In its bid to bolster the Nigerian Agriculture commodity market, Viable X, a revolutionary agribusiness tech platform has announced a milestone onboarding of 6,000 farmers generating over N100 million transactions.
This comes just as the Federal Government unveils a new sectorial policy campaign tagged Agriculture for Food and Job Plan (AFJP), a fall-out of COVID19 intervention launched by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo led Economic Sustainability Committee.
Floated two months ago specifically for farmers, traders, agripreneurs and agro-allied investors, Viable X which is licensed by the National Export Promotion Council (NEPC)-licensed offers farmers instant loan, serves as a virtual marketplace for trading in farm produce and facilitates export financing for commodity.
Taking an assessment of critical issues in the Agric economy, Adama J. Adama, Viable X’s CEO noted that a sustainable intervention by the private sector is critical in helping the Federal Government to reposition the economy after the negative impact of COVID19 on businesses.
Adama has been an initiator of game-changing agriculture initiatives since the debut of his first initiative Farm4Me, a Nigerian premium agribusiness outfit that successfully pioneered contract farming in Nigeria since 2019 till date.
Giving more insights, Adama said, “the platform was created to change the face of agribusiness in Nigeria. The level of patronage has been very encouraging with a record of over 6, 000 members enrolling on the Viable X platform in less than two months. The impact of this seen in the volume of transactions on our platform exceeding N100 Million. Our analytics show that export financing has attracted the highest patronage. For us, this is a pointer to the critical impact of Agriculture in helping to reposition the Nigerian economy following the harsh onslaught of COVID19 pandemic.”
Taking into cognizance the risks along the agriculture food chain, Adama revealed, “our platform safeguards investors’ fund with goods-in-transit and marine insurance policies from Leadway Assurance and so far. With the track records of full investment dividends to Farm4Me Investors, 50% return on investment (ROI) in four months is a bankable promise for Viable X Export Financing Investors.
According to him, the growth of the sector rests squarely on the Micro, Small and Medium Scale (MSMEs) in the Agriculture food chain. He explained how Viable X affects them, “We provide collateral-free loans, ranging from N50, 000 to N200, 000 to smallholder farmers. This intervention is turning around the fortune of those working in the sector. All that is required is three guarantors and credit history verification from a credit bureau, and a loan is granted and extendable by repayment.”
“Agriculture is a money-spinner. We are exploring innovative ways to make it attractive to Nigerians, especially, graduates. By 2030, Nigerians will now see beyond Oil and Gas and see agriculture as a viable alternative through our success story,” he concluded.
By Adenike Fagbemi
