News in brief: Tingo Mobile has provided a â¦3 billion loan to Nigerian farmers through the AFAN to support rice and wheat production on 3,000 hectares of land. The loan aims to address agricultural financing challenges and contribute to Nigeria’s food production and export sector
Tingo Mobile, an African Agri-fintech company, has signed off a loan of â¦3 billion to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN). According to a report, the loan will facilitate cultivation of 3,000 hectares of land for rice and wheat poduction.
Agricultural financing has been one of the major issues plaguing Nigeria’s agriculture sector. Many of the improvements that farmers need to make to increase production, be more precise, and so on, needs financing.
In 2022, agriculture in the country recorded a lower capital importation than several other sectors including banking, shares, services, financing, production, trading, and more.
The money will be spread across each hectare of land at a rate of â¦620,000 for rice cultivation and â¦390,000 for wheat. Tingo Mobile hopes to contribute to improving Nigeria’s food production and agric export sector.
AFAN welcomes supervision from Tingo Mobile on its spending in a bid to make it more transparent. The association’s president, Farouk Rabiu Mudi, mentioned that the loan will go a long way in supporting extensive land cultivation in Nigeria.
For the fintech, the investment allows it build a long-term revenue generation system. Its CEO, Darren Mercer, says that it already has investments in infrastructure to support export business. Thus, it is likely that this loan is a backward integration move to get the produce it needs for export.
Tingo Mobile’s founder, Dozy Mmobuosi, who also founded Tingo Foods, added that African farmers are important to addressing food insecurity, poverty and more.
The agreement has a provision for amendments as both parties foresee situations where they may need to tweak some details to accommodate changes in food production and export.
AFAN has no government or political affiliations and includes all farmers’ association, cooperatives, and other agriculture and agro-allied bodies in Nigeria. It contains about 56 commodity associations in the country and its spread in all states of the nation means that it can deploy the loan in proper locations, although it has not revealed details on handling the fund.
Tingo Mobile for its part is a multinational company and a part of the Tingo Group. It is the group’s globalisation attempt and aims to grow its subscribed farmers base from 9.3 million to 32 million.
