Everyday Operating System
Kampala, July 2025When we founded Sanaa seven years ago, we borrowed our name from the Swahili word for “art” because we believed technology should be crafted with the same care a sculptor gives stone. Today that vision is taking shape in three interconnected products that already touch thousands of Ugandan lives and we’re just getting started.
1 | Why Sanaa Exists
Uganda’s economy runs on small businesses, yet most still juggle paper ledgers, fragmented mobile-money wallets and spreadsheets. The result is lost revenue, hidden risk and stunted growth. Sanaa’s mission is to give every entrepreneur—whether a boda-boda lender in Gulu or a fashion-shop owner in Mbarara—the tools big corporates take for granted: instant credit, modern payments, friction-free e-commerce and world-class marketing automation.
2 | The Ecosystem Approach
Product Purpose Status
Sanaa Finance Cloud core-banking, cards, BNPL APIs for MFIs, SACCOs & money-lenders 30 live institutional customers; Chrome extension v1.0 launched June 2024
Soko 24 / Soko.ug “Digital Street Shops” that let merchants rent an online storefront for $10 / month 300 + buyers & 13 merchants active
F6S
Sanaa Media Automation & branding studio powering customer care, bulk SMS/WhatsApp and AI chat-bots 1 300 + client projects since 2018
Sanaa Media
These three pillars share a single KYC flow and a unified ledger, meaning a payment made on Soko instantly improves a borrower’s credit score inside Sanaa Finance and can trigger a targeted loyalty campaign through Sanaa Media.
3 | What We’ve Proven So Far
Traction: Over 100 retail users manage daily budgets through the Sanaa app; institutional partners process thousands of loans monthly.
Design matters: Montserrat-based UI, one-tap actions and the “By Sanaa” footer turn customers into evangelists.
Distributed R&D: Our Kampala HQ focuses on product, while a Shenzhen liaison speeds up POS hardware prototyping—giving us Apple-style vertical integration at a start-up budget.
sanaa.co
4 | The Road Ahead (Next 12 Months)
Q3 2025 – Sanaa Cards (virtual first).
Q4 2025 – Public developer sandbox & API billing.
Q1 2026 – Maker-Program to certify third-party hardware (receipt printers, QR POS).
Q2 2026 – Regional rollout to Rwanda & Tanzania, starting with cross-border SACCOs.
5 | Why This Matters
Financial inclusion: Uganda’s unbanked rate is still ~40 %. Affordable SaaS levels that playing field.
Job creation: Every merchant who joins Soko unlocks an on-demand courier, a cash-flow dashboard and, soon, micro-insurance.
Data-driven credit: Combining commerce, media and finance data yields richer underwriting models than any single vertical can achieve.
6 | Call to Action
Institutions – looking to modernise lending? Book a demo at fi.sanaa.co.
Merchants & creators – open your digital street shop at Soko 24.
Developers & designers – join our July hack-day (sign-up link in the comments).
Impact investors – we’re preparing a seed-bridge to scale beyond Uganda; DM for the deck.
“We’re crafting the rails for Africa’s next billion transactions—one line of code, one street shop, one micro-loan at a time.”
— Eragy Bashonga Alpha, Co-Founder
✨ Companion LinkedIn Post ✨
Africa’s Apple? We’re building it.
🛠 Sanaa Finance – 30 institutions already run loans & cards on our cloud core-banking stack.
🛍 Soko 24 – merchants rent a digital shop for just $10/mo; 300+ buyers onboard.
📣 Sanaa Media – 1 300+ branding & automation projects delivered.
One login. One KYC. One operating system for everyday commerce.
Next up: virtual Sanaa Cards (Q3 2025) and a public developer sandbox.
We’re raising a seed-bridge to take the model across East Africa. If you’re an investor, fintech-curious dev or merchant tired of siloed tools—let’s talk.
#Fintech #Ecommerce #AfricaTech #FinancialInclusion #Sanaa