Africa focused trade finance fintech Mansa has launched the first of three liquidity pools focused on receivables financing in underserved markets, hosted on blockchain platform Base.

The pool allows established commodity exporters in emerging markets to borrow against invoices, receiving 80% payment upfront, with the remainder supplied once the invoice is paid to Mansa.

Mansa performs risk assessments and credit checks for borrowers internally, requiring companies wishing to join the platform to have minimum annual revenues of US$3mn, three years of audited financial statements and at least 12 months of revenue-positive operations.

For lenders, the product operates more like an exchange-traded fund (ETF) than a traditional loan agreement. Investors pay into a pool of funds managed by Mansa, which in turn finances receivables and pays investors yields based on 37-day lockup periods during which funds cannot be withdrawn.

With monthly interest rates of 2-3%, Mansa receives 24-36% annual percentage yield (APY) and offers investors a flat 20% APY return, comparable to the best-performing ETFs over the past five years, according to data from financial intelligence company VettaFi.

The company currently has over US$200,000 pledged in liquidity and a pipeline that includes major African tobacco, vegetable and nut exporters, with a US$30mn monthly liquidity demand across nine companies, it says.

Though multi-funder supply chain finance platforms are not new, Mansa hopes its use of blockchain will offer advantages for exporters, as funding will be held and paid in USDT, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

This avoids much of the complexity of forex payments, as currency exchange can take place at the exporter’s leisure. However, Mansa tells GTR that it expects much of the currency to remain dollar denominated as it will be used to finance further exports.

Another reason Mansa says it chooses to operate on the blockchain is the ease of onboarding for investors. While only institutional investors can invest currently, the company hopes to open its pool to the public early next year.

It believes expanding into the retail trading market will vastly expand the potential pool of liquidity, leveraging protocols already well-established in other blockchain-based platforms, such as cryptocurrency wallets.

Mansa says this approach has enabled it to attract investment and attention from channels not typically interested in trade finance. One of its major initial liquidity providers is a blockchain startup investor from the US, and it has also received investment from an unnamed wealth fund in the UAE, meaning the business is not entirely dependent on technology investors.

Mansa’s CEO and co-founder Mouloukou Sanoh has worked in investment banking and co-founded successful tech startup Cassava, and its CTO and co-founder Chris Yuen was previously technology lead at GoGo Van, a publicly traded unicorn. On the trade finance side, head of lending Sharon Olende has previously worked in trade for Barclays and Citibank.