The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a grant of N592 million to a Nigerian firm, LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited, to boost investment in agriculture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Oluwagbemi, Executive Partner of LoftyInc made this known in a statement on Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oluwagbemi stated that the money is a co-investment grant by the USAID-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (Trade Hub). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that the grant would be used to launch \u201cProject Sparrow,\u201d an initiative developed to reduce the risk of local and global investments in selected agribusiness and agritech companies in Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that it would help the selected companies achieve higher productivity, better returns, inclusive growth and access to \ufb01nance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough assistance provided to these companies, Project Sparrow will achieve its overall goal of supporting the improvement of Nigerian smallholder farmers\u2019 productivity and livelihoods in the U.S. Government\u2019s \u201cFeed the Future States\u201d and select value chains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProject Sparrow is expected to positively impact over 50 direct bene\ufb01ciaries and a total of 25,000 smallholder farmers while creating 4,000 jobs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oluwagbemi added that in celebration of the project and its expected outcomes, LoftyInc had hosted a kick-off launch for the project in Abuja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe event brought together all stakeholders and leaders of agribusinesses in Nigeria, and staff representing financial institutions and other businesses that will support Project Sparrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey include the Development Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority, the First City Monument Bank Plc, and Afrilabs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He assured that LoftyInc was an innovation development company that supports start-up teams, innovation enterprises and social impact projects in Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe organisation is on a mission to contribute to the enhancement of lives by creatively investing in ideas and entrepreneurs, while positively changing the broader society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAccess to funding has always posed a major challenge to innovative agric-focused start-ups and MSMEs in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe need to provide a solution to this challenge led to LoftyInc\u2019s foray into innovation acceleration, angel investment, and venture capital, as well as micro\ufb01nancing that provides various kinds of funding to novel business solutions covering various sectors of the economy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive partner said that Project Sparrow would provide incremental \ufb01nancing of 6.5 million dollars to more than 20 MSMEs, most of which will be women or youth-led. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that such support would make them better prepared for external funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Robin Wheeler, the Trade Hub\u2019s Chief of Party, said he looked forward to seeing the long-term impact Project Sparrow will have in Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Trade Hub and LotfyInc share the common goal of supporting small and medium-sized businesses to be drivers of economic growth in Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProject Sparrow represents an innovative and strategic way to accomplish this goal through not only giving high-potential companies much-needed access to finance, but the technical assistance and training needed to succeed as well. We are proud to support this project,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trade Hub is a USAID-funded initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was designed to catalyse economic growth by co-investing with the private sector to generate new investment, create new jobs, and increase the value of regional and international exports in West Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a grant of N592 million to a Nigerian firm, LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited, to boost investment in agriculture. Michael Oluwagbemi, Executive Partner of LoftyInc made this known in a statement on Monday. Oluwagbemi stated that the money is a co-investment grant by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[701,126],"tags":[832],"class_list":["post-40734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-trade-and-industry","tag-usaid","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n