AfrikaTech went to meet Modou NS Njie, a young Gambian entrepreneur, founder of Farm Fresh, online food store and online delivery service No. 1 in The Gambia, focused on promoting local products. The entrepreneur recently won the Seedstars contest for The Gambia, where he presented his project named Money Farm.
Introduce yourself and your journey
Modou NS Njie an ICT expert with over 20 years experience as Head of IT for UNDP, Deloitte and two major banks in The Gambia. Over the past five years however, Modou transformed himself into a social entrepreneur by starting up Farm Fresh, the #1 online food store and delivery service in The Gambia, with a focus on promoting local produce and thereby securing income for local farmers and food processors. Farm Fresh has allowed Gambians from the diaspora to easily order fresh and healthy food for their families at home, earning the venture a nomination in the ‘Emerging Businesses in The Gambia’ by the Gambia Chamber of Commerce Business Gala Dinner in 2015. Current growth plans include a regional expansion to Sierra Leone, Senegal and Nigeria, and also a franchise system that would allow expatriates to become shareholders.
He recently won the SEEDSTARS Start Up competition in The Gambia where he pitched on behalf of his new start up company called Money Farm. Modou is also a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, EMPRETECO and now Seedstars ALum. He won the audience award on behalf of his company Farm Fresh at the Future Agro Challenge Global competition held in South Africa last year. He is also the proprietor of his first business venture an IT firm known as N-Web Plus which has been actively operating since 2003.
How did you get the idea to start your business?
A: I was frustrated with the fact that access to finance has been a major stumbling block for most agropreneurs especially farmers in The Gambia. Farmers often had the land but lacked funds to help them scale their business. I also noticed that the traditional lenders such as banks and MFI’s charge exorbitant interest rates for loans and also sometimes have so many red tapes and bureaucracy which would often serve as disadvantage to farmers so I was inspired to create a business model that would help farmers without all of the red tapes and bureaucracies.
Can you introduce your team ?
I am the founder and CEO , MR Ebrima Sawaneh is the Head of Finance , Mr Ebrima LK Njie is our risk analyst, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Njie as Head of Operations. More details here https://www.moneyfarm.farm/about-moneyfarm/
What is the problem solved by Money Farm ?
Money Farm is solving the problem of lack of access to finance for farmers.
What is your business model ?
Our business model centers around matching or connecting agropreneurs with investors especially those from the diaspora to help them scale their business and there is a profit sharing model in which 60% of the returns goes to the farmer, 30% to the investor and 10% stays with Money Farm. There is also quarterly site visits and reporting of progress.
What are the next steps? We are now on our way to Seedstars in Lausanne where we will be pitching at the global competition. We also hope to raise more investment funds both for the company itself and also for agropreneurs in the next 6 months. We already raised $22,000 and hope to double this within the next 6 months.
What do you need and how can Seedstars / AfrikaTech help you?
We need access to global investors who might be interested in becoming shareholders. We also need an enhancement of our existing platform using the latest technologies.
What are the contacts of the startup? Website, email, Mobile / WhatsApp, links to social networks?
www.moneyfarm.farm
Tel: Whatsapp +2203663800
Skype: nwebplus
Facebook: www.facebook.com/moneyfarmafrica
Twitter: www.twitter.com/moneyfarm3
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