From KA to MA, Ernest Mbonabuca’s journey of service to his community.
Ernest Mbonabuca is a 33-year-old young man who lives in Karusi, in Nyabikere commune. At the end of his studies, he was first unemployed for a while before being hired as a Key Activator for Auxfin Burundi. He then started farming bananas and other crops to meet his daily needs.
"It is in June 2017, that I got selected to be an Activator of AUXFIN in the GATONDE zone, one of the three zones of the NYABIKERE commune in the KARUSI province. My job was to supervise and monitor the activities of the G50s in the GATONDE Zone on the ground for two goals: SOCIAL INLUSION and FINANCIAL INCLUSION.
At the beginning, the work was hard for me, because I was directly confronted with the problems of group members, but also I was lacking in computer knowledge. However, as the Kirundi proverb says "AKAGUMYE BAGUMAKO" (it takes hard work on a difficult task), to accomplish my mission well, I was committed to fully understanding the problems of G50 members so that I can serve better.
Now, I am making good progress in mastering new technologies. AUXFIN gave me a lot of knowledge in IT, social inclusion and financial inclusion through its different applications that we use to mentor the members of the G50. »Says Ernest Mbonabuca.
In 2019, Ernest Mb. was promoted to the position of Super Activator of two zones of the NYABIKERE municipality: GATONDE and RUGWIZA. After this appointment, the pace of work accelerated to strengthen the G50 network in collaboration with Key Activators. It was after this that he was appointed to the post of Senior Super Activator of NYABIKERE commune at the end of 2020.
"Now, I am proud of the fruit of my efforts because AUXFIN BURUNDI has just appointed me to be the Master Activator of the NYABIKERE municipality from the beginning of July 2021." reveals Ernest Mbonabuca.
The farmers of NYABIKERE grouped in the G50 see their life conditions improving a lot thanks to the knowledge and the advantages that AUXFIN has provided for them through different applications. AUXFIN is gradually ejecting the mentality of rural populations who have long believed that they could not accomplish anything without humanitarian aid by teaching them to take charge of their own development through to the hard work of field agents.
From being a Key Activator to Master Activator: the story of Anatole Niyonsaba
Anatole Niyonsaba is currently a Master Activator in Kayanza Province. He shares his journey in serving his community through Auxfin Burundi.
“For me, in 2017, I was a farmer like others and I was chosen to supervise / follow the G50 in KAYANZA zone as a Key Activator. Now I am proud to teach all the rural population in the territory of the entire KAYANZA commune by facilitating access to financial and social services via N-ICASH. Recently, I have been promoted to the grade of Master Activator and it encourages me a lot because my efforts are being recognized. Ever since I have been serving in my community in G50s, I see a positive impact because previously, poor farmers did not have access to subsidized fertilizers because they were asked to buy a whole bag of 25 When the G50 arrived in Kayanza commune in 2017 under the coordination of AUXFIN BURUNDI, even farmers with small means can buy fertilizers by putting money together with other G50 members and ordering a few kilos to divide between themselves.”: says Anatole N.
Besides this, thanks to the various digital coaches contained in the Umva system, small producers are trained in many areas of life, which considerably improves their living conditions.
In short, Anatole N. affirms that now Kayanza communes, the G50 members are grateful for the impact of the network in their community.
Anatole at his beginning in Auxfin Burundi(Kayanza Province) as a Key Activator.
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AUXFIN Burundi G50 status report
Our Monitoring & Evaluation team published a report that describes the status and impact of AUXFIN services in the G50 in Gitega, Kayanza and Karusi up to May 2021. As of now, AUXFIN counts 4,326 G50s in those three provinces with 264,813 registered members. It ....read more
Field report interviews G50 groups March 2021
In March 2021 a total of 12 G50 groups were interviewed mission to evaluate the G50 groups of AUXFIN Burundi. This report presents ....read more
AgriCoach App
AgriCoach is the digital application in the UMVA system for farmers which help in solving when, what and how to achieve best agricultural solutions. Farmers are able to select best suited crops for their fields per season and plot type on the basis of the ....read more
About AUXFIN
AUXFIN aims to deliver financial solutions that are accessible to all, including vulnerable populations with low literacy and numeracy skills, limited access to internet, no- or low access to electricity, and limited experience with mobile and other technologies.
Vision
The vision of AUXFIN is to develop value networks accessible to all. This leads to development of the Rural Financial ECO System and the ICT infrastructure; with the development of the Migrant Financial ECO System and the use of remittances as a financial catalyst for rural development; enabling capacity building, financial inclusion and economic development.
