Fintech: Mvola becomes the first Malagasy bank-certified B Corp

Telma’s Mvola has successfully passed the « B Impact Assessment » tests carefully developed by B Lab to obtain B Corp certification. This is an important milestone for the company but also symbolic for the IO region regarding financial inclusion and economic development.

A global reference for committed companies, the B Corp label, or Benefit Corporation, is a prestigious certification issued by B Lab to companies that comply with CSR standards. When this certification was launched in 2006, B Lab, a non-profit organization present on almost all continents, starting with the United States, established the conditions for obtaining the label. Specifically, any company seeking this prestige must submit to rigorous speculation with a minimum score of 80 out of 200 on the B Impact Assessment evaluations.

Telma’s mobile money service proudly showcased its certificate, obtained on July 7. The first mobile bank in Madagascar is the first Malagasy bank to join the highly sought-after ranks of B Corp-certified companies in Africa.

« This prestigious label attests to MVola’s ongoing commitment since 2010 to provide affordable, quality financial services that meet international technological standards », says Mvola’s General Manager, Louis-Olivier Favot, proudly. As the only certification that comprehensively provides a company’s social and environmental performance in all dimensions, B Corp uses the B Impact Assessment tool based on five essential pillars: governance, community, employees, and the environment. This certification, therefore, proves the company’s importance on the social, societal, and environmental impact of its activities. Mvola makes a significant contribution to financial inclusion in Madagascar, promoting social impact and environmental preservation with great warmth and dedication. Internally, the network has proven its good governance and productive environment for its employees.

Only about fifty companies are B Corp certified across the entire continent. Among them, we can mention Baobab+ in Senegal, Naturafrica in South Africa, EcoZoom in Kenya, Good Nature Agro in Zambia…etc. This certification is, therefore, symbolic for the country but also for the entire African continent and the Indian Ocean. Micael Noguero, representative of B Lab in the Indian Ocean region, asserts: « MVola’s certification represents an important step for the development of the Indian Ocean region. Having financial services that reach the highest level of social and environmental responsibility reassures us that the growth of this economic engine will benefit everyone ».

AXIAN Group, the parent of Telma and Mvola, strengthens its power and commitment to creating an impact in Africa. Indeed, this is not the first B Corp certificate the group has acquired. Welight, a renewable energy supplier company in Madagascar, also obtained it last February and continues its rural electrification effort.