Crowd funding is the practice of funding a project by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, mostly via the Internet. It is fast becoming the preferred solution for the farmer’s primary setback which is access to funds.
There’s an increasing demand for avenues of crowd funding investment and most importantly, information about their existence, the returns they offer and how to go about it. By now we all know the enormous benefits of investing but to resound that existing knowledge, you should make a conscious decision to invest for the financial security and additional source of income it provides. Here are 2 of 5 crowd funding platforms making an impact in the agriculture sector in Ghana you should consider.
‘’ The greater goal is to stop seeing finance as a limiting factor in the agricultural space‘’
KOFI MANTEY, CEO, KWIDEX
Often described as a revolution in the agricultural sector, it affords the everyday Ghanaian an opportunity to own part of the value in agriculture. It is a two way market place that links agribusinesses to potential funders who fund these agribusinesses for an agreed return on investment benefit. What Kwidex does is to provide an avenue for any individual to invest in any of the listed projects based on his or her own analysis and affinity for risk and create impact while doing so.
“Projects on Kwidex are highly risky and anyone who gets on the platform should do so from a high risk perspective because aside all the factors you can put in place to mitigate risk i.e., finding the market sources, securing contracts and purchasing orders, purchasing some insurance packages and having all the technical knowhow, we still have some unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic and the price volatility.” The CEO stated. What we can also take from this is that the team is working around the clock to ensure all the controllable factors are dealt with. Risks are expected in every investment climate.
“We have funded over USD 500,000 in total volumes since it started in January 2019 with a 90% success rate for about 80+ projects.” What this means is that over 80+ Ghanaian agribusinesses have received funding from the general public to the tune of USD 500,000 and 90% of them have been successful. This also means there has been an impact in the various value chains associated with these projects, jobs have been created and most importantly, value.
The soon to be Pan African entity is bound to occupy a notable part of the African agricultural lending market as it directly involves the yielded monetary efforts of the ordinary Ghanaian and reduces the associated delays and bureaucracy when accessing funding especially for agricultural purposes.
It will be interesting to know the place of crypto currency and the many alternatives it presents in this agricultural journey to the greater goal.
‘’ The greater goal is to stop seeing finance as a limiting factor in the agricultural space‘’
Why Invest?
- Over 80+ projects successfully funded
- Finance support to the average agribusiness owner
- The returns on investment range from 10% to as high as 40% which is far more than any ROI offered by most of the conventional investment portfolios on the market.
- Though risky, the CEO confirms funds are returned to the funders in case of any anomaly that interferes with the project owners’ ability to pay back. Funds are returned to the project funders after a new payment plan has been communicated.
- Trusted alliances with strong brands in the agribusiness sector
- Short term or long term investment alternatives
- Lots of active projects to choose from
- Soon to be added review indicated projects where identified return projects are rated and made known to the public to better inform a contributors choice
- Ease of payment
- Flexible investment amount required. With as low as GHS 20, anyone can be a contributor.
“Our vision is to make food affordable and accessible to all”
Nana Prempeh Agyeman, CEO, grow for me.
Established on the 16th of January, 2020 the agricultural crowd funding, crowd farming and trade platform has grown into an early stage profit making business. With 691 sponsor accounts created, 416 sponsors with farms created and 205 paid sponsors, there exists sufficient proof that this system is tried and tested. Available data reveals the Crowdfund has raised USD $ 45,000 (10K first round of crowd funding and $ 35,000 in second round), 1000+ acres covered, $ 3,800 traded and 41 farmers employed. This data can only be improved upon massively in the not so distant future.
It is estimated that Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods. “Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness, World Bank report” We’re solving SDG 1 and 2 problems by creating wealth and producing more food at the same time. GFM
“Our vision is to make food affordable and accessible to all. Grow For Me will be the leading outsourced farming business for individuals and organizations in Africa providing convenience and scalability in crop production while ensuring return on stakeholder equity. We will feed the African continent.” Stated Nana Prempeh Agyeman, the CEO.
Are you a young corporate executive working in the capital city of a country in West Africa?
Do you work with a computer and love to Google things?
Do you love the idea of farming?
Do you have disposable income and have thought about farming? This is why you should invest.
WHY INVEST?
- Grow For Me has a competent board comprising Prof. Irene Susana Egyir, an Agricultural Economist with 29 years’ experience in the field, Prof. Richard Jinks Bani, a Post-Harvest Engineer with 28 years’ experience and the young creative CEO of Korbar foods, Barbara Quashigah.
- The boards combined experience is about 50+ years in agriculture.
- Competent team
- Profit margin ranging from 8% to as high as 35% for varying investment periods
- 205+ paid sponsors
- Lots of farm choices available
- High risk associated with agricultural ventures.
MORE
As part one of our two post series, we will do a follow up with the other three which will feature the likes of Complete Farmer, Agripool, Adepa Farms and the many others. Do take a critical look at the risk policy of these platforms to help inform your investment decision.
We invite suggestions for any other topics in the agriculture space you will love to be covered by All Agricgh. In the meantime, like, comment and share.