Thrive Agric - Afrikan Heroes

Nigeria’s Thrive Agric Secures $56.4m Loan To Strengthen Its Farmer Base

March 26, 2022

Thrive Agric, a Nigerian technology startup focused on agriculture, secured a $56.4 million loan from banks and institutional investors to expand its operations. It entails connecting farmers with food processors and major distribution locations for agricultural products.

Uka Eje, Thrive Agric’s Managing Director

As part of its next phase of African expansion, the company, which has been functioning since 2018, also wants to penetrate the Ghanaian, Zambian, and Kenyan markets.

“This additional investment advances our aim of building the greatest network of African farmers utilizing technology to achieve food security,” stated Uka Eje, Thrive Agric’s Managing Director.

In Nigeria, smallholder farmers account for more than 80% of the agricultural sector. Access to financing, guidance, and markets continue to be significant impediments to their development.

Thrive Agric

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Nigeria’s agro-crowdfunding platform, Thrive Agric runs into more trouble

October 8, 2020

Nigeria’s agro-crowdfunding platform, Thrive Agric has come under further attacks from investors and subscribers who claim it has not lived up to the promises it made to clear its name after claims surfaced it defaulted in paying subscribers. Founded in 2017 by Uka Eje and Ayodeji Arikawe , Thrive Agric was born as an agricultural technology startup providing access to finance, premium markets, and data-driven advisory for smallholder farmers.

It could be recalled that when this issue arose in April, the company stated that it was addressing it and attributed the challenges in making payments to the pandemic and offtakers, arguing that investors understood that the company was working to resolve the complaints.

The CEO Mr. Uka Eje was quoted as saying that what was happening was “a challenge we have had to face in recent times has been managing delays of our off-takers in paying for goods delivered. This operational challenge has caused temporary delays in paying a few of our users; so what we did was to be transparent and then commit to a time period for the payments to be made. It’s really been heart-warming seeing their reception and total understanding.”

But it’s best known for its consumer-centric approach. The startup makes it easy for customers to fund farms and promises to give them profitable returns within a stated period, usually between 6 and 9 months.

Up until April this year, the company prided itself in keeping its promises; therefore it came as a surprise when a lot of complaints started surfacing. Although the three-year-old startup claims to be transparent in communication, many subscribers have recently come out to accuse the startup of being silent since they started dealing with these issues. Subscribers have spoken out against the company complaining about delays in paying out subscribers, they noted that even after a series of assurances that they would be paid, the company started avoiding calls and emails as soon as investments mature. This according to them raised a red flag suggesting that something was wrong which the company failed to warn them about.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry