Nigerian company to develop e-wallet solution for Afghan government

An indigenous technology firm, Cellulant, has been engaged by the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock, in Afghanistan, to commence the process of establishing a market-based input distribution technology for it.

The collaborative effort is aimed at bolstering Afghanistan’s drive for self-sufficiency in wheat production. Afghanistan will be the first country in Asia to adopt the e-wallet system, following the footsteps of countries like Liberia and Togo.

Beyond its benefits to Afghan, the development is a testimony of Nigerians innovation and creativity in providing IT solutions not only for the Nigerian market but also for export.

The technology had enabled Nigeria to increase its food production by an average of 21 million metric tonnes annually between 2012 and 2015. Cellulant had previously exported the technology to other African countries in Francophone and Anglophone Africa, such as Liberia, Togo, Uganda, and a host of others.

Speaking on the partnership with the Afghan Government, the Co- founder, Cellulant Corporation, Bolaji Akinboro, said the technology originating from Nigeria, “is a gift from Cellulant to humanity.”

‘‘Afghanistan is beautiful to us, and we are glad to come all the way from Africa, Nigeria to make life better for the smallholder farmer in Afghanistan,” he stated.

According to him, the AgriKore technology gives smallholder farmers access to agricultural inputs of improved varieties/breeds, fertiliser and agro-chemicals, making it the backbone of increased productivity and profitability.

“This technology allows the best available seeds and fertiliser get into the hands of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers to raise crop yields,” he said.

Akinboro appreciated the government and the people of Afghanistan for giving the company the opportunity, and the space to participate in making life better for smallholder farmers.

He said, “Cellulant is driven to solve difficult problems on use of payment technology. We will work with the government of Afghanistan to get inputs to one million farmers in the next 90 to 120 days.

“This e-wallet system, which works on a block chain technology, provides a holistic system to link the farmers to agricultural inputs supply chain, finance and markets through integration with mobile network operators, input markets, extensions services, financial service providers, commodity market, and insurance service providers.”

“So far, Cellulant’s e-wallet or AgriKore ecosystem, which connects everyone to everything in agriculture all the time, has been of benefits to 17 million farmers, 2500 agri-businesses; 800 e-extension workers and over 2,500 service points in Nigeria. This technology enables more than five million farmers to get access to high quality inputs every year,” Akinboro explained.

The e-wallet system was conceived in Nigeria, and was first implemented during the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration under former Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who is currently the President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB).