Growing up in Lusaka, Zambia, Mkuzo Kuwani was acutely aware of the disparity between potential and access that many Africans face daily. Raised in a country full of promise, he learned early that opportunity was not always equally distributed. This awareness would set him on a path that led to his founding of ComGrow, a company that sought to revolutionize financial inclusion through community-driven, tech-enabled solutions.
A Seed of Realization
“My childhood was a blend of opportunity, culture, and contrast,” Mkuzo reflects, recounting his early years in Lusaka, a city that straddles the complex world of economic growth and social inequality.
“I grew up in a country full of promise, but also one where access to finance and opportunity is deeply unequal.” From a young age, he noticed the gap between potential and accessibility—a gap that would shape both his perspective and his future career.
After junior school in Zambia, Mkuzo went to South Africa to attend senior school as a full-time boarder. It was a time of cultural awakening, but also a time when Mkuzo began to see the dissonance between the Western success story that many Africans sought and the need for homegrown solutions.
“It was also a period where I began to notice how many people assumed the default answer to success was to ‘go abroad’ and never return. That never sat well with me.”
This realization only deepened when Mkuzo went on to study economics in the UK, focusing on banking, finance, and investment. Here, he learned how financial systems operate, but also recognized how little attention African markets received in the global landscape of financial solutions.
“I was fascinated by fintech and the role it could play in bridging these gaps, but I always noticed how Western models were being imported into African markets without any adaptation,” Mkuzo recalls. “It felt disconnected.”
The Spark of Innovation
It was during a break from university that Mkuzo found the spark that would ignite his entrepreneurial journey. Back in Zambia, he became involved in an activity that is widespread across Africa: village banking. A traditional savings and loan system, these groups have long been the backbone of informal financial services, particularly in rural areas.
What struck Mkuzo most was the inefficiency of these groups. “It was messy, manual, and administratively heavy, but the underlying system worked. It just wasn’t being built for,” he says. Here, in the heart of Zambia’s informal economy, he and his co-founder, Mikael Maingard, began experimenting with digital solutions to improve these community-driven financial systems.
Initially, they prototyped simple tools—spreadsheets, calculators, and a basic app—just to manage their own savings group. The results were promising. With this basic infrastructure, they proved that digitizing the village banking experience could empower people to build wealth in a more structured, transparent way.
That was the beginning of ComGrow. “Since then, the journey has been anything but smooth. I’ve bootstrapped. I’ve pitched with no traction. I’ve run out of money. I’ve won grants. I’ve lost team members. I’ve faced regulation, rejection, and resilience. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Taking the Leap: From Student to Startup Founder
In his final year at university, Mkuzo faced a pivotal decision: follow the path laid out for him in the corporate world, or take the plunge into building a startup. “I spoke to my dad about it, and his advice was simple: ‘You’re young. You have nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work, you’ll bounce back.’” Mkuzo took the leap, returned to Zambia, and co-founded ComGrow.
The company was founded on a mission to address a glaring gap in the market: a lack of technological solutions that catered to the informal savings and lending groups already flourishing across Africa. “The inspiration behind ComGrow wasn’t a grand vision or a strategy deck—it started with a simple problem I was personally experiencing,” Mkuzo admits.
For many Africans, village banking and other informal savings groups are the default banking system, particularly for those without access to formal financial institutions. But these systems had significant pain points: cash handling was insecure, record-keeping was chaotic, and communication was fragmented. Most importantly, there was no integration with formal financial systems like mobile money or banks.
Mkuzo and Mikael realized that while Western fintech solutions were often geared toward loans and digital wallets, they were not designed to support the reality of how people in Africa manage money—through community-driven, trust-based systems.
“No one was building for the real financial infrastructure of Africa: community-driven, trust-based systems that had been working for decades. Instead, fintech was mostly focused on loans, digital wallets, and sleek apps that mirrored Western solutions. That’s not what people needed. They needed something that respected how they already interacted with money—and made it easier, safer, and smarter.”
“We decided to build it,” Mkuzo says simply.
Mkuzo’s company is changing the way groups manage their finances. At its core, ComGrow offers a mobile app that enables users to “save, lend, and manage their finances” with features like automated record-keeping and transparent loan management. As Mkuzo notes, “It’s a tool that’s built for everyday people, to manage real money in real groups.”
