By Obiabin Onukwugha
Female agribusiness entrepreneurs in Africa have blamed the stunted growth of their businesses on inaccessibility of bank loans to finance the farm-to-market process.
This challenge was revealed by a study by the International Trade Centre (ITC), quoted by the FAO report, which says over 70 percent of women-led businesses in Africa have insufficient access to financial services.
The report said African women consistently face structural barriers that hinder their economic potential and impact their business operations in agrifood systems.
Two of such agripreneurs, Augustina Akosua Asor Tufuor in Ghana and Asma Begum Mirza, in Nigeria, were captured in the FAO report.
“I witnessed firsthand how these farmers, most of whom were small-scale and women, would leave heaps of produce, mainly plantains, cassava and sweet potatoes, simply because they did not have available buyers and the cost of transporting back to their villages was very high,” the FAO report quoted Augustina as complaining.
“That would leave them with massive losses,” she lamented.
With her own savings and family support, Augustina founded her agribusiness enterprise, but the expansion of the business was incapacitated by lack of access to finance, as even traditional financial institutions were reluctant to support a small, woman-led venture.
“When we first approached bankers for a loan, we were asked to make a deposit of GHS 20 000 (approximately USD 1 200) even before getting the amount we requested,” she lamented, adding, “We also had to get a professional evaluator to evaluate our business, which was expensive. Then there was the high interest rate which was over 36 percent.”
Asma Begum Mirza, 61, a female Nigerian agripreneur, according to the report, also suffer the inability to access loans.
However, worsening security conditions in northern Nigeria soon disrupted her business. But this did not stop her.
“After about two years of successfully growing rice, it started becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to go to the farm because of security problems,” she says.
She was eventually forced to relocate, leaving her rice farm behind and starting a new farm near Abuja. However, in doing so, she lost most of her customers.
Like Augustina, Asma Begum Mirza, faced significant barriers in securing loans as she tried to rebuild her business, the report said.
“High-interest rates and collateral requirements made it almost impossible to buy appropriate machines for commercial production, and her (Asma) growth remained stifled,” the FAO report revealed.
In 2023, both Augustina and Asma participated in Business and Investment Readiness Bootcamps offered by the project in their countries, which changed their fortunes.
