but it will probably not take a very long time for these guys to realize that "Africa is not a country" . I'm Nigerian, and I have been to a few African countries. First of all the challenges you have to overcome while doing business in Nigeria alone, varies wildly from one City to another. Now comparing that to East Africa for example, the difference is night and day. It may serve…
If anyone reading this is interested check out the book "Success in Africa" to get an in depth look into the perception of Africa as a single homogenous place.
Why didn't you guys opt for the profit-sharing philosophy?
Contract laws in some countries can turn some entrepreneurs insolvent because of interest, but profit-sharing won't have such a devastating impact.
I'd help, but not under compound interest restrictions.