CASE BRIEF & WORK

Soa is a mobile app (iOS and Android) and web app that would serve as an investment platform for potential investors to invest in different projects across Africa to get returns. However, this isn’t just an investment platform, it also allows users to get rewarded for referring others to use the platform. Beyond that, users also have the privilege of giving back to vulnerable Africans through different charitable projects.

The Task at Hand

There is so much dissemination of financial education today, especially as it relates to investments but a lot of people are still hesitant due to the risk involved in investments as well as the lack of adequate information on investment opportunities. Seeing this gap, our client contacted us to create an investment platform where potential investors can find safety to invest in different projects across Africa as well as give back to different charities across the continent. Based on the need for trust in an investment platform, the client wanted us to create features that will support referrals and a reward system for users depending on the number of people they refer to use the platform. Therefore, registration is strictly by referral; this is to further cement the trust among investors because it aims at becoming a platform with a network of people who already have a prior connection.

How We Helped

We started this project on the 1st of April, 2020, while the team was working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the team couldn’t be together physically, we didn’t let that deter us. We took advantage of the prevailing technologies such as Zoom and Go-to-meeting for regular meetings within the team and with the clients, Slack and WhatsApp for in-house correspondence, JIRA and Confluence to organise the project.

Having all these at our disposal, we set out to work on the SOA mobile and web application that was scheduled to run for six months. Before work started on the actual app, we developed a mini-app that helped the client gather sufficient data before the launch of the actual app.

For a successful launch of the platform, we used Flutter and Dart (iOS and Android), ReactJS for the frontend, TypeScript, Django, Python for the backend and Postgres for the database. Also, some of the significant features of the app include;

Admin Dashboard: This is a web app that serves as a backend for the admin to manage investments, charities, donations, financial transactions and referrals by the users. The admin can also manage and create ads.

User Dashboard: This is the mobile app managed by the user to view charity and investment opportunities, make donations to charities, invest, view transaction history, make referrals, earn rewards for referrals (based on terms and conditions), and withdraw rewards and return on investments.

Request an Invite button: Considering that the platform is strictly based on referrals, random people who stumble on the app can request for an invite using this button. However, the button leads to a page with an explanation on how to get referred to register.

CASE RESULT