Africa’s Tech Growth Stories: Watu
Founded in 2015, Watu set out to address a critical gap in emerging markets: the lack of access to financing for income-generating assets among entrepreneurs in the informal economy. In this interview, Deputy CEO Paras Patel discusses how the company has grown into a global asset-financing platform—supporting mobility, connectivity, and sustainable economic participation across Africa and Latin America.
Founded in 2015, Watu set out to address a critical gap in emerging markets: the lack of access to financing for income-generating assets among entrepreneurs in the informal economy. In this interview, Deputy CEO Paras Patel discusses how the company has grown into a global asset-financing platform—supporting mobility, connectivity, and sustainable economic participation across Africa and Latin America.
Can you tell us how Watu was created and what inspired its founding?
Watu was founded in 2015 with a simple but important observation: across many emerging markets, millions of hardworking people are excluded from traditional financial systems despite having the ability and motivation to build sustainable livelihoods.
In East Africa in particular, motorcycles and three-wheelers are not just vehicles; they are income-generating tools that enable mobility services, logistics, and access to markets. However, most entrepreneurs operating in the informal economy cannot access the financing required to purchase these assets.
Watu was created to bridge that gap. The company began by financing motorcycles for boda-boda (two-wheeler taxi) riders in Kenya and has since evolved into a global asset-financing platform focused on productive assets and connectivity tools. Our goal has always been to enable individuals to participate more fully in the economy by providing access to the tools they need to earn.
Today, that approach has expanded across multiple markets and asset categories, but the core principle remains the same: unlocking opportunity for the underserved through responsible access to productive assets.
What services does Watu offer, and in which countries does it operate?
Watu provides financing for income-generating and productivity-enhancing assets, primarily targeting entrepreneurs in the informal economy who may not have access to traditional credit.
Our core financing solutions include motorcycles and three-wheelers, electric mobility solutions, and smartphones. Through these products, we help individuals build livelihoods while contributing to broader economic activity in the markets where we operate.
Since our founding, Watu has expanded significantly and now operates across ten markets in Africa and Latin America, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and several other regional markets.
Across these markets, we have disbursed millions of loans and extended over USD 1 billion in financing, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses while contributing to local economic ecosystems.
Could you tell us more about how you are driving sustainable mobility, especially through electric vehicles?
Sustainable mobility is becoming increasingly important across emerging markets, particularly in rapidly growing urban centers where motorcycles and three-wheelers play a central role in transport and logistics.
At Watu, our approach is to work closely with technology providers, manufacturers, and battery-swap operators to make electric mobility viable for everyday entrepreneurs.
Electric motorcycles can significantly reduce fuel costs for riders while lowering emissions in cities. However, adoption requires an ecosystem that includes charging or battery-swap infrastructure, reliable technology, and accessible financing.
Watu contributes by providing financing solutions that allow riders to transition to electric vehicles without prohibitive upfront costs, while our partners focus on technology and energy infrastructure.
We have already financed electric motorcycles across several East African markets, and we believe the transition toward cleaner mobility solutions will continue to accelerate as technology improves and operating economics become even more attractive for riders.
What do you think are the key factors behind Watu’s success so far?
Several factors have contributed to Watu’s growth.
First, we focus on productive assets rather than consumption lending. The assets we finance are typically tools of trade that enable customers to generate income, which aligns incentives between the customer and the financier.
Second, we operate with a strong emphasis on data and operational discipline. Serving customers in informal markets requires deep local understanding and robust risk management frameworks.
Third, partnerships have been critical. We work closely with dealers, mobility platforms, technology providers, and financial partners to build ecosystems that support both access and sustainability.
Finally, we place the customer at the very heart of everything we do. Every product we create, and the way we thoughtfully structure it, is born directly from a deep understanding of our customers’ needs, aspirations, and challenges. Their experiences inspire our innovation, their voices shape our decisions, and their trust fuels our commitment to continually serve them with purpose, care, and unwavering dedication.
In 2025, Watu began expanding into Latin America. Could you tell me more about your expansion in the region?
Our expansion into Latin America reflects similarities we see between several African and Latin American markets.
In many countries across the region, smartphones play an important role in supporting small businesses, logistics services, and digital participation. At the same time, access to financing for these assets remains limited for many entrepreneurs.
Latin America therefore represents a natural extension of Watu’s model. Our goal is not simply geographic expansion, but the replication of a financing platform that supports entrepreneurship and economic participation in underserved markets.
As with our African markets, we approach new regions through local partnerships, careful risk management, and a long-term perspective on market development.
What is your vision for Watu over the next 10 years?
Over the next decade, we see Watu evolving into a global platform for financing productive assets and enabling economic participation.
Demand for mobility, connectivity, and digital tools will continue to grow rapidly in emerging markets. Our role is to ensure that entrepreneurs and small businesses can access these tools through responsible and sustainable financing models.
We also expect technology to play an increasingly important role in how financial services are delivered, from data-driven credit models to integrated mobility ecosystems.
Every human being deserves access to information, and in today’s world the smartphone is the gateway to that knowledge. Our mission is simple yet deeply meaningful: to make this access a reality for everyone.
How do you see Africa positioning itself today as a place for innovation and business growth?
Africa has become one of the most dynamic environments for innovation in financial services, mobility, and digital platforms.
In many cases, the continent has leapfrogged traditional systems. Mobile money, for example, has transformed financial access for millions of people and created new opportunities for entrepreneurs and technology companies.
For businesses and investors, Africa offers several advantages: rapidly growing urban populations, a young and entrepreneurial workforce, increasing digital connectivity, and significant opportunities to solve real infrastructure and access challenges.
These factors create a powerful environment for innovation. Companies must focus on solving African challenges rather than simply replicating Western solutions. Those operating here need to be adaptable and resilient, yet they also have a unique opportunity to build solutions that can scale across multiple markets—and ultimately, across the world.
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