Hello Tractor, a Nigerian tractor-booking platform, has raised US$1 million in funding from Heifer International. The money will be used to finance loans for tractor purchases, which will be returned from the earnings generated by leasing the tractors out to local farmers.
Hello Tractor has launched a tracking device and software that enables farmers and tractor owners to book linked tractors directly from their phones using a tracking device and software. Farmers benefit from an essential service that was previously inaccessible to them, while fleet owners benefit from an opportunity to optimize their fleet while also reducing fuel theft and fraud. It currently serves over 500,000 small farmers across Africa, with more than 3,000 tractor and combine owners on the continent..
Heifer International, which assists farmers and local food producers to boost local economies and create sustainable livelihoods that offer a livable wage, has now committed US$1 million in funding to the project. In Nigeria, the money is being used to fund a new program called the “Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Tractor Financing for Increased Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria,” which has already enabled tractor purchases in the states of Nasarrawa, Abuja, and Enugu.
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“In order to make tractor ownership — and the consistent revenue that these machines can generate — a reality for entrepreneurs who find it difficult to obtain loans through traditional channels, we devised the PAYG program. We look at the amount of revenue tractor owners can earn rather than the amount of collateral they can put up “Hello Tractor was founded by Jehiel Oliver, who is also the company’s CEO.
It is because of Heifer that Oliver and his team are able “to extend creative financing to people who were previously labeled ‘unbankable,’ while also extending access to technology that has the potential to increase the earnings of millions of smallholder farmers throughout Africa.”
Heifer International’s Adesuwa Ifedi, senior vice president of Africa programs, explained that the PAYG model provided funding for entrepreneurs who wanted to generate jobs by capitalizing on the need for tractor services on African farms, but who did not have traditional forms of collateral.
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The youth with excellent business skills who can help revolutionize African agriculture but are generally disregarded by private equity investors, according to Ifedi, would be able to access cash as a result of the initiative.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh