Zowasel
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 | |
| Industry | Agritech |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Jerry Oche |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Nigeria, East Africa |
| Products | Marketplace, Alternative Finance, and Crop Pilot MRV |
| Website | Zowasel |
Zowasel is a Nigerian agri-tech and finance company. The company operates as a digital platform that links farmers and agribusinesses with domestic and international buyers.[1] The company provides tools for market access, financial services, and climate-smart reporting to support sustainable farming.[2][3]
Zowasel is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with operations in Nigeria and East Africa. Its services are available through web, mobile, and low-bandwidth channels, including mobile applications, USSD, IVR, SMS, and WhatsApp in African languages.[4]
Background
[edit]Zowasel was founded in 2014 by Jerry Oche in response to longstanding challenges facing smallholder farmers in Nigeria and other African markets, including limited access to structured markets, affordable finance, and transparent pricing.
Prior to founding Zowasel, Oche launched Growsel, a crowdfunding platform for farmers.[5] The venture was unsuccessful due to structural constraints in agricultural markets, such as unreliable buyers, fragmented supply chains, weak quality assurance systems, and poor price discovery. These challenges informed the development of Zowasel as a platform connecting farmers directly with corporate buyers.[6] The company later expanded to include embedded finance, alternative credit scoring, bio-organic input support, and climate compliance tools.[7]
Products and services
[edit]Zowasel operates a digital marketplace for agricultural products that connects farmer cooperatives and agribusinesses with buyers. Its services include purchase-order management, quality-assurance processes, logistics coordination, trade-finance facilitation and digital payments.[6]
The company developed the Alternative Credit Evaluation Scoring System (ACESS), which uses data including farm production and transaction records to support credit assessments by financial institutions.[8]
Zowasel also operates Crop Pilot MRV, a digital measurement, reporting, and verification platform designed to monitor sustainability indicators, including carbon sequestration and land-use practices, and to support supply-chain transparency and environmental reporting.[4]
Partnerships and programmes
[edit]In 2021, Zowasel announced a partnership with Solidaridad West Africa concerning oil-palm and cocoa value chains in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.[9]
The company has also participated in projects with Barry Callebaut, Guinness Nigeria, IDH and VFD Microfinance Bank relating to cocoa, sorghum and agricultural financing in Nigeria.[10][11]
In 2024, Zowasel received the Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Award from the Global Resilience Partnership.[12]
Recognitions
[edit]- 2018: Winner of Financial Inclusion Challenge (Sub-Saharan Africa) by Visa Everywhere Initiative.[13]
- 2021: WFP Zero Hunger Sprint Award.[14]
- 2024: Global Resilience Partnership Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Award.[12]
- 2024: Zowasel Kenya was honoured with the Most Promising AgTech award.
- 2025: CEO Jerry Oche recognised by Meaningful Business 100 (MB100).[15]
References
[edit]- ↑ Okojie, Josephine (19 April 2022). "Zowasel: Changing Nigeria's agric narrative through Farmers Crop Centre initiative". BusinessDay. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ↑ "How Nigerian Agritech Startup Zowasel Is Changing The Lives Of Smallholder Farmers". WeeTracker. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ↑ Quenum, Adoni Conrad. "Nigeria: Zowasel improves the agricultural value chain by leveraging tech tools". www.wearetech.africa (in French). Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- 1 2 Hopkins, Matt (20 September 2024). "IDH and Zowasel Form Partnership to Transform Nigeria's Sorghum Value Chain through Regenerative Agriculture". AgriBusiness Global. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ↑ Kruger, Danielle (18 January 2019). "AgTech startup gets software donation from Oracle NetSuite". IT News Africa | Business Technology, Telecoms and Startup News. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- 1 2 "Zowasel: How to turn Agricultural Data into Financial Access". Farmfit Playbook. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ Maritz, Jaco (28 September 2022). "Linking Nigerian farmers with buyers: Start-up taps into 'massive opportunity'". How we made it in Africa. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ↑ Partner (20 February 2024). "Zowasel Releases Alternative Credit Evaluation Scoring System To Link Smallholder Farmers With Financial Institutions". TechCabal. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ Adegbenro, Tajudeen (27 April 2021). "Zowasel partners with Solidaridad to improve Nigeria Oil Palm value chain". Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ Okojie, Josephine (2 November 2022). "Zowasel, Barry Callebaut partner on Innovative Cocoa Sustainability Programs". BusinessDay. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ↑ Okojie, Josephine (11 July 2022). "Zowasel partners VBank to support agribusinesses with credit". BusinessDay. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- 1 2 "11 initiatives leading the way in sustainable agriculture | PreventionWeb". www.preventionweb.net. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ "2 Nigerian and 1 Kenyan startup emerge winners of Visa Everywhere Initiative". 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ Jackson, Tom (9 August 2021). "Nigerian agri-tech startup Zowasel raises $100k financing from Guinness, Promasidor". Disrupt Africa. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
- ↑ "Jerry Oche". Meaningful Business. Retrieved 25 December 2025.