Aceli Africa is a market catalyst mobilizing private capital for small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector. Aceli offers financial incentives for commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, and international social lenders so they can overcome the high risks and transaction costs of lending to agricultural SMEs in Sub- Saharan Africa.
Since launching in September 2020 in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, Aceli has provided incentives for 713 loans totaling $84M to agricultural SMEs that collectively purchase crops from 429k farmers and employ 16k full-time workers. More than half of these loans are going to first-time borrowers and the impact profile of the loans exceeds targets for most priority categories.
Aceli aims to fill a dual void by testing and iterating solutions to address a longstanding market gap, while simultaneously building the evidence base for what works in the agri-SME finance sector. This Y2 Learning Report seeks to provide continuous improvement of the Aceli approach and contribute to sector learning.
