Tingo Mobile over the weekend announced that it has provided a N3 Billion approximately USD $6.5 Million loan facility to the All farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) for the primary purpose of cultivating 3,000 hectares of new farm lands for rice and wheat production.
In a statement from the firm to journalists, the company said AFAN would also utilise part of the loan facility to accelerate the on boarding of its warehouses to the Tingo Mobile partnership with Prime Commodity Exchange (PCX) and AFAN, as part of its target to achieve a network of 80,000 warehouses in two years, as announced on April 26, 2023.
The statement stated that the new 3,000 hectares of cultivated farming land is expected to generate an additional 6,000 metric tons of wheat per annum and an additional 16,000 metric tons of rice per annum, with a combined market value of USD $17.5 million per annum.
The statement further added that the deal was first of many other planned financing and production deals with AFAN, to be expanded to cover other crop types, stressing that the arrangement would be become a very significant source of supply into both the Tingo Foods processing business, for onward supply of finished food and beverage products to domestic and international markets, and the Tingo DMCC business for direct export.
The firm noted that through AFAN’s position as the umbrella body of all 56 recognised commodities and agricultural associations in Nigeria, the extension and strengthening of the relationship between the parties is expected to be highly valuable for the overall Tingo group eco-system.
The statement stressed that AFAN’s utilisation of part of the facility to accelerate the onboarding of more warehouses to the Tingo Mobile, PCX and AFAN partnership is also expected to be very valuable to the Tingo group, as such additional warehouses not only strengthen Tingo Mobile’s infrastructure, goods handling and logistics capabilities, they also expand Tingo Food’s and Tingo DMCC’s access to produce through the right of first refusal agreement over goods received into the warehouses.
The firm pointed out that the various facets of the new financing and production agreement with AFAN are expected to have a material impact on Tingo’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals of increasing food production, improving food security, and empowering delivering financial upliftment to the farmer.
Reacting, Farouk Rabiu Mudi, President of AFAN, said that investment from the Tingo Mobile was a very important boost for Nigerian farmers.
He said the funds being provided greatly enhance the union’s ability to cultivate vast areas of agricultural land, delivering significant increases in rice and wheat production.
According to him, “Tingo Mobile’s latest commitment is indicative once again of their invaluable support towards Nigeria’s agricultural development, which we and our farmers are very grateful for.
“We look forward to the continued deepening and expansion of our relationship with Tingo Mobile as we work together to support Nigeria’s farmers and deliver mutual benefit for all parties.”
Darren Mercer, Chief Executive Officer of Tingo, said the the company was delighted to extend and further strengthen relationship with AFAN through this agreement, which support AFAN and its farmers to cultivate more land and improve crop production levels.
Mercer said, “We are not only helping Nigeria’s agricultural community, we are also generating more business for Tingo Mobile and delivering more produce to Tingo Foods and our Tingo DMCC export business. This is truly a win-win situation, and one that fits exceptionally well with our ESG commitments.
“Today’s agreement, together with the series of other such deals that we plan to execute on going forward, are yet another means for us to advance our goal of increasing food production levels, while also meaningfully increasing revenues and net earnings across a number of our businesses, which are enhanced by the synergistic attributes of our unique eco-system.
“We are also very excited about the business impact of AFAN’s commitment to allocate part of our loan facility to accelerate their onboarding of warehouses, as we expect the enlargement of the warehouse network to materially assist us to reduce crop wastage and achieve higher levels of crop utilization and again further increase the supply of produce into Tingo Foods and Tingo DMCC.”
Dozy Mmobuosi, founder of Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods, said the agreement is expected to be the start of an important further expansion of the company’s relationship with AFAN, and a major milestone in the firm ambitious strategy for increasing the food production levels of Nigeria and the wider African continent.
“I am very proud of the dominant position and highly reputable status we have achieved in Nigeria, which allows us to make a meaningful difference towards tackling food poverty and the world’s food security crisis, and towards delivering financial upliftment to farmers.
“As we build on the AFAN and PCX partnership we signed in April, and further develop the recently acquired Tingo Foods business and newly launched export business, we believe we have achieved a level of scalability in Africa’s agricultural industry that has never been seen before.
“I believe that this in turn will help us attain success as we strive towards our goal of making Africa self sufficient and a net exporter of food products,” Mmobuosi said.
