The Spark Magazine (Jan 2018)

The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve
www.thesparkng.com
Features
15 Organisations Investing In
Nigerian Agro-Businesses
Looking to fund that great idea? Look no further. This list has been compiled to serve as a
resource so you have 15 different places to look for funding, and how to go about it.
- By Ayandola Ayanleke
Agriculture and agro-business is fast becoming a major
focus in Nigeria, especially since the economic recession
that visited the country in recent times. The devastating
effect of the recession made it necessary to look into other
economic opportunities apart from oil and gas. And as necessity
is the father of creativity, the many opportunities in agriculture
are becoming more obvious. However, despite having creative
ideas, for a lot of start-ups, funding is a major issue. It would not
be if people had the right information on organisations that have
taken it upon themselves to help agro-businesses with funding.
Here are 15 organisations you can approach for investment if
you run an agro-business.
1. African Enterprise Challenge Fund
(AECF)
The organisation is a US private fund that provides monetary
support to businesses in 24 Sub-Saharan African countries,
including Nigeria. With the aim of reducing rural poverty, they
have been rendering support to businesses in agriculture,
renewable energy as well as rural financial services and
communications systems that support the two sectors. With the
help of their funding partners, they have funded 257 businesses
across 24 countries in Africa.
To be a beneficiary of the AECF fund, you would have to apply on
their website at https://www.aecfafrica.org and then go through
a selection process, after which selected applicants are awarded
the grant. The grant usually comes with post-awards conditions
that would be made clear before the grants are awarded. And
after the initial disbursement of funds, the AECF monitors their
beneficiaries quarterly or semi-annually before other funding is
made.
You can contact AECF by visiting them at The AECF, West End
Towers, Kanjata Road Off Muthangari Drive / Waiyaki Way,
Nairobi, Kenya or call +254 0703 033 394 or send them an email
at info@aecfafrica.org.
2. Bank of Industry
The Bank of Industry is an organisation that is saddled with the
responsibility of transforming Nigeria’s industrial sector.
Therefore, they offer loans to manufacturing and processing
businesses. The bank does not offer loans to individuals or group
of persons but to enterprises and they have to be registered.
They also do not offer cash to the beneficiary; instead they pay
vendors and suppliers directly. Their loans start at 5 million Naira
but there is provision for less than that.
To apply, you have to be certain your product is among the
products BOI supports. Funding for start-ups is at the bank’s
discretion but the start-ups would need to have proof of
performance before they can be considered. You can visit their
website https://www.boi.ng/apply/ for more information.
3. Bank of Agriculture
Similar to the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture has a
mandate by the Federal Government to support small and
medium agricultural enterprises as well as non-agricultural
enterprises. BOA has disbursed about 41 billion Naira to over
600 enterprises across the country in the last ten years. They get
the beneficiaries by partnering with other institutions, such as
Bank of Industry.
To secure a loan, you will need to have had a customer account
with them for at least six months and must have deposited 20%
of the required loan, must have a collateral excluding landed
property and have a detailed business plan. The bank, luckily,
has branches across the country or you can also send them an
email at cp@boanig.com.
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