Nigeria’s Private Commodities Exchange, AFEX Aims to Raise $50m

Some special news hit the fund-raising ecosystem in the past week as AFEX, a commodities market player in Nigeria, announced a $26.5 million dollar commitment from British International Investment into its business. Alongside that news was a declaration of the firm’s intention to raise $50 million to drive significant growth in the food systems of Nigeria and Africa.

AFEX had its start in Nigeria about 9 years ago, with a very resounding vision from founding investors – Tony Elumelu, Nicholas Berggruen, and Jendayi Frazer.
The business has continued to grow in leaps and bounds as it works to transform the agriculture sector on the continent. Recent reports have shown significant progress on this journey; from impacting over 450,000 smallholder farmers to raising over $400 million in funds for the agriculture sector on the continent through a mixture of commodity backed instruments.

This recent report shows that the business has no intention of slowing down, and Group Chief Executive Officer of AFEX, Ayodeji Balogun, continues to show incredible daring in tackling challenges in the space.

AFEX’s adventure is just starting and truly embodies the concept of Africapitalism, spearheaded by Tony Elumelu, which can be simplified as a way to wake up Africa’s economy by relying on local and private businesses. With plans announced to expand into 9 African markets over a timeline of 10 years, AFEX is focused on a big goal of intra-Africa trade coordination.

Ayodeji Balogun and the larger team at AFEX are inching towards these large goals little by little and the achievements recorded by the team will always give cause to celebrate, not only because of the home grown success story, but because of the organization’s contributions to food security.