In April 2024, ABALOBI was featured on the Mastercard.com’s Newsroom website (and Newsletter) that is dedicated to exploring the latest perspectives on emerging trends across the payment landscape and regularly reports on the latest strategic partnerships, impactful events, and pioneering initiatives.

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth joined the Climate Innovation for Adaptation and Resilience (CIFAR) Alliance, a cross-sector coalition dedicated to accelerating and scaling innovation in digital finance for low-income people affected by climate change. As so poignantly put forward in the article, many world leaders have begun to recognize that financial inclusion and environmental sustainability are inextricably linked and that the best way to foster sustainable environmental practices is through initiatives that advance financial inclusion. Mastercard and CIFAR launched the Climate Smart Innovation Hub (the Hub) to connect entrepreneurs with climate scientists, financial service providers and investors.

Now where does ABALOBI fit into the picture? The Hub unveiled the Climate Smart Financial Products gallery, which showcases more than 70 banking and financial service solutions including ABALOBI. The article tells the story of David Shoshola from Lambert’s Bay who used ABALOBI Financial Services to apply for loans that have helped him to expand his business and invest in his first house to the effect that Mr Shoshola even proclaims: “I am no longer in that vicious circle of poverty”. But let’s not spoil the entire article for you; please read more on this here. A short but insightful video is also embedded in the article that we would encourage you to watch to better understand ABALOBI’s function and impact.

In conclusion, the article highlights that by using fintech tools, fishers like Mr Shoshola can be more selective in what species they catch which allows them to sustain legitimate livelihoods from ecologically resilient species — all the while collecting data through catch logs and GPS trackers on boats for research and study. ABALOBI is partnering with major players and stakeholders in different industries to provide crucial support to small-scale fishers through creative and innovative solutions. We hope to support many many more fishers like Mr Shosola.