InfiBranches Technologies

OmniBranches was built to assist solar home systems and off-grid energy providers to bridge the gap of around 80million un-electrified Nigerians by listing their services, collect payments for energy subscription and product sales. 

OmniBranches' ultimate goals are to:

1. Establish a resourceful agent network system in Nigeria and Africa
2. Ensure that 90% of the vulnerable communities in Nigeria are financially included and have access to finance and off-grid energy
3. Contribute and ensure that our rural communities and surrounding populations are financially literate with sound product awareness
4. Systematically use digital financial service to promote gender equality and possibly close the financial inclusion gender gap through gender inspired products and services
5. Empower women, youth and physically challenged individuals
6. Create jobs, drive economic growth and development through Digital Finance Services
7. Help about 40.1m financially excluded Nigerians have access to a digital bank and 80m lacking electricity to meet their clean energy and financial needs.

According to EFiNA and WorldBank, out of Africa's 1.3B people, an estimated 600m have no access to electricity while over 800m are financially excluded and it is approximately 350m in Sub-Sahara Africa. The banking institutions contributed to this deprivation as it could only provide 4.44 bank branches per 100,000 people. Many rural households spend more than $6/month on Kerosene or battery powered torches making a compelling case for solar home systems. Renewable energy penetration is less 5% of the total market potential. 

OmniBranches is committed to solving the electrification gap problem for about 80 million Nigerians which has negatively contributed to a continuous increased unemployment, socio-economic degradation, security instability, environmental and health challenges. The lack of access to alternative energy generation and consumption such as renewable energy has contributed to the electrification gap in Nigeria and many parts of Africa are also a contributory factor to the gap. There is also an issue of affordability of renewable energy products and services as a result of no financing payment option or digital technology for such payment option for potential consumers. Lastly, product awareness and delivery is also part of the reason the renewable energy sector has garnered little traction in Nigeria.

OmniBranches, a digital agency banking platform which create access and convenience to service on behalf of service providers. It has an active twelve thousand plus (12,000+) agents on its network - which provides financial payments for value added services and products - has aggregated about fifteen (15) solar home systems and off grid energy providers, loan providers, agency banking institutions and logistics providers on its platform in order to make their products and services available to existing and new consumers - for easy energy accessibility, affordability, consumption continuity, seamless access to product financing, payments and delivery services - in the urban, peri-urban and rural area of the nation. This is to drastically close the electrification gap, improve the quality of life of an average consumer and increase provider’s and partners’ revenue generation while positively contributing to the socio-economic growth of Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

OmniBranches is currently serving the low-income, banked and the unbanked in the urban, peri-urban and remote areas, who are technologically deprived in the tech eco-system; and financially excluded in the financial sector and long neglected in the government's electrification programs in Nigeria. The platform also empowers the unemployed, especially women to sign up and work as OmniBranches agents to serve designated communities. The solution is poised to largely reduce the carbon footprint in Africa by making the accessibility, ownership and consumption of renewable energy seamless and affordable. It is positioned to serve as an extended point of sales for both small medium enterprise and corporate business entities thereby, helping them thrive in bolstering revenue generation and profit making. 

The problem and population our solution addresses and serves align with the challenge because it is a digital inclusion solution that focuses on the energy access and financial inclusion of the unbanked while driving the socio-economic and environmental development of low-income earners. We  do this by facilitating the improvement of livelihood through and providing energy and financial access to the last-mile consumers using technology and people.

This stage is selected because it is the current reality of OmniBranches. The solution went live since 2018 and has since garnered a staggering active 12,400 plus agents, and performed transactions - of varying types across 36 Nigerian states - worth of NGN 46Billion ( >$120m). 

Transaction breaks down:

We have a team of experts with years of experience building and supporting mobile financial service product across Africa. We have leveraged this knowledge by focusing on the users in our design and ensuring transparency and accountability in the final product while accelerating trust across the value chain. A distinctive factor for us is our dominance in the renewable energy sector where we have aggregated 21+ solar home system companies and mini-grids hence extending their services to the millions of Nigerians that are offgrid while also enabling access to financial services.

