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
Despite signs that Nigeria’s headline inflation is easing, rising food prices continue to threaten the country’s inflation outlook, the chief executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Mr Muda Yusuf, has warned.
He noted that structural inflationary pressures in the real economy remain pronounced despite improving macroeconomic stability.
In a policy brief released following the inflation report, he noted that headline inflation eased marginally, while month-on-month change moderated from 1.75 per cent to 1.66 per cent, indicating that headline inflation has largely plateaued.
According to him, the dominant concern in the latest inflation report is the renewed acceleration in food inflation.
This growth, he said, suggested that food prices have resumed an upward trajectory after a brief period of moderation.
Warning that a renewed increase in food inflation has significant economic and social implications, he stressed that food inflation remained the biggest driver of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, stressing that rising food prices continue to erode household purchasing power, worsen poverty and food insecurity while weakening the inclusiveness of the current reform programme.
He maintained that sustained moderation in food prices is critical to improving citizens’ welfare and strengthening public confidence in the ongoing economic reforms.
Acknowledging the easing of core inflation as encouraging, he drew attention to the persistence of urban inflation.
At 16.08 per cent, urban inflation exceeded the national headline inflation rate of 15.91 per cent, while month-on-month urban inflation increased from 1.99 per cent to 2.13 per cent.
According to Mr Yusuf, the figures indicated that inflationary pressures remained particularly intense across urban centres.
He attributed the rising urban inflation partly to increasing population displacement from rural communities affected by insecurity, expressing worry that as more households migrate to urban areas, demand for housing, transportation, utilities and other essential services would increase, adding to inflationary pressures and creating additional urbanisation challenges.
Addressing insecurity in farming communities, he said, was important not only for protecting lives and property and boosting agricultural output but also for easing cost pressures in urban centres, adding that the June CPI data reinforced the view that Nigeria’s inflation challenge is predominantly structural rather than monetary.
On the monetary policy outlook, he said the data do not justify further monetary tightening, arguing that headline inflation has largely stabilised.
The CPPE chief expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to retain the current monetary policy rate at its next meeting, adding that the priority is for monetary and fiscal authorities to work together to accelerate structural reforms to expand food supply, improve logistics, reduce energy and production costs, lower debt service costs, as well as strengthen domestic value chains.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Additional shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The new equities were added to the company’s existing stocks on Customs Street on Thursday, July 16, 2026, a notice from the bourse confirmed.
Business Post reports the total new ordinary shares of Sterling Holdings listed yesterday were 13,812,239,000 units.
They were from the offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each sold for N7.00 per share, which was oversubscribed by investors.
The financial institution brought the new shares to the stock exchange to increase its total issued and fully paid-up shares to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 52,117,012,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 13,812,239,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc were on Thursday, July 16, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N7.00 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have now increased from 52,117,012,414 to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice read.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, establishing a new framework to coordinate the regulation of virtual assets across government agencies as Nigeria seeks to curb fraud while supporting innovation in the digital economy.
The Executive Order, which takes immediate effect, creates a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to harmonise oversight of cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, stablecoins, and other digital assets without creating a new regulator.
As part of the new framework, the CBN will establish a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible firms to test virtual asset products, blockchain solutions, and related services under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
According to the presidency, the Executive Order responds to the growing complexity of virtual assets, which increasingly cut across the traditional boundaries of currencies, securities, commodities, and payment systems.
The fragmented regulatory environment has left gaps that have exposed Nigeria to money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy risks, fraud, and revenue losses.
The government said some unregistered operators have exploited these regulatory gaps to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians, resulting in significant financial losses.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies,” the statement read.
Under the new framework, the Virtual Asset Council will be chaired by the CBN, with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice chairs. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Council will provide policy direction, improve cooperation among participating agencies, and work with the Attorney General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework for the sector.
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the Council’s operational arm. The office will be domiciled at the CBN and will coordinate information sharing, applications, and reporting among the participating agencies through a shared supervisory technology platform.
The presidency stressed that the Executive Order does not create a new regulator or transfer statutory powers from existing agencies, clarifying that instead, each institution will continue to exercise its existing mandate while working within a coordinated framework.
Under the arrangement, registration of virtual asset businesses will depend on the nature of the service being offered.
Activities classified as securities will continue to be regulated by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody, and other services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the CBN.
Where there is uncertainty over regulatory jurisdiction, the Virtual Asset Council will determine the appropriate supervising agency.
“The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market,” the statement added.
According to the presidency, the sandbox will enable regulators to evaluate the implications of emerging products for financial stability, monetary sovereignty, consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity, and revenue administration.
The central bank is expected to announce further details of the sandbox.
