Small and large-scale logistics players across Africa and other emerging markets struggle to access working capital credit to fulfil the growing demand. African e-logistics companies play a key role in reducing transport costs and delays while improving the quality of service along transport corridors. Logistics startup Thumeza has announced a partnership with Lori Systems which will provide their transport customers with additional access to working capital financing. Thumeza says the partnership will lower the barrier to working capital credit experienced by SME transporters, allowing them to grow their businesses and serve more enterprises.
“We (Thumeza) are incredibly excited to be joining forces with Lori Systems to lower the barriers to credit within the
Gugu Siso, Thumeza CEO
logistics sector. Working with entities like Lori Systems, who partner with thousands of small scale transporters, allows us to maximize our impact on the SMEs who provide logistical services for more than 80% of trade across Africa. With this first foray into Kenya out of the SADC region, we are excited to take another step toward our global ambitions.”
Thumeza provides working capital solutions for the logistics sector with a revenue model based on collecting a commission for facilitating every transaction on its platform. The startup seeks to be a custodian between transporters and financial partners while providing financiers with sufficient real-time accurate operational history on transporters’ activities to enable an easier, risk-managed flow of funds.
Founded in 2018, Thumeza has gone through various transitions from providing last-mile delivery to providing large enterprises with access to small-scale transporters. With that hands-on experience in the logistics sector, they are able to offer data-powered working capital solutions that are tailored for logistics players be they large or small. With contracts from entities such as the United National Development Programme, Pick n Pay, as well as small-scale transporters, they are active in Zambia, Zimbabwe and with this recent announcement, Kenya with an eye to expanding their presence in Africa by targeting South Africa next.
“Lori’s mission is to drive down the cost of goods in frontier markets. Our marketplace provides transparency and leverages data to create an efficient logistics ecosystem. Thumeza’s use of our platform to drive data-driven lending fits into our strategy to expand our platform offerings and to ensure transporters can access the financial services they need to increase truck utilisation. We’re excited about the Thumeza partnership and look forward to continuing
Andrew Nyale, Lori’s East Africa General Manager
to unlock the $180B logistics opportunity.”
Lori Systems is the leading e-logistics platform in Africa and seamlessly coordinates haulage in frontier markets. Lori Systems has been at the forefront of digitizing logistics on the continent and has successfully driven efficiency across the fragmented East and West African markets by digitizing discovery and by providing end-to-end visibility for customers and transporters, achieving clients’ savings of up to 20%. Lori Systems has built a network of thousands of vetted transporters to move cargo across 12+ countries.
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