A prototype AI model for alternative credit scoring in West Africa using simulated data
# FinScore
A prototype AI model for alternative credit scoring in West Africa using simulated data
## The Problem
Over 60% of small businesses in West Africa lack access to formal credit. Traditional banks cannot assess their risk because they lack conventional banking history.
## The Vision
FinScore aims to leverage alternative data (mobile money transactions, telco data) to build an AI-powered creditworthiness score for the informal economy.
## About This Repository
This is a **working prototype and learning sandbox**. It represents my hands-on journey to technical proficiency as I build towards solving this problem. The work here is foundational and evolves as I learn.
### Project Structure
- `data/`: Contains simulated mobile money transaction data.
- `notebooks/`:
- `01_data_simulation.ipynb`: Data generation and exploratory analysis.
- `02_feature_engineering.ipynb`: Creating meaningful features from raw data.
- `03_model_prototype.ipynb`: A simple ML model proof-of-concept.
## Next Steps & Learning Goals
- [ ] Experiment with more advanced models (e.g., Gradient Boosting).
- [ ] Integrate more data sources (simulated telco top-up patterns).
- [ ] Build a simple Streamlit demo app.
## Connect With Me
linkedin.com