Aceli Africa

We're seeking a #consultant to conduct a mid-term #evaluation of a three year, $9M funding award from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) by June 30, 2025. Candidates should have knowledge of #agricultural #finance in Africa, experience developing evaluation #reports for bilateral funders, and the ability to spend 1-2 weeks in #EastAfrica engaging Aceli staff, partners, and other stakeholders. Learn more about the scope of work and how to submit your application below. Applications are due by 5PM EST on Tuesday April 8, 2025.

This week in Nairobi, our CEO & Founder Brian Milder, and Senior Manager, Innovation & Partnerships Richard Midikira, participated in the High-Level Conference "Scaling Finance for Smallholder Farmers in Africa." Hosted by the African Development Bank Group, the Panafrican Farmers Organisation, and the Government of Kenya, the event convened agri-finance leaders from across the continent to share learning and explore solutions for increasing access to finance for smallholder farmers & agri-SMEs. On Day 1, Richard moderated a panel on “Diversifying Markets” alongside Rose Kamene Gichuki, Head of Women Banking at Family Bank, and Pauline Kamau, CEO & Founder of SOPA Supplies Ltd. Rose shared how incentives have supported Family Bank to diversify its portfolio into food crop value chains and expand its lending to women entrepreneurs like Pauline. Pauline shared how tailored technical assistance prepared her to access finance to grow her business and purchase from more smallholder farmers. Day 2 began with a keynote address from AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, who highlighted the need for bold solutions in announcing a new AfDB initiative to mobilize $10 billion for agri-finance. Brian then joined Alice Albright (former CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation) and Jules Ngankam (CEO of African Guarantee Fund) on a plenary panel “Financing the vision: an international financing facility for smallholder farmers.”? In summarizing the persistent challenge to close the agri-finance gap, Brian said, “Capital is like water - it runs downhill. Kenya government treasury bonds are paying 14% but Aceli’s data indicates that banks only earn 3% on their agri-SME lending. We need solutions that consider the full profitability equation, including transaction costs, risk, and capital costs for financial intermediaries.” Aceli Africa’s upcoming Benchmark Report will delve deeper into lender economics and also share exciting new data indicating that agri-SME lending by Aceli’s partners in East Africa doubled between 2020 and 2023.? Stay tuned! Read the article by AfDB: https://lnkd.in/dEzHnMUY Watch the full discussions here: Day 1: https://lnkd.in/daws3JSP Day 2: https://lnkd.in/dVU3eiX8 #AgriFinance #BlendedFinance #SmallHolderFarmers

As Aceli grows to meet the demand for agri-SME finance, we're #hiring for two positions: Manager, Financial Incentive Operations based in #Kenya to join our Product team. We’re looking for professionals with 8-10 years of experience in #finance #operations #product management, with a strong track record in process optimization and stakeholder engagement. Interested? Learn more and apply today ?? https://lnkd.in/eahBiiBU

We're #hiring for a Manager, Financial Incentive Operations based in #Kenya to join our Product team. At Aceli Africa, incentives are our strategic lever for supporting private-sector lending to #agriSMEs. The Manager will be responsible for optimizing and improving our end-to-end loan review and incentive processes, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. This role demands a strategic approach to standardizing workflows and leveraging data and technological solutions to enhance Aceli’s product incentive operations. We’re looking for professionals with 8-10 years of experience in #finance, #operations, or #product management, with a strong track record in process optimization and stakeholder engagement. Interested? Learn more and apply today ?? https://lnkd.in/eahBiiBU

We're #hiring for a Senior Associate, Monitoring & Evaluation based in #Kenya to join our Impact & Learning team. This role is key to ensuring evidence-based decision-making at Aceli Africa. The Senior Associate will support the evaluation of Aceli’s Financial Incentives and Technical Assistance program, track key performance indicators, and engage lenders across East and Southern Africa on #ESG and #Impact criteria. We’re looking for professionals with 7+ years of experience in M&E, agri finance, or program evaluation, who are committed to social impact, farmer livelihoods, and food security. ?? Ready to make a difference? Apply now: https://lnkd.in/e-SsKJqu

We're #hiring for a Fellow based in #Kenya to join our Product team. Incentives are Aceli’s primary “product” offering and are used to unlock increased private sector lending to #agricultural #SMEs. Our Product team plays a critical role in managing the incentives program, ensuring that loans are aligned with Aceli’s impact criteria, and that lenders receive appropriate and timely payouts. This role is ideal for fresh graduates with a #finance, #economics, or #business background, eager to gain hands-on experience in credit review, loan evaluation, and financial decision-making. Learn more about the role and apply today: https://lnkd.in/d_7X6EGQ

The South-South Agriculture Alliance is pleased to announce Aceli Africa as one of its strategic partners. Aceli Africa brings extensive experience in mobilizing financing for higher-risk, high-impact market segments. It also facilitates technical assistance for agricultural SMEs at both the pre- and post-investment stages. This expertise will support SSAGA in advancing innovative solutions to benefit smallholder farmers across the Global South. ?????????? ?????????? ????????????? Aceli Africa (‘Aceli’) is a market catalyst building a competitive and inclusive market for agricultural SME lending. Aceli aims to mobilize $1.6 billion in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda by 2030. Aceli offers financial incentives to increase the risk appetite and defray lending costs of global and local financial institutions to make loans ranging from USD $15K-$1.5M to high-impact agricultural SMEs. Aceli’s incentives unlock lending to agri-SMEs that have limited access to finance and that improve farmer and worker livelihoods, advance gender and youth inclusion, contribute to food security and nutrition, and promote climate-smart, environmentally sustainable practices. Gates Foundation Intellecap Aceli Africa Marcella McClatchey Siddharth Chaturvedi Santosh K Singh Brian Milder Susmit Datta Amit Joshi Richard Midikira Martin Thuo Ankur Kathuria Anish Moda Amélie Desjardins

We're #hiring for three roles based in #Nairobi: 1?? A Manager of Incentive #Operations to optimize and improve Aceli's end-to-end loan review and #incentive payment processes. Learn more & apply: https://lnkd.in/eahBiiBU 2?? An Associate to join our HR & Operations team who is passionate about people development and experienced in #humanresources management.?Learn more & apply: https://lnkd.in/eyKk6qy2 3?? An Associate to join our Product team with a focus on #product #design, supporting market #research and incentive adjustment calibration. Learn more & apply: https://lnkd.in/eXY56U_t

I was pleased to participate in the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development’s Annual General Assembly in the thematic discussion on improving financing approaches for agrifood SMEs. The overall event theme, “Financing Food Systems Transformation and Rural Revitalization: Opportunities and Challenges” was a timely opportunity to coordinate the development community as it rethinks how to best leverage limited official development assistance (ODA) for food and nutrition. ? The discussions underscored the need for increased accountability, bold financing solutions, and a renewed commitment to aid effectiveness in a constrained ODA environment. ? Watch the recording of the event on the Donor Platform website?https://lnkd.in/dzycJAxB #Aceli Africa #AgriSMEs #Impact #Finance ?IFAD/Flavio Ianniello

Aceli Founder & CEO Brian Milder recently spoke with Scaling Impact Capital?author Kusi Hornberger about the journey to design and launch Aceli, and learning over the first four years of implementation. In the conversation, Brian highlights the importance of adaptability in agricultural finance, sharing insights that continue to inform Aceli’s evolving approach in the sector.?Listen to the full podcast here ?? https://bit.ly/3NpwQs7 Kusi H.