Mission
The mission of AUXFIN is: 'Financial Access for All'. This means to deliver, against very low prices, basic elementary banking functions such as registration, savings, loans and payments. However, recognizing that some vulnerable participants may require additional assistance to complete a transaction, trained agents and digital coaches are foreseen in our community activation platform. Delivering solutions that offer an appropriate balance between accessibility for all users, while still offering efficiency and transparency gains, is our daily challenge.Several types of organizations can use the platform free of charge, leading to fast and scalable installations and a large user-base. The many transactions result in big data that is the basis for development plans of Government and NGO's.
To deliver on our mission we use 3 main solutions: UMVA, AUX-EL and Jeanne.
UMVA (Universal Method of Value Acces) is a set of interconnected solutions that forms the backbone of our work and consists of:
- UMVA CLIENT, the e-banking solution for members
- UMVA BANK, the core banking solution in the cloud
- UMVA LOCAL, the banking solution for locations without internet
- UMVA AGENT, the solution for the last mile
- REG REP, the registration solution for cooperatives, schools and hospitals
- UMVA COOP, the core management solution for Cooperatives
- GEO UMVA, the GEO database solution
AUX-EL is the e-Learning tool for UMVA users providing online courses that are tailor-made to the skills and needs of the users.
Jeanne is the digital coach with chatbot technology.
Cornelis Heesbeen
CEO, Founder of AUXFIN, UMVA and AUXEL
cornelis.heesbeen@auxfin.comCornelis Heesbeen has more than 40 years work experience, 7 years in Finance in Developing countries, 17 years in Information Technology with companies like Airport Schiphol, SAP and i2Technologies, 17 years in accounting. AUXFIN INTERNATIONAL is incorporated in 2013.
Marco van Andel
Chief Operating Officer
marcovanandel@auxfin.comMarco van Andel has more than 20 years work experience, 10 years in Finance in Developing countries, most notably in Mozambique and Senegal, and 10 years in Insurance. Marco holds a degree in Business Administration for the Financial Sector of Free University of Amsterdam and a Master in Development Economics from Sussex.
Mark van den Brink
Chief Financial Officer
mark.vandenbrink@auxfin.comMark van den Brink has more than 20 years work experience as a Finance Director in particularly fast growing software organizations. A seasoned financial who drives change being focused on results with international expertise in highly changing environments. Been part of several acquisitions, mergers and investments. Mark holds a bachelor degree in Financ/Accounting.
Andre Jellema
Agricultural program manager
andre.jellema@auxfin.com
Jori Langwerden
Specialist agricultural applications and M&E
jori.langwerden@auxfin.com
Claudia Kool
Financial Controller
claudia.kool@auxfin.com
Welmoed Sprong
Nutrition Expert
welmoed.sprong@auxfin.com
Sabin Maharjan
Development Manager
sabin.maharjan@auxfin.comSabin has more than 13 years work experience. The organization develops the UMVA Platform since 2011. Sabin holds a bachelor degree in Computer technology at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. AUXFIN Nepal is incorporated on 2011.
Yannick Chokola
Territory Manager AUXFIN Burundi / Financial Inclusion Expert
yannick.chokola@auxfin.comYannick has more than 7 years work experience. The team works on UMVA projects since 2013. Yannick holds a bachelor in computer science at Université du lac tanganyika, Burundi. AUXFIN Burundi is incorporated in 2016.
Sujata Joshi
Senior Graphics Designer/ QA
sujata.joshi@auxfin.com
Bikram Maharjan
Team Leader
bikram.maharjan@auxfin.com
Samjhana Tuladhar
Senior Developer
samjhana.tuladhar@auxfin.com
Jayan Kapali
Senior Developer
jayan.kapali@auxfin.com
Rojma Shrestha
App Developer
rojma.shrestha@auxfin.com
Samir Prajapati
Fullstack PHP Developer
samir.prajapati@auxfin.com
Shreejala Tuladhar
App Developer
shreejala.tuladhar@auxfin.com
Bishal Maharjan
Team Leader (NextLevelValue)
maharjanbishal@nextlevelvalue.nl
Sajan Awale
Developer (NextLevelValue)
sajan@nextlevelvalue.nl
Jr. Bishal Maharjan
Developer (NextLevelValue)
bishal@nextlevelvalue.nl
Freddy Ditutu Kambayi
Consultant Financial Inclusion/ Team Leader
kambayi.freddy@auxfin.com
Irakoze Chaddia
Financial Consultant
irakoze.chaddia@auxfin.com
Dr. Lydia Moukoury
Health Specialist
lydia.moukoury@auxfin.comAgriCoach App
AgriCoach is the digital application in the UMVA system for farmers which help in solving when, what and how to achieve best agricultural solutions. Farmers are able to select best suited crops for their fields per season and plot type on the basis of the current weather condition for their location.
