Imane Boubrik

Moroccan tech innovator creating financial tools for Africa's informal sector

Imane Boubrik is a Moroccan fintech pioneer born in 1986, founder of Wadi - Africa's first digital marketplace connecting informal traders with formal financial services. His work addresses a critical gap affecting over 80% of African workers in the informal economy.

Launched in 2015, Wadi's platform now serves 200,000 micro-merchants across 8 countries, providing access to inventory financing, insurance, and digital payments. Boubrik's innovation lies in his TrustScore system that evaluates creditworthiness without traditional collateral. This has unlocked $50 million in loans for previously unbanked businesses.

In 2018, he introduced WadiPay - Africa's first mobile payment system for informal markets, processing over 2 million transactions monthly. His partnership with UNDP created the MarketLink initiative, training 15,000 vendors in digital literacy. During the pandemic, he pivoted to create WadiProtect, providing no-interest loans to 50,000 businesses.

Boubrik's approach combines tech innovation with community engagement. He developed the Merchant Academy program, offering free business courses in 5 African languages. His work has been recognized by the World Economic Forum, which named him a Global Shaper in 2020. Recent expansions into Nigeria and Kenya aim to reach 1 million merchants by 2025, transforming how 40 million Africans access financial services.