The GSM Association, an industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide has identified some challenges bewildering the growth of Agric technology solutions in Nigeria.
GSMA in one of its reports titled AgriTech in Nigeria: Investment opportunities and challenges, noted that though Nigeria has seen a rapid growth of agritech companies offering digital solutions aiming to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and to improve their livelihoods, business environment, an ecosystem unable to support long-term growth remain a challenge.
The report noted that while some agritech start-ups have transitioned into established companies, only a handful have scaled owing to the barriers such as low levels of agricultural knowledge and skills, and limited access to and awareness of funding opportunities. It also disclosed that the funders that are active in the Nigerian agritech space include incubators, accelerators, angel investors and donors, all of which tend to invest during early funding stages.
Despite this, Nigerian agritech companies face three major funding gaps: limited availability of local capital, a lack of institutional investors investing in agritech and an inability to attract big-ticket investments.
The report offers a landscape of the evolution of agritech investment in Nigeria, and the role played by different investors in the growth of the sector. It also shares investment trends in Nigerian agritech, identifying possible opportunities for agritech companies to grow further and how investment could “crowd in” additional resources.
