Activating the Agri-SME finance market: Learning from 2020-2025
Our Year 5 Learning Report presents our work in bridging the agricultural finance gap by providing data-driven financial incentives to 55 lenders, mobilizing $440M in private capital for high-impact SMEs that were previously deemed too risky or costly to serve. These incentives and the associated capacity building have triggered lenders to rethink their lending to the agricultural sector, intentionally target high-impact segments such as women-owned businesses and youth entrepreneurs, and to actively seek to convert their pipeline of ag-SME borrowers to bankability.
Read the executive summary and the full report here.
The report highlights strategic shifts in the market:
- Local Capital Mobilization: 96% of loans are now issued by African-domiciled banks, leveraging their local presence and currency to reach the “missing middle.”
- Institutional Buy-in: 88% of partner lenders report increased senior leadership support for agriculture, leading to specialized agri-teams and tailored financial products.
- Impact Intentionality: By lowering minimum loan sizes to $10k and rewarding high-impact loans through impact bonuses, Aceli has successfully steered capital towards gender-inclusive businesses, SMEs addressing food security (71% of loans), and farmers and enterprises with climate-smart practices.
- Capacity Building: Aceli has shifted from “pushing” training out to SMEs to a “pull” model where lenders actively request and co-fund training to build a potentially bankable pipeline.
Looking ahead, Aceli aims to mobilize $2B by 2030 while transitioning from donor-led funding to a sustainable model integrated into national African policies and central bank regulations.