A problem we live every single day
Kobri did not come out of an ideation workshop. It came out of a 410 FCFA paper voucher, handed over in a Douala supermarket, and never used.
The paper voucher: a contract nobody signed
When a Cameroonian shopkeeper cannot give change, they write a voucher. That scrap of paper is an acknowledgement of debt: the shop owes you money. Except it is not tracked, not funded, and not enforceable. It gets lost, it tears, it gets refused.
Meanwhile the coin shortage keeps getting worse: banks prefer to draw banknotes, slot machines swallow the 50 and 100 FCFA coins, and some shopkeepers end up buying their change — at a loss on their margin.
We did not invent the need. It exists, it is daily, and everyone puts up with it for want of anything better.
Four decisions we are held to
Never hold people’s money
We could have sought approval and carried the funds ourselves. We chose the opposite: operate under the licence of an approved institution, as a distributor. More constraining for us, safer for everyone.
Build for the network that exists
Not the one we wish existed. A light app, older Android supported, a capped offline mode, and a website that stays readable even if the script never loads.
The shopkeeper without a smartphone counts too
A printed QR is enough to use Kobri. Designing only for the equipped shop would have been simpler — and would have left out most of the neighbourhood trade.
Say what does not work yet
The service is not third-party audited. There is no USSD access yet. Daily-code mode is a trade-off. We write it down rather than wait to be asked.
Who is building Kobri
A small team, based in Cameroon, building the product and talking directly to shopkeepers and financial institutions.
- PublisherAFRICA DIGITAL SOLUTIONS (AFRIDISOL)SARL with a share capital of 15 000 000 FCFA, registered in Lomé — RCCM TG-LFW-01-2026-B 12-00606
The real state of the project
- Done
Regulatory structure established
Validated against CEMAC and COBAC texts: distributor under the licence of an approved provider.
- Done
Financial core built and tested
Double-entry ledger, tamper-evident audit log, automated integrity checks.
- In progress
Mobile application
Customer, merchant and till journeys under development.
- Ahead
Partnership with a microfinance institution
We are looking for the first approved institution to launch the pilot.
- Ahead
Field pilot
One neighbourhood, a few shops, real transactions under low ceilings.
Let’s work together
Microfinance institution, bank, shopkeeper or simply curious: we reply to everyone.