Watu has released its second annual Sustainability Report, detailing its significant impact on financial inclusion, digital access, and clean mobility in 2024. The report, prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, highlights how the company’s growth is directly tied to improving livelihoods across the continent.
In 2024, Watu financed a total of 1.4 million smartphones and 80,000 income-generating assets, including motorcycles and tuk-tuks. This growth resulted in a 67% increase in revenue, reaching $231 million. Beyond financial performance, the company’s focus on electric vehicle (EV) financing helped avoid 5,483 tonnes of CO₂e emissions, making Watu a carbon-negative organization for the year.
Key highlights of the report
1. Digital and Financial Inclusion
Watu’s smartphone financing has become its fastest-scaling product, with 1.4 million financed in 2024 alone. The report introduced two new metrics to measure the tangible impact of this initiative:
- Digital Services Impact Score (DSIS): At 40.4%, this score shows that four out of ten customers actively use their smartphones to access essential services like mobile banking, government portals, and educational resources.
- Smartphone Financing Income Impact Rate (SFII): At 35.2%, this rate confirms that more than one-third of customers reported direct income gains from using their financed smartphones to launch businesses or find new work opportunities.
2. Clean Mobility
Watu is a leader in promoting electric vehicle adoption, with the number of EVs financed in 2024 increasing by 108% over the previous year. This rapid growth, particularly in Rwanda, allowed the company to avoid more emissions than its own operations produced, highlighting the central role of clean mobility in Watu’s future growth.
3. Inclusion and Gender Equality
The company has made significant strides in increasing accessibility for women entrepreneurs. The percentage of female customers grew from 32% in 2023 to 40% in 2024. This is reflected in success stories like those in Tanzania, where 16% of smartphone customers, many of them women, reported launching new businesses in trade and digital marketing.
Internally, Watu’s workforce now includes 43% women, with women holding 33% of management positions, up from 29.7% in 2023.
The company trained over 20,500 riders in 2024, contributing to a reduced accident rate. Additionally, Watu’s new data platform, which automatically tracks greenhouse gas emissions, provides a more accurate and credible audit trail, positioning the company to meet emerging global disclosure standards.
In his statement, CEO Andris Kaneps emphasized the strategic importance of these efforts. “That’s not just scale for scale’s sake—it means millions more people now have access to digital tools that drive income, opportunity, and inclusion,” Kaneps said regarding the company’s smartphone financing. He added, “Our mission is to grow that number by ensuring access to both mobility and digital finance solutions is equitable and sustainable for women entrepreneurs.”
Since its inception in 2015, Watu has financed over 2 million loans, impacted more than 8 million lives, and grown to a team of over 2,465 staff.