Social Lender, a financial technology company, and OCP Africa, a fertiliser firm, have partnered to provide financial services to 100,000 farmers in the rural communities in Nigeria.
Over 60 per cent of smallholder farmers do not have Bank Verification Number (BVN) and are either unbanked or under-banked.
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The Country Manager, OCP Africa Fertilizers Nigeria, Caleb Usoh, said in a statement on Tuesday that the aim of the partnership “is to ensure financial inclusion of a larger percentage of smallholder farmers in the country through BVN registration and financial literacy training.”
According to Usoh, the collaborative effort would alleviate their sufferings and help them to improve their lives.
“This has boosted the partnership and is reflected in the increased number of beneficiaries who have accessed the services on offer,” Usoh also said.
The partnership would allow Social Lender the opportunity to leverage OCP Africa’s existing 51 retail input distribution hubs called the One Stop Shop, which are spread across rural farming communities in Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer of Social Lender Faith Adesemowo reiterated the importance of the partnership by inviting other organisations interested in serving the huge market segment to collaborate with her firm.
“Working with EFINA, we have scaled to six states including two Northern states. With OCP Africa partnership, we will add 31 locations and cover 14 states,” she said.
