Dala, a crypto-token designed to enable instant, zero-fee, borderless micropayments, and Wala, a blockchain-powered financial services platform for the unbanked and underbanked announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with Block Commodities Limited, a commodity trader operating across Africa, listed on the Nex Exchange in London (BCLL), and FinComEco Limited, a fully integrated financial and commodities ecosystem fostering financial inclusion with social responsibility throughout the agricultural value chain.
Dala, Wala, Block Commodities Limited and FinComEco will work together in this unique partnership to develop and operate a range of platforms, projects, and initiatives in the agricultural commodity markets sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
Beginning the end of the month, Block Commodities Limited and FinComEco will provide 100,000,000 Dala token loans (equivalent to $10M USD) to 50,000 smallholder farmers starting in Uganda to purchase fertilizer, and in time, the same will be provided to local farmers in South Africa, Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The goal is to empower smallholder farmers with fertilizer to maximize the value of their agricultural output by providing access to financing and tracking their commodities through blockchain technology platforms. The partnership provides a solution to the lack of affordable and accessible financial services faced by many in the industry. ”
“This is a huge opportunity and potential reset for finance in Africa, and we are very excited to be apart of this,” said Chris Cleverly, CEO of Block Commodities Limited. “It’s a giant step in the right direction to tackle and solve the financial inclusion problem that impacts half the world’s population.”
This innovative partnership enabling agricultural finance on the blockchain will be enhanced by existing Dala and Wala partnerships with Mvendr, a mobile point-of-sale service for small merchants, and Spazapp, an e-commerce management platform for small merchants to manage and purchase new inventory from wholesalers and brands. The Mvendr and Spazapp networks provide Wala users with the capability to transact and cash in/cash out with Dala at over 100,000 merchants throughout Africa. These partnerships further expand Dala payment capabilities for consumers, merchants, and suppliers, and form important parts of the fast-growing Dala ecosystem.
“The partnerships we’re announcing today showcase the innovative possibilities being created with blockchain technology to help empower the 3.5 billion ‘unbanked’ and underserved consumers worldwide,” commented Tricia Martinez, director of the Dala Foundation and founder and CEO of Wala. “In agriculture, retail, enterprise and other industries, partnerships like these are helping us move consumers throughout Africa closer to financial prosperity, eliminating the traditional gap between consumers and financial service providers.”