Rukayat’s resolve to create a financial solution was borne out of desire and desperation to liberate the underserved people in Nigeria. Due to the lingering issues of poverty and inaccessible funds, she opted to build Regxta.
Rukayat Bello is the CEO and co-founder of Regxta. She has B.sc degree in Kwara State University where she graduated as one of the best students in the school. She is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
She has over 6 years audit, banking and finance experience. Rukayat is also a software developer. She has attended several trainings in sales & marketing, business development & strategy implementation, she has exceptional Skills in Credit analysis, Audit, Finance, Customer Service and digital marketing.
Rukayat is keen to help people succeed, especially the micro businesses and that’s why people call her “Madam Grassroot.”
Her company, Regxta, is an inclusive digital platform that provides quick, easy and simple access to financial services for the Unbanked and Micro businesses in Africa.
Its mobile app is powered by advanced data science and artificial intelligence that instantly underwrites and disburses loans to people who have no borrowing history.
Also, its users can open an account, save their money and generate financial records, through their trained community agents. Since inception, Regxta has been able to achieve $600k disbursement, $72k revenue, 2216 customer base, and over 8,000 have been impacted socially.
Furthermore, it has recorded $70k angel investment, partnership with ARM, Providus bank, etc., is member of Fintech association of Nigeria, has over 60 micro businesses registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, and has a money lenders licence.
On her challenges as a female founder, she says that lack of funding has been a major issue because many investors tend to trust men startup founders more. They believe men can manage funds more effectively.
Also, she mentions gender bias. In her words, It’s presumed that women are compassionate and emotional in nature. Hence, many women struggle to be taken seriously.
Additionally, work-life balance is a challenge. Women traditionally have more social responsibilities than men. They are viewed as primary caregivers for their children, they’re expected to manage the household and devote time to their families.
On how gender equity can be achieved, Rukayat opines that engaging women in the family and community levels can work. Also, reducing economic and cultural barriers to female education is a necessary step to be taken. In addition, promoting women’s equal representation in leadership in the workforce should be taken seriously.