OmniBranches is able to serve as a point of sales for service providers including Off-Grid Energy providers with the provision of financing option for product/service purchase and ownership. 

It is also innovative due to its ability to leverage the USSD channel to serve customers in conditions where an agent's internet or phone type is an issue. This increases our reach to over 50 Million Nigerians who fall into this category. 

It provides an avenue for pension and insurance service providers to extend their service and premiums especially health and life insurance to rural communities hence attracting a new market segment. 

Our solution has also enhanced the collection of taxes by Government in several states creating visibility and transparency to both the government and the taxpayers.

• The current number of people: approx. 730,000
• The projected number of people in the next one year: 1,460,000
• The projected number of people in the next five years: 7,300,000

Our progress is measured by the following:

1. Number of agents onboarded (job creation).
2. Number of products sold (determines livelihood improvement and partner's revenue generation).
3. Number  of payment collected (determines livelihood improvement and partner's revenue generation).
4. Number of livelihood improved on products sold.
5. Number of livelihood improved on payments collections.
6. Number of state penetrated.
7. Number of local government locations penetrated.
8. Number of communities penetrated.
9. Number of internally displaced persons reached.
10. Number of partners onboarded/integrated with.
11. Value of solar product sold.
12. Value of solar subscription payment collected.
13. Amount paid in commission to agents.
14. Percentage distribution of states penetrated.
15. Percentage distribution of local government penetrated.

• Full-time staff - 13
• Part-time staff - 4 

OmniBranches is live and already in the market, garnering traction. Thanks to the unflinching commitment of our product development team as each team member immensely contributed to the success of the solution. 

Each of our team members has the requisite software development and marketing skillset and experience in sectors spanning IT, banking, insurance, health, pension, power(energy), customer care, etc. This contributed to the solution being developed to customer expectations. 

Facilitation workshops were conducted to understand, brainstorm, analyze and validate the product's functionalities/requirements. While the team adopted an agile solution development methodology in order to build and timely meet customer needs. 

It is exciting to say that the product management experienced resources on the team helped captured customer insights for the product while the resources with high design and software development skills designed and built the solution to specification. 

The OmniBranches leadership team adopts a detribalized system of recruitment that focuses on talent, competence, positive attitude. The leadership treats every team member equally regardless of title and competence level. and it also ensures there is significant inclusion of tech-driven women amongst the team and all major tribes in Nigeria even to the point of having Ghanaians, Ugandans and South Africans as team members. 

Having a diverse team fostered a knitted product development, business development and support team. It helps designate multi-lingual resource to help engage the customer with the language barrier while providing a first-hand understanding of the business dynamics in countries like Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Liberia, Zambia and South Africa.

We are applying to access the great minds within Solve and MIT networks who will mentor and coach us during this program. Omnibranches is presently in a growth stage and we are in dire need of strategic advice from experts, this would go a long way in propelling us to the next level.

With a clear roadmap of becoming the leader in the renewable energy industry, solving both payment and energy access problems we need financial support to achieve those plans. We are positive that a partnership with Solve will position us as an attractive candidate for investors.

Solve has the right partnerships that will give us access to relevant in-kind resources such as software licenses and legal services from Solve Member and partner organizations. We are excited to be a part of this.

We are open to new methods of doing things and getting the best hands into our business. We look forward to getting strategic advice from the Solve and MIT partners on the selected areas. 

• UN SDGs/Impact Organizations and Investors
• Atlassian
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Financial inclusion institutions
• Renewable energy companies
• Solar Home System (SHS) providers

Our mission is to provide access to products and services that impact lives through technology and people. Working with the highlighted partners will help advance our cause and improve the livelihoods of people who have been denied access to energy and financial services in Africa.

Our solution is a digital platform built to aid last-mile service delivery by creating access on behalf of service providers in unserved and underserved communities. We help to create a digital footprint for individuals who are financially excluded and those who need access to energy.

This help people within the rural and peri-urban locations to improve their economic activities and translate their wealth into the recognised means of tender. With access to energy, they are able to power their devices, light up their shops, preserve their wealth and allow their kids to study without the risk of CO2 emission from candles and other crude lighting sources.

This help reduce the overall poverty level, create more jobs and improve macro-economic activities within the communities