Mikashboks is a groundbreaking group-saving application founded by the exceptionally talented Sierra Leonean tech entrepreneur Salton Massally. Mikashboks, the “osusu na you phone”, makes it easier and safer for groups to save money, empowering individuals and communities to achieve their financial goals.
Despite having 14 commercial banks, 17 community banks, 50 microfinance institutions, three Mobile Money Operators, and 59 Financial Services Associations, only two out of every ten adults in Sierra Leone have access to financial services—a concerning statistic highlighting the country’s need for improved financial inclusion. Mikashboks is determined to tackle this issue head-on and expand financial access.
Massally worked with numerous traditional osusu or savings groups to create Mikashboks. The app and SMS platform allows people to come together to save, establish credit history, and enhance their financial literacy.
“Everything that has happened in my life – dropping out of school, the work I did to avert a payroll crisis during Ebola, and launching the Kiva Protocol, everything has led me to this point—to end invisibility and improve the financial lives of the last billion. First, we launch at home, then Africa, and then the world,” said Salton Massally, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Mikashboks.
By leveraging innovative technology, this ingenious application provides an inclusive platform where groups of individuals can come together to save towards their shared objectives, such as education, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and more.
The application offers a range of features designed to enhance the saving experience. Users can create savings groups, invite friends, family, or colleagues to join and set collective goals. Mikashboks also provides automatic reminders, progress tracking, and secure bookkeeping and financial transactions, ensuring a seamless and stress-free savings journey.
Salton Massally, the visionary mind behind Mikashboks, hails from Sierra Leone and has a deep-rooted passion for empowering communities through technology. Between 2010-2017, Massally created technology that averted a payroll crisis during the Ebola outbreak and built and sold Careers.sl under IDT Labs. At its peak, Careers.sl had over 2000 employers and 600,000 job seekers. He firmly believes financial inclusion is the key to unlocking socio-economic growth and prosperity. Through Mikashboks, Massally envisions a world where every individual has the opportunity to save and achieve their dreams, no matter their circumstances.
Massally’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to transforming lives through innovation have garnered widespread recognition. In 2017, he received the Queen’s Young Leader Award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
Massally incorporated Mikashboks in the US in January 2021. Then, Mikashboks joined Harvard University iLabs’ incubator and later expanded to Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. It has raised close to 1 million USD in pre-seed funding from investors globally.
Mikashboks is already garnering accolades. At a pitch competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan Fintech Conference’s “Global Start-up Pitch Competition” in 2022, it took second place and won the audience choice vote. They were also finalists of the Harvard Presidential Awards, even receiving a congratulatory note from the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
Sierra Leone residents can download Mikashboks from this link https://mikashboks.com/download/ and directly from the Google Play Store, register their phone numbers, connect their Afrimoney and Orange Money accounts, and start an osusu group today. Those who don’t have smartphones can use the SMS/USSD shortcode *352# to save in their group and receive a payout to their mobile money.
