Over the past few years, Africa has seen record levels of foreign direct investment, peaking at US$56.3-billion in 2013. Yet, studies still show that medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to get their share of the pie.

Recently launched in Kenya, a relatively new startup called Solvesting has geared up to serve an estimated US$850 000-billion untapped credit market that exists in emerging markets today.

How is it planning to do this? Well, Solvesting introduces a peer to peer (P2P) lending platform for small to SMEs in emerging markets. Foreign investors, on the other side of the spectrum, can fund SMEs in developing countries, earning financial returns as well as creating social and economic impact.