DataPro partners Modefinance with Tigran to enhance credit risk management

DataPro, Nigeria’s technology-driven Credit Rating Agency, has collaborated with Modefinance, the first European FinTech Rating Agency, to introduce into the local market a credit rating solution with a promise to unleash the power of credit into the domestic economy.

Tigran-for DataPro, introduced into Nigeria on Monday, is based on artificial intelligence technology, advanced analytics, and big data representing an adaptive and flexible independent credit risk management tool for the Nigerian market, the partners said in a statement during the launch in Lagos.

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This application will be suitable for deposit money banks, merchant and investment banks, mortgage banks, microfinance banks, insurance companies, capital market operators, FinTechs, multinationals, conglomerates, and manufacturing companies, in order to digitalise and automate their credit risk underwriting process with the integration of different components of user credit policy and data sources, the partners said.

“This is a game changer. It is going to revolutionise the concept of credit rating in Nigeria and deepen the prosperity of Nigerians,” Mr Abimbola Adesoyoju, the Managing Director of DataPro, said in answer to a question. He added that Credit rating process must contain the three elements of transparency, automation, and trust, “which have been part of the encumbrances of the process.”

While Mr Adesoyoju and other senior executives of DataPro spoke at the event from Lagos, officials of Modefinance and Modefinance International spoke virtually from various locations, including Italy and Dubai.

Valentino Pediroda, the Founder of Modefinance, said while transparency is important in credit rating, “transparency is not enough in 2022, because the world is changing, technology is changing”.

Automation, he said, is key in credit risk management. And the value propositions of Tigran on automation are: 38 percent Cost Reduction, 76 percent faster Time/ Turnaround, and 99 percent paperless process.

Christian Giacomini of Modefinance International said Africa is “a priority” to the company. The introduction of Tigran into Nigeria is its first entry into Africa though it has spread to other regions since its establishment in 2009.

The choice of Nigeria as the company’s entry point into Africa was based on the country’s size as the biggest economy in the content, he said. It was also based on the level of economic activities that go in the economy, including the volume of lending by banks, and measures being taken to grow the economy.

Reacting to the partnership, Mattia Ciprian, the CEO of Modefinance, said, “The credit market needs more and more fast evaluations with high accuracy. At Modefinance, we are engaged on a daily basis in supporting organisations all over the world, with a greater focus on the African continent.”

Prince Oladele Adeoye, the Chief Rating Officer of DataPro Limited, also said, “We recognise that credit decision-making needs to be effective and efficient.”