Nigerian authorities seal up Agropartnerships office

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sealed up the office of fintech company Agropartnerships.

SEC said the parent companies Farmforte Agro Allied Solutions Limited and Agropartnerships Technology Ltd are operating illegally and unlicensed to carry out investment related operations.

“These companies do not have registration of the SEC to conduct fund management activities and have been found to promise exorbitant rates of returns to lure investors. The SEC has exercised its powers under Section 13 (w) Investments and Securities Act 2007, to shut them down,” SEC said in a statement.

SEC is a government regulatory and licensing agency for local and foreign securities and investments in Nigeria.

While Agropartnerships office remains sealed, the fintech company refutes SEC’s claim that is operating illegally and unregistered with Nigerian authorities.

“We would also like to restate that Farmforte Agro Allied Solutions Limited as mentioned in the publication, is an agriculture value chain development company, focused on creating novel solutions to existing problems across Africa’s agriculture ecosystem, while transforming them to economic opportunities,” Agropartnerships said in an email to customers.

“The company is duly registered and has carried out all operations within the full provisions of the law. The company also has at no time positioned itself as an investment soliciting platform as implied in the recent statement.”

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The company said its subsidiary “Agropartnerships Technology Ltd – a digital agritech platform has also operated to consistently ensure market access to smallholder farmers within our network.”

Agropartnerships explained that “there was no regulatory framework guiding operations in the sector…at the commencement of our operations” but ensured that all their actions were “compliant with best global practices in anticipation of the SEC regulation and guidelines.”

The company said it began a licensing process in April 2020 by acquiring a fund and portfolio management license from a fund management company and immediately started the license transfer process with the SEC.

Agropartnerships assures its customers that it is working with the SEC to address the underlying challenges in order to rectify the misunderstandings that led to the closure of its office.

“We remain committed to enabling progress for all in the agriculture value chain across Africa,” Agropartnerships said.