Empowering SACCOs through Democratized Banking.

Driving change with customer obsession, olympian mindset, and the power of diversity.

Founded

2018

Credit Unions

230

Members

200,000

Live in Kenya 🇰🇪, Philippines 🇵🇭 and South Africa 🇿🇦

We have developed our flagship core banking solution for credit unions in a proprietary fashion, driven by years of credit union research globally.

Join the team

Backed by great investors

Banking with a
common interest

We believe credit unions are the fastest way to bring financial health to millions. Join us as we make banking together fast, safe and exciting!

Kwara elevates the credit union banking experience by bringing modern, secure and reliable technology to credit unions, making it easy for staff to focus on customers, and attractive for anyone to join and benefit from high returns on their savings and fair credit to build financial health.

For decades, people have formed savings and lending groups, built on trust and community. These groups have developed into nearly 100,000 formalized financial institutions that now serve over 400 million people in emerging markets.

Our mission is to improve financial health in emerging markets. We believe credit unions are the fastest way to get there. They are also the fairest financial institution, because people who save and borrow with a credit union are also shareholders of the same credit union, earning them a share of the returns (dividends) and a say in how the institution is run.

A knowledgeable team you can trust

Cynthia is a Kenyan engineer with experience in corporate, non-profit, and entrepreneurial settings. She has worked in Singapore, Greece, and New York, and has also monitored elections and done social work in Cambodia, Venezuela, China, Mexico, and Kenya. She launched her first startup across 15 African markets.

Cynthia Wandia

Founder & Chairperson of the Board

With over 15 years in banking, NGOs, and startups. Mr. Biko has held leadership roles in tier-one SACCOs such as KBS and led World Bank-supported projects in Kakuma. As Managing Director, he drives strategic growth and organizational impact.

Steve Biko

Managing Director

Emilie is an ex-founder and ex-strategy consultant. Before moving to Kenya, she rolled out new digital business models for large FMCG companies across the continent. She then founded a start-up in restaurant supply chain and financing, which reached >$5M annualized GMV.

Emilie Blauwhoff

COO & CPO

Nairobi-based product and operations professional with 4+ years in SaaS and fintech. Nicola grew from trainee to Product & Operations Lead at Kwara Ltd, building expertise in product strategy, agile delivery, and customer success. She holds a First Class Honours in Economics & Finance from Kenyatta University.