Washington, DC, November 16, 2021 – Global nonprofit Accion announced today that it will award the seventh annual Edward W. Claugus Award to Buhle Goslar, Africa CEO of JUMO, and to Rose Goslinga, CEO of Pula. The award, which is given to exceptional leaders advancing financial inclusion, will be presented at a virtual event on Dec. 8, 2021.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to face the most challenging recovery from the global pandemic, and this year we are honored to present the Edward W. Claugus Award to two extraordinary leaders from the region whose work is empowering women, small businesses, and underserved families as they rebuild and adapt,” said Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion. “As Africa CEO of JUMO, Buhle Goslar is working to address the digital gender divide and ensure that women can access and benefit from digital financial services. Under Rose Goslinga’s leadership, Pula has provided agricultural insurance and data-driven insights to more than 5.1 million farmers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, many of them women, to help them increase their crop yields and build resilience to climate change.”
Buhle Goslar is Africa CEO of JUMO, a financial technology company that connects people and small businesses in emerging markets to credit and savings choices in six markets across Africa, and in Pakistan. Since founding in 2015 JUMO has disbursed over 120 million individual loans and is planning to launch in two new African markets in 2022.
Buhle is a certified retail banker, experienced board director, and avid researcher. Over the past two decades, Buhle’s work has covered an array of markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Asia, in sectors spanning financial services, technology, retail, and tourism. Her research interests include regulation of inclusive, data-driven financial services, gender-responsive financial product design, online entrepreneurship in Africa, financial justice, customer protection, and empowerment. Buhle holds a bachelor’s in marketing from UNISA and an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. She also completed post-graduate management programs in inclusive finance, digital finance, and social impact at Harvard Business School, Tufts Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and Oxford Saïd Business School, respectively.
Buhle Goslar, Africa CEO for JUMO said: “For me, choosing to do this work has always been about solving the issue of unequal access to finance. The size of the challenge, the fact that we have the potential to rethink business models, to rethink capital, to rethink product — it’s incredibly exciting. I’m honored to receive this award and will continue to work towards creating a more prosperous future for financially excluded communities.”
Rose Goslinga is the CEO of Pula, a company that is radically restructuring agricultural insurance. Pula uses technology to scale climate insurance to smallholder farmers in 25 markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Since its founding in 2015, the company has provided crop and livestock insurance cover to 5.1 million smallholder farmers through partnerships with governments, input providers, and credit lenders.
Rose has worked in agriculture and insurance for the last eight years. She is a fellow through Poptech’s Rainer Arnhold Fellow and Social Innovation Fellow programs, as well as a TED speaker. Rose’s work in agriculture insurance has been recognized through several international awards, including the Financial Times/IFC Award for Sustainable Finance, InsureTech 3.0, and the Singapore Fintech Festival. Rose holds a master’s in political economy of development from the University of London, where she graduated with first-class honors, and a bachelor’s in business and economics.
“It is truly an honor to be receiving this award and having our work at Pula seeking to serve previously uninsured rural smallholder farmers recognized,” Rose said. “This award is a testament to the significant role that agricultural insurance plays in the future of inclusive financial service offerings to smallholder farmers — by not only improving their access to agricultural inputs and funding, but also protecting rural household income and tackling poverty, thus transforming nations and empowering farmers worldwide to be food secure and climate resilient.”
The Claugus Award is named in honor of Accion benefactor Edward Claugus, a skilled investor who was passionate about social change. Accion presents an annual award in his name to honorees who have shown exceptional work and innovation in financial inclusion. This year, the award will be presented virtually at an event on Dec. 8, 2021. Interested parties can learn more and register here.
About Accion
Accion is a global nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. We catalyze financial service providers to deliver high-quality, affordable solutions at scale for the three billion people who are left out of — or poorly served by — the financial sector. For 60 years, Accion has helped tens of millions of people through our work with more than 170 partners in 55 countries. More at accion.org.
