Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder PiggyVest - SME Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Wealth and Society West Africa 2019

• A vision and business models that effectively uses fintech to deliver a social impact
• Strong user, savings and revenue growth
• Continuous innovation to maximise user returns

Lagos, April 25th 2019 - PiggyVest Co-Founder Odunayo Eweniyi received the The SME Entrepreneur of the Year in Wealth and Society in West Africa award at The Wealth and Society West Africa Awards 2019. The award ceremony was held in conjunction with a Roundtable Dialogue comprised of private bankers, impact investors, and related parties, at the Eko Hotel Lagos, Nigeria.

The Global Wealth and Society programme opened in London in 2018 out of the belief that wealth can be a force for good. As such we look for instances everywhere in the world where wealthy individuals, institutions and funds were targeted to make an impact in their local communities or the world at large.

The programme is predicated on the belief that the best financial institutions are able to understand and look after its client's personal aspiration as well as family and business interests through exceptional service, conducted with integrity, a deep empathy of its client's needs, and superior and timely product innovation resulting in the preservation and expansion of the client's wealth in their lifetime. Recipients of these awards underwent a stringent and comprehensive evaluation process.

Standing from left: Members of the International Advisory Council of the Global Wealth and Society Awards programme; Gordian Gaeta and Urs Bolt with Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder PiggyVest.

A vision and business model that effectively uses fintech to deliver a social impact

Through discipline and a flexible system, PiggyVest encourages users to make automated savings by transferring their money from their debit card to their digital account according to their specific auto-save instructions.

According to the co-founder Odunayo Eweniyi, the motivation behind the project is due to the reality that most business in Nigeria is conducted in cash, in bulk due to the lack of an effective credit system. This means that 80 percent of the population needs to save about 40 percent of their monthly income to be able to meet up with their responsibilities.

With the inflation rate between 11 to 12 % currently, retail depositors can be losing money leaving their money with a bank. By pooling investors’ funds the company can offer their users 10 - 13% interests on savings.

Strong user, savings and revenue growth

It is the largest online savings and investing platform in Nigeria with 250,000 registered users. On average users are saving around 20K Naira ($55) every month.

Launched in 2016 it has currently saved about $20 Million, with $10 million in assets under management. Revenue growth has been between 200 - 300% year-on-year.

Continuous innovation to maximise user returns

PiggyVest is available on IOS and android. PiggyVest partners with payment processor Paystack who has obtained the license for processing payments, so there is no need to retain bank details.

Eweniyi stated that they do not want to be limited to the usual treasury bills and moving forward this year, the company will be diversifying from treasury bills into higher yielding agricultural investments, so that the higher than usual returns can be passed on to willing savers.

This investment strategy will not be using user’s money, but will be listed on the platform where interested people can then invest. In that sense, users on the platform can help raise capital for those seeking capital for projects.

At the awards ceremony, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited was named the Best Asset/Fund Management Company in Wealth and Society West Africa, while Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited was named the Best Private Banking Business in Wealth and Society West Africa. The Best Technology Product/Service in Wealth and Society was awarded to Bridge International Academies.

For specific details relating to description of the awards, evaluation criteria and process, kindly visit http://www.wealthandsociety.com/theglobalwealthandsocietyawards/criteria

For all Wealth and Society West Africa Awards 2019 photos, please visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/wealthandsociety/photos/?tab=album&album_id=368836930527229

For media enquiries, please contact:

Alfred Labiccasi
Marketing Manager
Wealth and Society
Tel: (+44) 1823 711134
alabiccasi@wealthandsociety.com
www.theasianbanker.com