SOMO AFRICA TRUST — Terms and Conditions
These Terms govern your use of every SOMO AFRICA TRUST platform and service. All personal data you share with us is collected, processed and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2019 (Act No. 24 of 2019) of Kenya and the Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021.
1. General
- 1.1.In these Terms, "SOMO AFRICA TRUST", "we", "us" or "our" means SOMO AFRICA TRUST, a company registered in Kenya under registration number 2516, of Stage Kibera , Nairobi, together with its successors, assigns and, where the context requires, its authorised agents, service providers and data processors.
- 1.2."You", "your", "User" or "Entrepreneur" means any person or business that registers for, accesses or uses the Services.
- 1.3."Services" means all SOMO AFRICA TRUST products and channels, including the DigiKua platform, the Somo App, WhatsApp and USSD services, web portals, the point-of-sale (POS) system, the learning management system (LMS), business scorecards and financing products.
- 1.4."Personal Data", "Sensitive Personal Data", "Data Controller", "Data Processor" and "Processing" have the meanings given in section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 2019.
- 1.5.By registering, or by using any Service through any channel, you confirm that you have read, understood and accepted these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.
- 1.6.We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by SMS, WhatsApp, email or in-app notice at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use after that date means you accept the updated Terms.
- 1.7.SOMO AFRICA TRUST may decline any registration or participation at its discretion, subject to applicable law.
2. Eligibility, Registration and Verification
- 2.1.You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a binding contract under Kenyan law. Where you register on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind that business.
- 2.2.You may register through WhatsApp, USSD, the Somo App, the web portal, or with the help of a SOMO AFRICA TRUST coach. During registration we may ask for your name, gender, country, age, location, email address, referral code and a PIN.
- 2.3.You must provide accurate, complete and current information and update it promptly if it changes. SOMO AFRICA TRUST is not liable for any loss arising from incorrect or false information you provide.
- 2.4.Full access to certain Services, including financing, is available only after Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Know-Your-Business (KYB) verification. This may require your national ID or passport, KRA PIN, business registration documents, M-Pesa and bank statements, and a coach-led verification visit.
- 2.5.We may verify your information with third parties, including the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS), licensed Credit Reference Bureaus and mobile money providers, as permitted by law.
- 2.6.Each person or business may hold only one account. We may suspend or merge duplicate accounts.
- 2.7.Your PIN must be at least 8 characters and kept secret. You are responsible for all activity on your account until you notify us that your credentials have been compromised.
3. The Services
4. Data Protection and Privacy
4.1. Compliance: All personal data collected through the Services is collected, processed, stored and protected in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2019 and the Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021. SOMO AFRICA TRUST is registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) as a Data Controller and Data Processor under registration number [ODPC registration number].
4.2. Principles: In line with section 25 of the Act, we process your data lawfully, fairly and transparently; only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes; limited to what is necessary; kept accurate and up to date; kept no longer than needed; and secured against loss, misuse and unauthorised access.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identity and contact | Name, gender, age, national ID or passport, phone number, email, location |
| Business | Business name, registration, KRA PIN, sales, inventory, invoices, scorecard metrics |
| Financial | M-Pesa and bank statements, loan applications, repayment history, CRB reports |
| Technical and usage | Device, app and channel activity, logs, check-in location for classes |
4.4. Lawful basis: Under section 30 of the Act, we process data on the basis of your consent, the performance of our contract with you, compliance with legal obligations (including KYC, anti-money laundering and tax laws), and our legitimate interests in running and securing the Services.
4.5. Purposes: We use your data to register and verify you, deliver the Services, assess business performance and creditworthiness, process loans and payments, provide training, issue fiscal receipts, prevent fraud, meet legal obligations, and improve our products. We will ask for separate consent before using your data for marketing, and you may withdraw that consent at any time.
4.6. Sensitive personal data: Where we process sensitive personal data as defined in the Act, we do so only on a ground permitted by sections 44 to 46 and with additional safeguards.
4.7. Sharing: We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary with: licensed Credit Reference Bureaus as required by the Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations, 2020; payment and mobile money providers; the Kenya Revenue Authority; financing partners, with your consent; contracted Data Processors bound by written agreements under section 42 of the Act; and regulators, courts or law enforcement where the law requires.
4.8. Storage and cross-border transfer: Your data is stored on secure servers operated by SOMO AFRICA TRUST or reputable cloud providers. Where data is stored or transferred outside Kenya, we do so only in compliance with sections 48 to 50 of the Act, with appropriate safeguards and, where required, your consent or ODPC approval.
4.9. Security: We apply technical and organisational measures under section 41 of the Act, including encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, audit logging, and automated daily backups.
4.10. Data breaches: If a breach creates a real risk of harm, we will notify the ODPC within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, as required by section 43 of the Act, and notify affected users without undue delay.
4.11. Retention: We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purpose collected or as required by law (for example, financial and tax records for at least 7 years). After that we delete, anonymise or securely archive it, in line with section 39 of the Act.
