Patricia Zoundi Yao (born in 1976 in Aboisso, Côte d'Ivoire) is a well-known

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

in Côte d'Ivoire. She is the founder of several companies, including Quickcash (

fintech Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are r ...

) and Canaan Land ( agribusiness). Her determination and leadership was recognized by

UNCTAD The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

in September 2019 when she was one of seven "eTrade for Women Advocates".

Education

She attended the

University of Ouagadougou Founded in 1974, the University of Ouagadougou (UO; french: Université de Ouagadougou) is in the area of Dagnöen Nord (pronounced dag-no-en noor) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It was officially renamed in 2015 as l’Université Ouaga 1 Profes ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

. Where she took business law. After leaving she helped her uncle found an unsuccessful business "Zenith Finances" based on the use of

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

's business model. The experiment left her bankrupt.

Quickcash

She decided that there was a business in lending to women in rural areas. They could not use modern systems (which rely on the internet) as they had no access to this technology. After two years of experimentation and the support of Fintech she developed a system that became Quickcash in 2010. This could achieve financial transactions without access to the internet. With just a mobile phone farmers could transfer cash quickly and securely. She has launched two daughter companies - "Digital hub" is involved with allowing small vendors to accept small payments and Canaan Landwhich is involved in the agro-business. Her work has been supported by the minister for foreign affairs, Marcel Amon-Tanoh. In November 2021, Patricia Zoundi Yao is preparing to sell her company QuickCash to a Nigerian buyer.

Recognition

L to R Claudia de Heredia Helianti Hilman Nina Angelovska Patricia Zoundi Yao and Xiaofei Yao

On 24 September 2019 the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

announced seven "eTrade for Women Advocates" from the developing world. The others were Nazanin Daneshvar,

Clarisse Iribagiza Clarisse Iribagiza (born 28 January 1988) is a computer scientist in Rwanda. She is the CEO and co-founder of the mobile technology company HeHe Limited and she is one of the UNCTAD's seven "eTrade for Women Advocates from the developing world". ...

, Xiaofei Yao,

Nina Angelovska Nina Angelovska (born 13 July 1988 in Skopje) is a Macedonian politician and the former Minister of Finance in North Macedonia. She is also an entrepreneur, UNCTAD eTrade for Women Advocate and president of the Macedonian E-commerce Associatio ...

Claudia de Heredia Claudia de Heredia Romo (born 28 August 1982) is a Mexican e-commerce entrepreneur. Life Romo was born in Mexico City. She took a degree in marketing at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe and graduated in 2006. She then worked in Procter ...

and

Helianti Hilman Helianti Hilman (born ) is a lawyer involved in e-commerce in Indonesia with "Javara". The business's mission is to market indigenous Indonesian food products. In 2019 she became one of UNCTAD's "eTrade for Women Advocate". Life Hilman was born in ...

. It was announced on the periphery of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in New York.

References

1976 births Living people Ivorian women in business Social entrepreneurs University of Ouagadougou alumni {{IvoryCoast-bio-stub