About Sohana

Where trust becomes capital.

Sohana was born from something simple, familiar, and deeply human: trust. We are building the financial infrastructure that takes the savings systems Africa has trusted for generations — and gives them the structure to scale.

01 · The story

It began with a treasurer, not a bank.

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Growing up, one of the most consistent financial systems I saw in action wasn't a bank — it was a community. My grandmother served as a treasurer in a local savings circle, where people came together regularly, contributed what they could, and took turns receiving the pooled funds.

There were no apps, no contracts, no dashboards — just discipline, accountability, and trust.

Through that system, she helped ensure that her children — and eventually her grandchildren — had access to education and opportunity. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. And for millions of people across Africa and the diaspora, it still does.

Sohana exists to take that same foundation and build something more powerful on top of it.

02 · What we're building

Modernising what already works.

Sohana is a financial platform designed to modernise and scale community-based savings systems — commonly known as ROSCAs — without losing what makes them work.

These systems already move billions in value every year, entirely outside formal financial infrastructure. They are trusted, resilient, and culturally embedded. But they are also limited by manual processes, lack of transparency, and risk. We are building the tools to change that.

PILLAR 01

Save together, efficiently

Bring structure to group savings — automated contributions, transparent ledgers, predictable payouts. No more spreadsheets, no more arguments.

PILLAR 02

Access capital, predictably

Let members access pooled funds in a transparent and predictable way — with a clear order, clear rules, and a clear timeline.

PILLAR 03

Build a financial track record

Every on-time contribution becomes part of a verifiable history. Behaviour becomes a credential — the foundation of credit identity.

PILLAR 04

Operate across borders

Built for the diaspora reality — multi-currency, multi-jurisdiction, designed to work the way families and communities already work.

"At its core, Sohana is not replacing these systems — it is strengthening them."

03 · Why this matters

The future of finance already exists — it's just informal.

Across Africa and many emerging markets, access to formal financial systems is still uneven. But people haven't waited for banks to solve this — they've built their own systems.

The challenge is not participation. It's scale, reliability, and evolution.

We believe that the future of finance in these regions will not come from importing foreign systems alone, but from upgrading what already works. Sohana is one step in that direction.

800M
Adults in sub-Saharan Africa unbanked or underbanked
$200B+
Estimated annual flow through informal savings systems globally
100%
Of this value sits invisible to formal credit infrastructure
04 · Where we're going

A decade-long journey, one foundation at a time.

This is not a short-term project. We are building toward a long-term vision where community-based savings become digitally structured, globally accessible, and the bridge between informal and formal economies — without friction, without compromise.

2026 · Foundation We are here

Launch the savings platform

Beta launch with closed-pilot communities in France and Cameroon. Core ROSCA, Pool, and Wallet products live. First regulatory authorisations under way (ACPR France, FCA UK). KYC, AML, and compliance infrastructure operational.

2029 · Cross-border infrastructure

Continental expansion: West & Central Africa

Direct presence in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal. Mobile-money integrations across MTN, Orange, Wave. Diaspora-to-domestic transfers as a default flow, not an exception.

2030 · Financial OS

From savings to a full financial layer

Sohana evolves from a savings platform into a financial operating system: insurance, micro-credit, investment, and remittance — all built on the trust graph our members have built. One million active members.

2032 · Regional infrastructure

The default credit infrastructure for African community finance

Partnerships with central banks and regional bodies. NCS recognised by formal credit bureaus. Sohana's rails power third-party financial products across the continent — savings becomes infrastructure, not a feature.

2035 · The vision

Community-based finance, globally accessible

A world where the 800 million adults underserved by formal banking are no longer underserved — because the financial systems they already trusted have been given the structure to serve them everywhere they go. The informal becomes the foundational.

This roadmap reflects Sohana's current ambitions and projections. Specific timelines depend on regulatory approvals, market conditions, and capital availability. We will publish updates against this trajectory as we go.

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Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme

TEF Cohort 2026 · Selected from over 200,000 applicants across Africa

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05 · A starting point

Sohana is still early, and intentionally so.

We are beginning with the fundamentals: helping people save together, move money transparently, and build trust at scale. Everything else will follow from that.

Because at its core, this is not just about technology. It's about giving structure to systems that have quietly supported generations — and giving them the tools to go further.

Build the future of community finance with us, one circle at a time.

Join the waitlist, partner with us, or follow our progress as we build.

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