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Steve Agbota
Former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Uzoma Dozie, has launched a new financial technology (Fintech) company, known as Sparkle, to provide financial and lifestyle services to multi-million dollar retail sector in Nigeria.
According to him, Sparkle will tackle how retailers can achieve their daily objectives and scale their businesses, providing a suite of innovative lifestyle services, in addition to typical current and savings accounts that exist in the market.
“In particular, Sparkle will deliver customer experience-led support services, ranging from inventory management and invoicing statements to foreign exchange (forex) services and a POS-via-mobile function.
Dozie , who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sparkle, added: “Retailers and consumers in Nigeria are currently disconnected; Sparkle is building the solution around its understanding of the challenges of small businesses, which will help reduce the operational risks which small businesses are exposed to in their infancy. Sparkle is a product, a community, born out of necessity for Nigeria’s retail landscape. “We will connect millions of retailers on a digital platform, providing a service they can trust, that is seamless, and that allows for frictionless transactions across all activities and business services.
“Having spent more than 20 years building out the retail arm of Diamond Bank, it is clear that there is a significant gap in the market to incubate and roll out a new approach to services for retailers, and at scale; they need a financial and business services partner, not another finance platform. This is where we stand out from all others. Sparkle is a collaboration between retailer and customer – a support system that will ensure far greater financial inclusion and much improved access to market, built for many, built to scale”.
Dozie said Sparkle would release plug-in APIs for the platform, to enhance convenience and service, whereby outside developers can contribute and build solutions. He hinted that the company has also entered into partnerships with Visa, Network International, as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers and they will also be working with Microsoft.
“Retailers contribute 33 per cent to total GDP and 45 per cent of total employment in Nigeria and are a critical part of powering the Nigerian economy,. However services available to small businesses have not been best suited. Sparkle has identified lack of funding, poor access to market/network and lack of business training as the primary challenges for the sector, which is why the new platform will also provide access to mentorship and development.”
