Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets, led by South African banker Sim Tshabalala, has partnered with financial technology company JUMO to launch a Social Finance Framework aimed at mobilising sustainable funding for financial inclusion and economic empowerment across the continent.

Developed in partnership with Standard Bank’s Sustainable Finance team, the framework provides a transparent structure for raising social finance, including social loans and social bonds, to fund financially inclusive lending activities delivered through JUMO’s technology platform.

The initiative will target underserved individuals, microenterprises and small and medium-sized businesses across the nine African markets where JUMO operates. The framework has also received a positive second-party opinion from Endiligence.

JUMO targets underserved borrowers across 9 African markets

The framework will support eligible social activities including SME and microenterprise financing, employment generation, economic empowerment and access to responsible digital financial services.

JUMO, founded in 2015 to expand access to financial services in emerging markets, has developed AI-powered financial technology that enables banks and other financial institutions to provide digital credit and savings products to underserved customers.

The company has recorded more than $10 billion in lifetime disbursements and delivered more than 317 million individual loans since inception. Its lending platform has expanded across Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Benin and Cameroon, reaching approximately 40 million people.

JUMO accelerates financial inclusion across Africa

JUMO’s disbursements have grown 79% year-on-year, according to the company, with the platform recording record monthly volumes and increasing participation among new-to-bank customers, young people, women, rural communities and low-income populations.

The company works with banks, e-money operators and payment providers to deliver digital financial products while using technology to reduce infrastructure costs and accelerate access to financial services.

JUMO CEO Paul Whelpton said the framework represents an important milestone in the company’s sustainable finance strategy and strengthens its commitment to responsible lending.

He said the structure would allow development finance institutions, impact investors and sustainability-focused funders to access transparent and measurable social-impact opportunities through JUMO’s platform.

Standard Bank seeks to channel institutional capital into financial inclusion

Standard Bank said the framework establishes governance, reporting and impact-measurement processes designed to give investors greater confidence that funds raised will be directed toward eligible social activities in line with international sustainable finance standards.

George Karamitsos, vice president of Sustainable Finance at Standard Bank, said the framework creates a transparent mechanism for channeling institutional capital into JUMO’s established lending platform at scale.

The partnership combines JUMO’s technology-enabled lending infrastructure with Standard Bank’s sustainable finance expertise to expand responsible access to credit across African markets. The companies expect the framework to help direct capital toward underserved populations, including young people, women, rural communities and low-income individuals, while supporting microenterprises and SMEs that often face limited access to formal financial services.

Standard Bank, founded more than 160 years ago, has developed into one of Africa’s largest financial institutions, with operations spanning the continent. The group employs more than 49,000 people, including Liberty employees, and serves more than 18 million clients through a network of more than 1,000 branches and approximately 6,000 ATMs across its African markets.

With JUMO continuing to expand its digital financial ecosystems and Standard Bank providing a sustainable-finance framework for institutional investors, the partnership is positioned to mobilise additional capital for responsible lending and broaden access to financial services across some of Africa’s fastest-growing markets.