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Monday,
December 16, 2019 / 08:00AM / AFEX Nigeria / Header Image Credit: AFEX Nigeria
AFEX Commodities Exchange
Limited (AFEX), a market leading commodity exchange in Nigeria, today announced
it has secured an investment for an undisclosed amount from Consonance
Investment Managers, a Sub-Saharan Africa focused early-stage and growth
investment firm.
The funds will be used to
increase liquidity of the commodity markets, and strengthen operations and
technology systems. AFEX will ease the access of retail and institutional
investors to the commodity markets in Nigeria by deploying its established infrastructure
to securitize agricultural products, ensuring efficient and transparent
clearing and settlement. With more participation in the sector, more innovative
products will be listed over time, translating to growth for Nigeria's capital
market and increased funds being directed towards the agricultural sector in
the country. This key part of AFEX's operations requires the deployment of
funds towards market sensitization, training and product development.
To support the growth and
stability of its systems, AFEX will also continue to build out technology
solutions that support traceability: covering activities all the way from the
financial inclusion of producers, through the outreach operations, and AFEX's
warehouse receipt system, to a trading platform that fosters shared prosperity
between producers, processors and investors.
"We are delighted to
welcome Consonance Investment Managers as partners on this journey. The future
requires AFEX to provide our infrastructure as a service to the market and
unlock capital for the agriculture sector in Nigeria. We will grow our
operations ten-fold over the next five years; we also aspire to increase
funding to agriculture in Nigeria from about NGN 500bn (USD 1.5bn) to more than
NGN 2tn (USD 7.5bn) by 2025" said Ayodeji Balogun, AFEX CEO.
"We are proud to support Ayodeji and the AFEX team in their mission to transform Nigeria's agricultural sector. AFEX increases trust and transparency in local agricultural supply chains by connecting farmers to market. AFEX has established the infrastructure which will undergird Nigeria's food security agenda and the Central Bank of Nigeria's economic diversification program. It will also be vital in deepening capital markets in line with the mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria," said Mobolaji Adeoye, Managing Partner at Consonance Investment Managers.
About AFEX
Since its founding in
2014, AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited (AFEX) has developed and deployed a
viable commodities exchange model for the West African market. AFEX has built a
strong supply chain infrastructure to support the securitization of
agricultural products.
AFEX operates 45
warehouses in Nigeria's key grain-producing areas and accounts for 100,000 MT
of total national storage capacity. Since 2014, the exchange has reached
106,000 farmers and traded 126,400 MT of commodities with a total turnover of
NGN14.1bn.
AFEX's mission is to
support Africa's food security while promoting fair exchange of value among
players in agricultural value chains. To achieve this goal, AFEX looks to drive
financial inclusion for rural communities, develop technology for data
collection and market access and introduce products that derisk the sector and
enable the deployment of capital.
About Consonance
Investment Managers
Consonance Investment
Managers invests in early-stage and growing businesses across sub-Saharan
Africa. Consonance backs entrepreneurs who are building large and profitable
enterprises that create systems to enable national wealth creation. It focuses
on the following sectors and themes: Access to wealth creation, financial and
capital markets infrastructure, access to essential services (education, health
& power), culture and media, logistics and mobility, retail at scale, food
and its distribution systems and technology infrastructure services.
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