Lekan Tobe and Dayo Aduroja
ProgramsAfrican agritech has attracted more than $1.5 billion across over 700 transactions, reflecting sustained investor interest in the sector.
Despite that level of activity, however, many agricultural innovations, particularly those led by young entrepreneurs, continue to struggle to reach a meaningful scale. The limitation is not a shortage of ideas or ambition. It stems largely from how financing is designed. Much of the funding available to agritech enterprises mirrors venture capital models designed for software companies, emphasizing rapid user growth, compressed timelines, and short exit horizons.
Agriculture operates differently. It is shaped by biological cycles, seasonal cash flows, and adoption patterns that take time to stabilize. When financial instruments are not aligned with those realities, the mismatch becomes structural rather than temporary. Recent market data underscore the imbalance.
In the first half of 2024, African agrifood and agritech ventures raised approximately $145 million, leaving the sector well behind fintech and other technology verticals. Broader market caution explains part of the slowdown, but it does not fully account for the persistent gap. Agricultural businesses continue to be financed with instruments that reward speed over durability.Youth-led enterprises experience this tension most acutely.
Many young agripreneurs are building platforms that integrate finance, advisory services, and market access directly into farming systems. They are often digitally fluent, data-driven, and closely connected to producer networks. At the same time, they frequently lack the operating track records that traditionally reassure investors.
When founders working in a biologically driven sector encounter financing structured for rapid scaling, friction is inevitable.Insights from AYuTe NextGen (Agriculture, Youth and Technology), an initiative of Heifer International, reinforce this pattern. Over five years, more than $12 million has been deployed in youth-led agribusinesses across Africa. Together, these enterprises now serve nearly 4 million smallholder farmers through financial services, extension support, mechanization and climate advisory.
Across this portfolio, a consistent pattern emerges where funding aligns with agricultural timelines and is paired with technical support, enterprise performance strengthens, and farmer-level outcomes improve alongside it. Nigeria offers practical examples.
ThriveAgric, operating at the intersection of finance, data and markets, has reached more than 269,000 farmers through digital inclusion and access-to-finance services. By linking financial products to production cycles and structured market access, the company addresses constraints that have long limited smallholder productivity.
In Kaduna State, farmer Sahadu Abdulkadril describes how access to digital finance enabled him to open a bank account, build a transaction history, and qualify for microcredit to purchase inputs. “This account shows my money history, so the company knows they can trust me with a loan,” he says. The result has been higher yields and more predictable income.
For farmers, appropriately structured financing translates directly into measurable gains. With Nigeria opening applications for this year’s AYuTe challenge, attention will understandably focus on identifying promising innovators.
What ultimately matters, however, is whether the surrounding investment ecosystem is structured to support viable enterprises beyond early recognition. Competitions can spotlight talent; sustained growth depends on long-term backing.
In this context, innovative capital should not be conflated with concessionary funding. It refers instead to alignment, blended structures, patient deployment horizons, and risk-sharing mechanisms that reflect seasonal cash flows and longer adoption cycles. Evaluation frameworks must likewise prioritize productivity, income and resilience at the farm level rather than short term user growth alone.
Across the region, youth-led agritech enterprises are advancing credible models in financial inclusion, climate resilience, and market access. What remains uneven is the availability of financing at sufficient scale and on terms suited to agricultural realities. Without that adjustment, capital flows will continue to fluctuate, and expansion will lag behind potential.
Demographic pressure, climate volatility, and global market shifts continue to test food systems across Africa.in countries such as Nigeria, where agriculture underpins rural livelihoods and national food security, the implications are immediate. Entrepreneurial capability is evident, and workable models are emerging. Whether those models mature into durable systems will depend less on ingenuity than on whether financial structures evolve to match the sector they intend to serve.
* Dr. Tobe is the Country Director, Nigeria, Heifer International and Mr. Aduroja is the Director of Youth and Innovation, Heifer International-Africa
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