Aceli Africa Inc

ACELI INCENTIVISES INCREMENTAL LENDING TO SMES TO THE LEAST SERVED MARKET SEGMENTS.

INCREASE LENDING TO INCLUSIVE AGRICULTURAL SMESACELI AFRICA'S TARGET IS TO UNLOCK $600M IN PRIVATE SECTOR LENDING FOR INCLUSIVE AGRICULTURAL SMES IN EAST AFRICA THROUGH YEAR-END 2025. WITH ACCESS TO LENDING, AGRICULTURAL SMES CAN DRIVE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTIVITY AND MARKET ACCESS OF SMALLHOLDERS, WHILE CREATING JOBS ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN.IN THE FIRST 16 MONTHS OF OPERATIONS (SEPT 2020-DECEMBER 2021), ACELI REGISTERED 281 LOANS TOTALING $34M WITH 20 LENDERS ACROSS KENYA RWANDA, TANZANIA, AND UGANDA. THE ENTERPRISES RECEIVING THESE LOANS CREATE MARKET ACCESS FOR 255K SMALLHOLDER FARMERS AND EMPLOY 5.2K FULL-TIME WORKERS. OF THESE LOANS, 141 (50%) ARE TO NEW BORROWERS (DEFINED AS NOT HAVING RECEIVED A LOAN OF $25K+ FROM ANY LENDER IN THE PRIOR THREE YEARS), 184 (65%) QUALIFY FOR THE GENDER INCLUSION IMPACT BONUS, 164 (58%) QUALIFY FOR THE FOOD SECURITY IMPACT BONUS, AND 63 (22%) QUALIFY FOR THE CLIMATE SMART AND RESILIENT AGRICULTURE IMPACT BONUS. AS OF DECEMBER 2021, 25 LENDERS HAD SIGNED LEGAL AGREEMENTS WITH ACELI AND AN ADDITIONAL 10 WERE IN NEGOTIATIONS OR IN THE PROCESS OF SIGNING. OF THE 25 ACCREDITED LENDERS, TWO-THIRDS ARE COMMERCIAL BANKS OR NON-BANK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS DOMICILED IN EAST AFRICA. AS OF DEC 2021, ACELI'S MAXIMUM FIRST-LOSS VALUE TOTALS $1.3M AND THE MAXIMUM ORIGINATION INCENTIVES VALUE TOTALS $1.4M, FOR 281 APPROVED LOANS TOTALING $34M. THE NEXT PAYOUT FOR LENDERS WAS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 30, 2022.EXPAND ADDRESSABLE DEMANDACELI AFRICA'S TARGET IS TO INCREASE ADDRESSABLE DEMAND BY PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO OVER 500 AGRICULTURAL SMES THROUGH YEAR END 2025 TO IMPROVE THEIR CAPACITY TO ACCESS AND MANAGE FINANCE. ACELI LAUNCHED A TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM (OCTOBER 2020 APRIL 2021) FOR 50 EARLY-STAGE AGRICULTURAL SMES WITH ANNUAL REVENUES OF $50K-500K, LIMITED ACCESS TO FINANCE, AND BASIC NEEDS IN BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. OUR PARTNER, AFRICA MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (AMI) IMPLEMENTED THE VIRTUAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - A SERIES OF SEVEN WEBINARS AND COLLABORATION IN A PEER LEARNING NETWORK - PAIRED WITH 10 HOURS OF INDIVIDUALIZED COACHING BY WYLDE INTERNATIONAL FOR THE LEADERSHIP TEAM FROM EACH AGRI-SME.ACELI RECEIVED OVER 80 APPLICATIONS FROM SMES FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE PILOT, AN OVERSUBSCRIPTION OF THE 50 SLOTS. THE SELECTED SMES WERE LOCATED ACROSS ALL FOUR FOCUS COUNTRIES WITH 13 IN TANZANIA, 17 IN UGANDA, 8 IN RWANDA, AND 12 IN KENYA. OVERALL, PARTICIPATING SMES PROVIDED POSITIVE FEEDBACK. A MAJORITY OF BUSINESS OWNERS WERE NOT ABLE TO CLEARLY DEFINE THEIR BUSINESS IDENTITY. THEY ARE NOW BETTER EQUIPPED TO DEFINE THEIR TARGET MARKET, THE MARKET OPPORTUNITY, COMPETITION LANDSCAPE, AND VALUE PROPOSITION TO CUSTOMERS. FURTHER, MORE THAN 50% OF BUSINESS OWNERS HAVE ALIGNED THEIR SALES TEAMS WITH THE RIGHT KPIS AND METRICS AIMED AT GROWING SALES AND 43% OF BUSINESSES HAVE RECORDED AN INCREASE IN REVENUE SINCE THE PROGRAM BEGAN, ATTRIBUTABLE TO INCREASE IN MARKET PENETRATION INITIATIVES AND CHANGE OF BUSINESS MODEL. AFTER THE PILOT TA COHORT, ACELI LAUNCHED 3 ADDITIONAL COHORTS WITH A CUMULATIVE 52 SMES. WE HAVE ALSO DEVELOPED AND LAUNCHED OUR TA OFFERING FOR GROWTH AND LATE-STAGE AGRICULTURAL SMES THAT HAVE OUTGROWN THE BASIC NEEDS OF EARLY-STAGE SMES BUT STILL STRUGGLE TO QUALIFY FOR AND/OR MANAGE FINANCING (ANNUAL REVENUES OF $500K-$5M). OUR OFFERING IS TARGETED TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC BARRIERS, INCLUDING INTERNAL OPERATIONS, DATA MANAGEMENT, AND MANAGERIAL CAPACITY. TECHNOSERVE HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS THE SERVICE PROVIDER FOR GROWTH-STAGE SME COHORTS. IN LIGHT OF THE DIVERGENT AND SPECIFIC NEEDS OF LATE-STAGE SMES, WE HAVE CONTRACTED SEVEN PROVIDERS ACROSS ACELI'S FOUR FOCUS COUNTRIES TO OFFER CUSTOMIZED TO TA TO LATE-STAGE SMES. INTERESTED SMES UNDERGO A DIAGNOSTIC AND ARE OFFERED A VOUCHER THAT COVERS A PORTION OF THE COST OF TA. ACELI IS PARTICULARLY FOCUSED ON THE SEGMENT OF BUSINESSES WITH REVENUES BETWEEN $500K-$5M AND A FINANCING NEED FROM $25K-500K. THIS REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN THE MARKET, AS OTHER PROGRAMS TEND TO FOCUS ON A PARTICULAR VALUE CHAIN OR STAGE IN THE VALUE CHAIN, ARE LINKED DIRECTLY TO INVESTMENT, OR ARE FOCUSED ON LARGER-TICKET SIZES.