Proxtera Debuts Financial Education for MSMEs in Asia, Africa

Proxtera is working with a number of other entities, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore, on the rollout of an open financial education and action program intended for Asian and African micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

According to the Tuesday (June 28) press release, the initiative aims to help these smaller companies become successful in the digital economy that has been accelerated by the pandemic.

The International Finance Corporation and the United Nations Development Programme are also working with the coalition.

The SME Financial Empowerment (SFE) program is offered through a digital portal, helping smaller businesses build digital financial literacy skills and get an understanding of cross-border services.

Saurav Bhattacharyya, CEO of Proxtera, said the SFE program “stays true to our mission of supporting MSMEs, by upskilling them to understand financial services and how best to tap into the digital marketplace effectively and globally.”

There will be two certification courses offered: Foundational Financial Literacy and Global Financial Literacy. The former covers basic concepts that MSMEs need, and the latter works to provide the knowledge for companies to connect digitally and expand globally, using networks, FinTech solutions and digital tools.

SFE initially rolled out on June 14 with market partners in Asia and Africa, first being introduced in Ghana, India, the Philippines and Singapore.

Last year, Proxtera also worked with online escrow service Tazapay to debut a program designed to offer a payment service for global purchases and vendors and simplify international trade.

Read more: Proxtera And Tazapay Collaborate On Digital Escrow For B2B Trade

Called Proxtera Protect, the service offered a way for Tazapay to offer an escrow service for purchasers and vendors, as many companies already used Proxtera to find new trade partners and talk over trade terms.

At the time, Proxtera Program Director Shirish Jain said this would help small businesses with the addition of “a wealth of business tools and opportunities at their fingertips, opening up pathways to growth and driving economic recovery to help businesses thrive in the ‘new normal.’”