Nigeria’s ThriveAgric, Heifer International to promote financial inclusion. 2 other stories and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today.

1. Nigeria’s ThriveAgric, Heifer International to promote financial inclusion

ThriveAgric, a Nigerian agri-tech company, has joined forces with Heifer International to introduce the AYuTe Project, an initiative aimed at providing financial inclusion opportunities for 125,000 smallholder farmers.

Established in 2017 and in full operation since 2018, ThriveAgric plays a pivotal role in enabling Nigerian farmers to sell their produce to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and food processors.

The company leverages its proprietary technology to facilitate access to financing while also enhancing productivity and sales to bolster food security.

ThriveAgric employs an agricultural operating system, which operates offline, utilizes USSD messaging for farmer communication, and empowers field agents with Android apps to digitally profile creditworthy farmers and collect relevant agricultural data.

Having secured a debt funding round of US$56.4 million from local commercial banks and institutional investors in March 2022, ThriveAgric has now partnered with Heifer International.

This partnership will focus on enabling 125,000 smallholder farmers across eight northern Nigerian states, including Adamawa, Gombe, Yobe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Bauchi, to open bank accounts within the next year.

Ayodeji Arikawe, co-founder at ThriveAgric, expressed the company’s commitment to empowering smallholder farmers and their communities.

He noted, “By connecting smallholder farmers to the formal financial economy, we are positioning them for better access to finance, credit, digital services, and introducing them to the formal economy, which has numerous other benefits in the long run.

“We are excited about this initiative we’re undertaking with Heifer International through the AYuTe Africa Challenge and for the long-term impact of this strategic partnership with VISA towards the creation of job opportunities, financial and social inclusion.

“Our unwavering commitment to positively impact smallholder farmers and their immediate communities across Africa will become even more evident through this project, as we power toward our goal of developing the largest network of profitable farmers in Africa.”

Trivia: What unit of measurement is equal to 1,000 megahertz?

A. Kilohertz

B. Gigahertz

C. Terahertz

D. Petahertz

Find answer below

2. Nigeria to train 3m tech talents by 2027

The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has unveiled plans to train 3 million tech talents over the next four years.

Speaking at TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference, Bosun outlined a model designed to make a significant impact on the country’s digital economy.

Dr. Tijani explained that the initiative would kick off by training 1% of the target, which totals 30,000 individuals, within the first three months.

According to the Minister, the prototype phase will set the stage for a more extensive 10% pilot stage.

The selection process for the initial training phase is expected to extend across all 36 states of the Federation, establishing a robust talent pipeline for the country’s thriving tech ecosystem.

Nigeria’s digital economy has notably attracted over $4.4 billion in investments over the past four years, signifying a robust and growing sector.

Commenting on the development, Juliet Ehimuan, former director of Google West Africa, highlighted the need for collaborative efforts between stakeholders, with the Nigeria Startup Act serving as a significant bridge between policymakers and practitioners in the country’s tech landscape.

3. MDisrupt closes Investment from Mindshift Capital

MDisrupt, a leading US health technology expert marketplace, has announced closing a $3 million in seed funding, with the United Arab Emirates and US-based gender-lens venture capital fund Mindshift Capital participating in this funding round, alongside international venture capital firms.

Founded in 2020 by Egyptian-American Ruby Gadelrab, MDisrupt operates a marketplace connecting health technology and life science companies with carefully vetted health experts.

This new funding infusion will enable MDisrupt to expand its client base and expedite the launch of its Expert Marketplace platform.

The gender-lens venture capital fund, Mindshift Capital, is among the investors in this $3 million seed funding round, joining a consortium of prominent tech and healthcare venture capital firms.

The leading consortium includes The Venture Collective (TVC), Capita3, 3plus VC, Geek Ventures, The BFM Fund, Zane Venture Fund, Emmeline Ventures, and Growth Factory.

This funding boost will empower MDisrupt to broaden its client portfolio and swiftly introduce its Expert Marketplace platform, facilitating on-demand access to a select group of highly skilled clinicians and experienced health experts for the health technology and life science sectors.

Established by Ruby Gadelrab in 2020, MDisrupt operates as a health expert marketplace, linking innovators with verified and handpicked health experts who assist in the rapid and responsible development, commercialization, and scaling of health-related products.

Heather Henyon, Founding Partner of Mindshift Capital, expressed enthusiasm for supporting Ruby and the formidable team she has assembled at MDisrupt.

Ruby Gadelrab, CEO and founder of MDisrupt, also expressed excitement about Mindshift Capital’s participation in this round and welcomed their expertise and dedication to health technology.

Trivia Answer: Gigahertz

A gigahertz (GHz) is a unit of measurement for frequency, equal to 1,000,000,000 hertz (Hz) or 1,000 megahertz (MHz). Since one hertz means that something cycles at a frequency of once per second, one gigahertz means that whatever is being measured cycles one billion times per second.

While it can measure anything that repeats within that range, in the context of computers and electronics it often refers to the speed of a computer’s processor or the radio frequency of Wi-Fi and other wireless communication.

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