TECHDIGEST – HerVest, a social enterprise dedicated to providing financial inclusion for women through a Gender Lens Investment (GLI) approach and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched a social initiative dedicated to the training of female farmers on agronomy and financial literacy across key Nigerian states.

The social initiative tagged Fund a Female Farmer has touched 2,680 women farmers across five key Nigerian states – Benue, Oyo, Niger, Kaduna and Kwara – in a bid to increase agricultural productivity and yield among smallholder female farmers through expert knowledge and applied best practices covering rice, maize, and soya beans production.

So far, the 2,680 smallholder women farmers who have benefited from the intensive, standardized training outreach backed by the USAID funding boost to HerVest are from Benue State (200); Oyo State (260); Niger State (250); Kaduna State (970) and Kwara State (1,000).

Out of the 2,680 smallholder women farmers who have undergone the USAID funded training, HerVest at the completion of the exercise, has provided financing to 500 smallholder women farmers, with plans underway to finance all the female farmers by end of Q2 2022.

Commenting on the development, Solape Akinpelu, the CEO and Co-founder, HerVest, said; “We are pleased with the successes we have achieved in impacting more Nigerian women farmers through the boost from USAID especially as it helps put more of the smallholder women farmers through the best agronomy practices in the wake of current economic realities. The need to train and finance smallholder female farmers in Nigeria is very critical at this stage of economic recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic.”

She added that; “At the end of the first phase of the exercise, 85% of 2,680 female farmers have expressed increased knowledge on agronomy and financial literacy. This has further renewed our commitment to ensuring more of these women farmers have the right information at all times to help them make better business decisions.”

For the actualisation of this laudable target-specific training programme, HerVest has secured partnerships with state and local government agencies and private organisations such as Kwara State Government; Cofarms Limited; Farming Cooperatives; Olam; Labana rice and Chi Farms in a bid for an inclusive effort to reach more women at all levels.

HerVest is an inclusive digital platform that provides financial growth services to underserved and excluded African women through target savings, impact investing and credit financing- specifically for women farmers in Nigeria.

So far, HerVest has impacted over 5,000 thousand female farmers across Borno, Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Niger, Oyo, Kwara, and Ogun States.

HerVest has over 20,000 women community members achieving financial wellness through competitive returns on target savings, agro investments, and gender-driven financial literacy resources.

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TECHDIGEST – A Nigerian tech entrepreneur, Joel Popoola, has been appointed to head the Special Interest Group (SIG) task force of the United Kingdom Institute of Directors (IoD) to improve trading ties between Africa and the United Kingdom.

Popoola, a digital democracy campaigner and the creator of the Rate Your Leader app, is to lead a Special Interest Group for Africa established by the UK Institute of Directors (IoD) – one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious business leader groups.

According to him, the IoD Africa SIG will stimulate business opportunities, increase networking, and grow awareness of British businesses in Africa and African businesses in Britain.

The IoD Africa SIG will be launched in London on May 19, 2022, with all African diplomatic missions and some heads of state expected to attend.

In a statement, Popoola stated that prior to the launch, serious bi-monthly online roundtables would be held to discuss post-COVID-19 and Brexit business opportunities for UK and African businesses.

The UK Government has already negotiated eight free trade agreements with African countries and trading blocs since Brexit, creating tariff and duty-free trade between Britain and 30 African nations. This promises significant opportunities for African consumers and companies, not least in 24 English speaking countries.

Popoola in the statement said: “One UK parliamentary report recently noted that UK-Africa trade has ‘flat-lined’ and accounts for just 2.5 percent of all UK trade. But before the COVID-19 outbreak, the world’s five fastest-growing economies were all African, and regional leaders like South Africa and Nigeria are likely to become superpowers of the global economy as we move towards the second half of this century. More needs to be done on both sides to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.

“As one of the world’s most influential and established business leader forums with royal endorsement dating back to 1906, the Institute of Directors is the ideal forum to develop opportunities for UK-based firms that want to establish and grow new business in Africa and vice versa.

“As a proud African, and on a personal note, I hope the establishment of this Special Interest Group will come to be seen as an important step to a free trade agreement between my country, Nigeria and the United Kingdom”, he concluded.

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