[Transcript] #78: MNT-Halan - How the lending platform is providing financial services across Egypt and other developing markets
Transcript for podcast originally recorded in December 2024
😉 In Dec 2024, we explored the story of MNT-Halan, the Egyptian lending & financial services company.
First, a quick story. Right after I finished recording the intro sequence (where I say, “Today, we're going to talk about MNT Halan… This episode was recorded on December 11, 2024…”), Bankole mentioned that we (meaning I) might have been mispronouncing MNT Halan and stressing the wrong syllable. Confidently, I reassured him that wasn’t the case—I had researched countless hours of video and audio content on MNT. So, we went ahead and pronounced it my way for the entire episode.
Sure enough, after I went back and re-watched some MNT videos, I realized I had fucked up. We had mispronounced “Halan” the whole time. 🤦🏾♂️Fun!
Anyway back to the company, MNT-Halan, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, is a leading fintech company providing lending and financial services to the unbanked and underbanked populations. Its digital ecosystem offers microfinance lending, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options, consumer finance, and digital payments, serving over 7 million customers. The company leverages technology and data analytics to assess creditworthiness and streamline the lending process, promoting financial inclusion and empowering small businesses. In July 2024, MNT-Halan raised $157.5 million, including a $40 million investment from the International Finance Corporation, to support its expansion. With a valuation surpassing $1 billion, MNT-Halan stands as Egypt’s first unicorn and continues growing through strategic acquisitions, such as Turkey's largest non-bank micro-leasing firm, Tam Finans.
Companies discussed: MNT-Halan, Mashroey, Tasaheel, Halan, Raseedy, Talabeyah, Advans Pakistan, Fawry, Swvl, Gojek, Paymob, & Tam Finans
Business concepts discussed: Asset-backed Financing, Microfinance Lending, Super App Strategy, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Digital Wallets and Payment Solutions, B2B E-commerce, Corporate Venture Capital, Incubation, Financial Inclusion, Banking Infrastructure, Payroll Lending, Salary Advances, Agent Banking Networks, Revenue Models in Fintech, International Expansion
Olumide Ogunsanwo
Personal: Website
Afrobility Podcast: Stories and analyses of African technology companies (Website, Listen: Apple podcasts, Spotify & Google podcasts & Read: Substack Newsletter)
Adamantium Fund: African B2B fund focused on education, health, finance, food and transportation (Website & memo)
Firedom Book: Financial Independence stories of African Immigrants (Website, Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Transcript starts here
[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Today, we're going to talk about MNT Halan, the Egyptian Lending and Financial Services Company. We'll explore the MNT Halan story across the following areas.
First, we'll give some context about the African and Egyptian financial sectors. Second, we'll discuss MNT Halan's early history. Third, its price and monetization strategy. Fourth, its competitive position and potential exit options. And then fifth, we'll end with our views on its overall outlook.
This episode was recorded on December 11, 2024. MNT-Halan time.
[00:00:23] Bankole Makanju: What is MNT Halan and why are we talking about them?
[00:00:26] Olumide Ogunsanwo: In corporate speak, MNT Halan is the leading fintech and e commerce ecosystem platform in Egypt offering micro lending, BNPL, which means buy now, pay later, payment solutions and e commerce to underbanked and unbanked individuals and businesses. A lot of words, a mouthful, basically a FinTech player. My favorite overview of the company is a large fintech player that offers services such as loans, payments to consumers, and small businesses. And small businesses are a key part of this story, which we'll talk about later.
[00:00:54] Bankole Makanju: Part of the reason we're talking about them is one, they're one of the relatively fewer North African tech success stories, startups.