Economy
How Digitization of Farmers’ Payments Tackled Poverty in Kenya
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A new case study has shown that the digitization of Kenyan farmers’ payments has helped in tackling poverty in the country.
The study revealed how the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance in conjunction with an agriculture non-profit organization named One Acre Fund, and Citi Inclusive Finance successfully digitized loan repayments for farmers in Kenya.
This move significantly boosted transparency and efficiency, driving economic opportunity and financial inclusion for thousands of smallholder farmers and their families.
One Acre Fund, supported by Citi, enabled farmers to easily make loan repayments via mobile money instead of cash, reducing the uncertainty, inefficiency, insecurity and high costs previously caused by cash transactions.
One Acre Fund can now reach more farmers with greater reliability, and staff can spend almost half as much time collecting payments in cash, using that extra time to help farmers increase their incomes through training and educational programs. With One Acre Fund’s package of services, including training and inputs like seed and fertilizer, the average farmer participating in the program earned nearly 50 percent more than peer farmers who do not participate.
Study findings include increased participant satisfaction due to transparency and convenience; eighty-five percent decreased instances of repayment fraud; reduced processing time for each repayment from 12-16 days to 2-4 days; farmers now know immediately when their payment is received, eliminating the worry about whether it arrived; eighty percent decrease in repayment processing costs; forty-six percent of time reduced for staff working on collections, allowing for more time helping farmers improve agricultural practices; and women farmers benefited especially, feeling safer about payment deliveries.
“Mobile repayments have allowed us to increase our efficiency and provide better service to farmers,” said Mike Warmington, the Director of Microfinance Partnerships at One Acre Fund. “We’re excited to be working at the forefront of this technology in the smallholder agriculture lending sector. In our experience, farmers were empowered to thrive in these communities. Clients receive immediate confirmation of payments as they happen, enabling them to better manage their businesses and family finances.”
“Citi’s footprint, track record in inclusive finance and transaction banking capabilities enable us to provide global support to leading social enterprises like One Acre Fund,” said Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Inclusive Finance. “Among other benefits, digitization enables efficiency and security, and drives innovative and inclusive business models. Citi is proud to play a part in enabling One Acre Fund and other organizations like them to improve the livelihoods of farming communities.”
One Acre Fund is an example of the significant benefits and impact that digital payments and inclusive digital financial infrastructure, as developed in Kenya, can bring to agricultural value chains, contributing to a more sustainable and productive agriculture sector, a cornerstone of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). These learnings can easily translate to poor farming communities in other countries and One Acre Fund is working on plans to expand in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia in the future.
“For companies and non-profit organizations who want to work in rural Africa, this success story is a must-read,” said Oswell Kahonde, Africa Regional Lead at the Better Than Cash Alliance. “Digital payments are essential to building sustainable business models and creating long-term impact. By enabling smallholder farmers to make and receive payments digitally, we are creating transparency and accountability which translates to numerous benefits and empowers people to take control of their finances.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said the successful recapitalisation of the insurance industry will strengthen the sector’s ability to support financial stability and economic growth.
NIA Chairman, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said a well-capitalised insurance industry would be better positioned to meet its obligations promptly, underwrite complex and large-scale risks and serve as a dependable pillar of the Nigerian economy.
She made the remarks while commending the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its structured implementation of the new minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mrs Nwachukwu said NAICOM’s clear guidelines, systematic verification process, defined timelines and rigorous supervision had provided operators with a credible framework for navigating the recapitalisation exercise.
She described the outcome as a major milestone for the industry and congratulated the 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that have successfully met the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
According to her, the exercise represents “a major win not just for regulators and operators, but for policyholders, investors and the wider Nigerian economy.”
Mrs Nwachukwu said the association would continue to work with NAICOM and other stakeholders to consolidate the gains of the exercise, with emphasis on sustainable industry growth, stronger market conduct and improved consumer confidence.
The official also expressed solidarity with the eight companies still undergoing final verification and regulatory review, urging them to remain confident as NAICOM completes the process within the 14-day review period.
The NIA chairman assured policyholders and the wider business community that the insurance industry would emerge from the recapitalisation exercise stronger, more resilient and better positioned to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is considering reforms to its crude allocation and pricing framework to ease feedstock supply constraints facing local refiners, including the 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, according to the Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN).
The proposed reforms are expected to be discussed this week as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) reviews the implementation of the domestic crude supply obligation, which requires oil producers to supply Nigerian refineries before exporting crude.
According to CORAN spokesperson, Mr Eche Idoko, one proposal would allow producers within an international oil company’s network to deliver crude directly to nearby refineries, with the volumes reconciled later at the terminal.
Mr Idoko said the arrangement would reduce reliance on trunklines and bring crude closer to refiners, potentially lowering logistics costs and improving supply efficiency.
Another proposal would allow refiners that lift crude directly from production facilities to receive a discount reflecting freight and handling costs incorporated into Brent-linked pricing but not actually incurred by the buyers.
“This could be a win-win for both the producers and refiners,” Mr Idoko said, as per Reuters.
The proposed changes come amid concerns over the cost and availability of domestic crude for Nigerian refiners. Dangote Refinery has previously said Nigeria’s pricing structure adds about $3 to $4 per barrel to its feedstock costs because crude purchases are routed through producers’ trading arms.
Analysts have identified pricing, rather than physical crude availability, as the main constraint affecting domestic crude transactions.
The reforms could help improve operations at the Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest, which has at times faced constraints in securing sufficient crude supplies locally.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) released on Monday showed that producers’ compliance with the domestic crude supply framework increased to more than 90 per cent, from below 43 per cent in the previous quarter.
The regulator said the figure measures actual crude deliveries against volumes allocated by the commission, rather than the proportion of refinery demand that has been met.
Under the framework, producers are required to offer allocated crude volumes to local refineries, with transactions conducted on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
