Economy
FarmCrowdy Expands in Finance, Insurance, Others
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian agritech startup, Farmcrowdy, has launched Farmcrowdy 3.0 as part of its expansion into diverse businesses which include FC Tech and Data, FC Structured Finance, FC Insurance, FC Marketing, FC Aggregation, and FC Foods.
This was launched during its 4th-anniversary celebration which also marks the third National Digital Agriculture Day, a celebration initiated by Farmcrowdy back in 2018.
Farmcrowdy 3.0 is essentially an umbrella platform comprising the new six business units which the company is looking to focus on in the next year.
The business units majorly leverage tech to deliver value to farmers and consumers alike. They are an expression of the company’s ambition and how it is looking to deepen its offering to cater to as many needs as it possibly could.
FC Aggregation, for instance, has the ultimate goal of making sure farmers get their work’s worth.
Highlighting that the major problem for farmers is access to market, FC Aggregation business lead, Mr Obi Luya explained that this is a two-pronged problem as farmers can’t reach buyers directly and vice versa. This, coupled with poor storage and transport facilities means N3.42 trillion is lost annually due to post-harvest losses.
To solve this problem, FC aggregation is launching a production and outgrowers project which aims to facilitate trade through a platform called Farmcrowdy Trader. This is a one-stop-shop where buyers and sellers can meet and trade with each other.
“Buyers are able to come to the platform remotely and see farmers who have uploaded their products. They can also make their choices and concerns known and get real-time responses,” he noted.
This unit operates with aggregation centres stationed in rural farming communities. These centres, located within 2 kilometres of affiliated farms, are equipped with digital equipment. Farmers could upload produce after weighing and standardization and it becomes globally available. There are 101 aggregation centres and 182,000 farmers registered on the platform.
Speaking about FC Tech, Farmcrowdy CTO, Mr Christopher Abiodun, noted that the new business units target 30,000 farmers. With 38 million small-scale farmers in Nigeria and 90 per cent of them finding it extremely difficult getting their produce to the markets, these new businesses, all leveraging technology, look to solve the problems in the food value chain.
Farmcrowdy Tech and Data, therefore, looks to provide insights, market and yield predictions, market research points, data analysis and others. He also emphasized the deployment of Technical Field Specialists and a farmers’ app.
For the Structured Finance business unit, its head, Mr Oluwakotanmi Ojo said the unit aims to help farmers access capital and loan facilities. He noted that 50 per cent of the Nigerian population are farmers and 90 per cent of them have no access to loan facilities.
He chalked the financial limitations of farmers to three major challenges: lack of info and access; financial exclusion because only 28.5 per cent of the Nigerian population have any financial relationships with banks; and finally, high-interest loans. He said the unit would focus on equipment financing, third party collaborations and finally making farm produce directly available to end consumers at affordable prices
For FC Insurance, the company’s Chief Risk Officer, Akindele Philips says the unit aims to be the link between farmers and participants in the food value chain. He noted that only 1.9 per cent of adults in Nigeria (about 3.9 million) have any form of insurance. Local farmers make up a majority of adults lacking any form of insurance and this is affecting food production in Nigeria.
To this end, local farmers need digital platforms to easily register and obtain insurance packages. They also require products that are flexible and affordable. FC Insurance’s goal is, therefore, to make insurance affordable and available to farmers.
Insurance products which the business unit aims to provide to farmers include Life insurance, hospice and health, property protection and crop insurance for damage to farms due to pest, adverse weather, fire etc.
For FC marketing, its business lead, Mr Babajide Aroyewun said the unit operates a 360-degree integrated system of marketing in its quest to become a marketing solutions provider. He introduced the business’ marketing platform, Agricsquare which he claimed has over 25,000 active members talking tech and agric.
Agricsquare is a public social community for users to meet and interact with agritech enthusiasts. FC Marketing is expected to spearhead Farmcrowdy’s expansion into Ghana Rwanda, Kenya, the Caribbean etc.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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