Petruwalus is using FinTech to serve Peanut lovers in Africa #40Days40FinTechs Zambia and Malawi edition, Day 37
Many Africans are peanut lovers, yet there is a significant gap in the availability of innovative peanut snacks across the continent. To address this challenge, a team of young innovators from Zambia is developing an e-commerce web application to help organic peanut farmers sell their products.
Operating under their company, Petruwalus Food Production, this Zambian start-up is developing an e-commerce web platform and mobile application that helps organic peanut farmers and consumers to access peanut products and services.
“This platform enables a secure and seamless digital payment method for consumers of peanut snacks especially in the underserved rural communities in Africa to overcome cash transaction barriers,” said Naluca Waluka, the company CEO.
“We also plan to use this application to engage farmers nationwide, enabling us to pay them directly for the raw materials they supply,” she added.
Women in FinTech
Pretruwalus joined 15 other FinTechs from Zambia and Malawi to participate in the 2025 COMESA Women in FinTech Hackathon, organised by HiPipo and COMESA Business Council (CBC).
At the Hackathon, the teams received mentorship and training in product ideation and development. According to the team members, the hackathon opened their eyes to the vast opportunities within the FinTech ecosystem, particularly through networking and mentorship.
“We have networked with different brands and through the mentorship we have received, we are confident that we will be able to expand our business,” noted Gladys Mwandila from Petruwalus.
On the technical side, the team was excited to receive training on Mojaloop and is confident about incorporating it into their product development.
“We want clearing to happen in one second. If I am sending money to you, it should be able to reach the other side in one second,” advised Philip Green from Mojaloop.
Petruwalus featured on Day 37 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.
The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.