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2019
2019
- AgriCoach V1a successfully launched in Burundi on the UMVA tablet.
- 3.300 farmers/households are using the weatherforecast to better plan their agricultural activities
- Smart farming geodata platform implemented into the UMVA system
- REGISTRATION APP launched for on line and off line use
- MAPPING APP launched for on line mapping
- GIZ awards grant to AUXFIN and partners for IDDEA project in UGANDA
- UMVA PAYMENT APP and POS APP used for rainmetering in Burundi
- JEANNE tool for communication and chatbot used for M&E
- Scoping mission Sudan
- start potato supply chain Kenya
- Waterwatch included
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2018
2018
- NSO awards grant to AUXFIN and partners for GAP4A project in Burundi
- UMVA and PosteCash Senegal announce interoperability
- AUXFIN and UMVA present at IFAD marketplace in UN headquarters in New York.
- Launch of UMVA in Mali with support from Mastercard Foundation's Fund for Rural Prosperity
- Connecting UMVA solutions with GEO DATA
- UMVA PAYMENT APP and POS APP
- JEANNE tool for communication and chatbot, with incident reporting
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2017
2017
- AfDB commissioned market study for the introduction of UMVA in Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso
- Introduction of UMVA in Italy with support from IOM
- Scoping mission in Lebanon to enable Cash Assistance with UMVA
- Burundi growing to 170.000 families (1 million people)
- POSTE-CASH with UMVA link with 3000 access points in Senegal
- UMVA COOP fase 1 implemented
- GEO developed
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2016
2016
- SALPOST introduces POSTUMVA in Sierra Leone on 16th of June, the international day of family remittances
- UMVA projects in Burundi reach 30.000 families
- CAP solution introduced, with 6 pillars
- UMVA AGENT introduced
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2015
2015
- AfDB provides a grant to our partner in Senegal to leverage the UMVA service towards financial inclusion
- Study to use UMVA in refugee camps in Kurdistan
- Introduction of community activation in Burundi
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2014
2014
- Rabobank funds our partner in Senegal to introduce the UMVA service across its branch network
- Introduction of UMVA in Belgium and the Netherlands
- Creation of AUXFIN Burundi
- First implementation for payment process on the PSEB fertilizer project
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2013
2013
- Introduction of UMVA in France
- Development of UMVA LOAN solution
- School registration system installed in Nepal
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2012
2012
- Introduction of UMVA in Spain
- UMVA Bank developed with focus on SACCO’s
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2011
2011
- Birth of AUXFIN International to boost the implementation of the UMVA solutions
- Launch of UMVA pilot in Senegal with support from IFAD
- UMVA Client developed with focus on international transfers
AUXFIN Burundi G50 status report
Our Monitoring & Evaluation team published a report that describes the status and impact of AUXFIN services in the G50 in Gitega, Kayanza and Karusi up to May 2021. As of now, AUXFIN counts 4,326 G50s in those three provinces with 264,813 registered members. It is a detailed report that defines the G50s based on AUXFIN’s pillars: Social, Financial, Work & Income and Health. It explains how AUXFIN combines a platform of digital services with social structures and a local support network.
To know more about the report click this
AUXFIN Burundi G50 status reportSuccess story of Asterie Nahimana, Ntita GR1
Astérie Nahimana is a woman who leads the G50 in Ntita GR1, in Makebuko-Gitega. She is a widow who raised her 5 kids all by herself with courage and determination. Besides being a Group leader in G50, she also leads several other VLSAs from two organizations in her community. She combines leading those groups with being the one and only veterinary of her community. She is a trustworthy woman, who serves as a role model for younger women.
Ever since she joined the G50 network in 2017 and started learning new agricultural practices through AgriCoach, she managed to grow good yields in her fields. With the money she gets from her veterinary activities and the sale of some of her yields, she was able to send all of her kids at school until they finished their studies and she can supply as well to other households needs.
Astérie has also been able to buy plots of lands in which she uses AgriCoach methods and continue to enjoy good yields.
Being both a G50 group leader and a VSLAs leader, a farmer and veterinary all at the same time, Astérie Nahimana proves very well that rural women are superheroes in the community and can achieve so much with the right dose of willpower and the right information. She is an example in her locality because she did not dwell on her sorrow of being a widow and start begging in the streets. She worked hard to ensure all her kids get education and never lack anything all of that through her sweat. We salute such heroines!
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