With a focus on community-led finance, ComGrow aims to evolve into a fully integrated financial platform, with plans to introduce features like peer-to-peer transfers, agent networks, and remittance capabilities. Ultimately, the goal is to “build the most robust, community-first financial ecosystem on the continent.”
The Early Struggles and Triumphs
The journey of building a startup is never smooth sailing, as Mkuzo aptly notes, “Smooth seas never made skilled sailors.” This quote resonates deeply, as Mkuzo recounts navigating regulatory delays, funding droughts, and the challenges of convincing people to trust a new digital platform. One of the biggest hurdles was regulatory limbo, where the company spent almost two years waiting for approval, unable to launch fully or raise proper funding.
As Mkuzo reflects, “You can build the best product in the world, but if you’re in a regulated space like fintech, compliance is just as important as code.”
Funding was another significant challenge, particularly as a Zambian startup in a niche space like community finance. Despite raising $45K in the first round and securing over $30K in grants, the runway disappeared faster than expected. Mkuzo recalls operating in survival mode, sacrificing personal savings, deferring payments, and going months without earning a salary.
As he notes, “There’s no cushioning in startup life. You’ve got to believe in what you’re building so strongly that you’ll back it with everything, even when no one else does.” This unwavering dedication has been crucial in keeping the vision alive.
Mkuzo also learned valuable lessons about teamwork and trust. Initially, he tried to wear every hat, but soon burned out. As he reflects, “While you can get far alone, you go further with the right team.” Rebuilding the team with the right mix of skills has been essential. Moreover, convincing people to trust a new digital platform has been a significant challenge.
As Mkuzo notes, “Tech will fail. What matters is how you show up in the moments when it does.” By prioritizing trust, resilience, and adaptability, Mkuzo has stayed committed to building a platform that truly empowers communities.
Through perseverance, ComGrow gained traction, not just with users, but with early investors who believed in the company’s vision of transforming Africa’s financial landscape. The startup also won grants, built partnerships, and began to grow its team, which now includes Mkuzo as the CEO, alongside a team of dedicated engineers, financial officers, and an operations intern.
ComGrow’s impact goes beyond numbers—it’s about real people whose lives have been changed by the platform. Mkuzo recounts stories of users who have turned small loans into thriving businesses. One particularly memorable story is that of a group of friends who started using ComGrow to save for a holiday. After experiencing how effective the platform was, they expanded their efforts and eventually used the same group to raise capital for one of Lusaka’s most popular event series, Supa Soft Sundays.
Another inspiring success story is that of a woman who used ComGrow’s platform to fund her side hustle. Her side hustle then generated enough cash for her to start and grow a new business, Zanga Africa Metrics, into a thriving analytics startup that raised $250,000 in seed capital. For Mkuzo, it’s these success stories that are the true measure of ComGrow’s success. “These aren’t just case studies. These are real people, with real dreams, who just needed the right financial framework to help them grow,” he says.
Aside from his work with ComGrow, Mkuzo is involved in various other projects and initiatives that align with his passions. Most notably, in his role in investment banking, he has gained valuable insights into “how capital flows, how investors think, and how companies position themselves for scale,” which he can apply to ComGrow.
The Road Ahead: Scaling and Evolving
Mkuzo envisions ComGrow evolving into a comprehensive financial ecosystem that addresses diverse community financial needs. Plans include launching ComGrow Wallet for peer-to-peer transfers, a cash-in/cash-out agent network, and cross-border remittance options, aiming to create a transparent, trustworthy, and accessible financial platform in Africa.
“We’re keeping our heads down and focusing on execution,” Mkuzo says. “No hype, just building.”
Reflecting on his journey, Mkuzo acknowledges the lessons learned along the way: resilience, adaptability, and the importance of trust and relationships. “The most significant lesson I’ve learned is that you cannot do it alone,” he says. “What really sustains a business—especially a startup—is people.”
For Mkuzo, the road to entrepreneurship has been one of both personal and professional growth. His journey, rooted in a desire to address the financial exclusion he witnessed growing up, has led to the creation of a company that is changing lives across Africa—one community at a time.
With a clear vision and a relentless drive, Mkuzo Kuwani is not just building a business; he is building a movement toward financial inclusion that could redefine how money moves within Africa.
