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
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 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 exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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