- Be informed of how your data is used
- Access your personal data
- Object to processing of all or part of your data
- Have false or misleading data corrected
- Have false, misleading or unlawfully held data deleted
- Data portability, under section 38
- Not be subject to automated decisions affecting you
- Withdraw consent at any time
4.13. Contact DPO: To exercise any right, contact our Data Protection Officer at it@somoafrica.org or dpo@somoafrica.org. We will respond within the timelines set in the Regulations. If you are not satisfied, you may lodge a complaint with the ODPC at www.odpc.go.ke.
4.14. Privacy Policy: Our full Privacy Policy is available at /privacy.
5. Payments, Fees and Financing
- 5.1.All amounts are in Kenya Shillings (KES) unless stated otherwise. Fees for paid Services are shown before you commit and are payable in advance unless agreed otherwise.
- 5.2.Charges levied by mobile money operators, banks or payment gateways (for example M-Pesa transaction fees) are borne by you unless stated otherwise.
- 5.3.Each loan is governed by a separate loan agreement or offer that sets out the amount, interest, fees, repayment schedule and penalties. If it conflicts with these Terms, the loan agreement prevails for that loan.
- 5.4.You may repay a loan through M-Pesa STK push, Paybill, bank transfer or any channel we provide. A third party may repay on your behalf; the repayment is credited to your loan and gives that third party no rights over your account.
- 5.5.By applying for credit, you consent to SOMO AFRICA TRUST obtaining your credit report and sharing your repayment information, both positive and negative, with licensed Credit Reference Bureaus as required by law.
- 5.6.If you default, we may recover the amount due through lawful means, including reminders, restriction of Services and referral to licensed debt collectors, and the default may be reported to Credit Reference Bureaus.
- 5.7.SOMO AFRICA TRUST does not accept deposits and is not a bank. Funds paid to us are not held as savings and earn no interest.
- 5.8.If funds are credited or debited in error, notify us immediately. We will investigate and correct confirmed errors, including recovering amounts credited to you in error.
6. Your Obligations and Acceptable Use
6.1. You agree to use the Services only for lawful business purposes and not to:
- • Provide false, forged or misleading information or documents
- • Use another person's identity, account, or payment method without authorisation
- • Use the Services for fraud, money laundering or terrorism financing
- • Attempt to hack, reverse engineer, overload or interfere with the Services
- • Use bots, scripts or automated tools without written permission
- • Upload viruses or other harmful code
- • Harass, abuse or threaten SOMO AFRICA TRUST staff, coaches or other users
- • Sell, transfer or share your account credentials
6.2. Data you enter about others: Where you upload personal data about other people, such as customers in the POS, you are the Data Controller for that data. You confirm you have a lawful basis under the Data Protection Act, 2019 to share it, and SOMO AFRICA TRUST processes it on your instructions as your Data Processor.
6.3. Security: You are responsible for the security of your phone, SIM card, PIN and devices. Report any suspected unauthorised access to us immediately.
6.4. Investigation & Enforcement: We may suspend or restrict your account while we investigate suspected breaches of these Terms, and may report suspected criminal activity to the relevant authorities.
7. Intellectual Property
- 7.1.All software, content, trademarks, course materials and designs in the Services belong to SOMO AFRICA TRUST or its licensors. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use them solely to access the Services.
- 7.2.You keep ownership of your business data. You grant SOMO AFRICA TRUST a licence to process it only to provide and improve the Services, and to create anonymised, aggregated statistics that do not identify you.
8. Limitation of Liability
- 8.1.The Services are provided "as is" and "as available". We aim for continuous availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.
- 8.2.To the extent permitted by law, SOMO AFRICA TRUST is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, or loss caused by your equipment, network outages, third-party providers, or events beyond our reasonable control, such as power failures, cyber-attacks, pandemics or acts of government.
- 8.3.Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, or any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 or the Data Protection Act, 2019 that cannot lawfully be excluded.
9. Suspension and Termination
- 9.1.You may close your account at any time by contacting us, after settling any outstanding amounts.
- 9.2.We may suspend or close your account if you breach these Terms, if required by law or a regulator, or if your account has been inactive for 12 consecutive months, with notice where practicable.
- 9.3.On closure, we will retain or delete your personal data in line with section 4.11. Outstanding loan obligations survive termination.
10. Complaints and Disputes
- 10.1.Send any complaint to support@somoafrica.org. We will acknowledge it within 2 business days and aim to resolve it within 14 days.
- 10.2.Data protection complaints may also be lodged with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
- 10.3.Disputes not resolved through our complaints process shall be referred to arbitration by a single arbitrator agreed by the parties, seated in Nairobi. Failing agreement, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya Branch). This does not prevent either party seeking urgent relief from a court.
11. Governing Law
- 11.1.These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kenya, including the Data Protection Act, 2019, the Consumer Protection Act, 2012, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, and the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009.
- 11.2.If any provision is found invalid, the remaining provisions remain in force. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it.