Aceli Africa

The Mission

Rural prosperity in Africa.

How It Works

Aceli “sweetens the deal” for commercial lenders through subsidies (including a portfolio first-loss guarantee and origination incentive) that demonstrate the viability of agricultural lending.  The beauty is that these subsidies shrink over time as banks get comfortable with agricultural lending, and as the agricultural businesses themselves get stronger and more creditworthy. They're not trying to prop up a market forever—they're trying to prove it exists.

The Dream

A burgeoning agricultural industry fueled by commercial lending unlocked by publicly funded incentives.

Why We're In

Aceli generated serious momentum over the past five years. Their incentives supported 42 lenders to provide ~3K loans worth $245M in additional agricultural lending. 62% of the businesses were first-time borrowers; more than 200 received a second loan. Borrower revenues increased 20%, and only 5% of loans defaulted. It's strong evidence that supports their thesis, and they're on their way to a lot more capital going in and a lot more successful rural businesses coming out. To create a sustainble system, they'll need to tap into public finance and influence policy at a national scale.