Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizes Livestock Financing for African Women Farmers

Strategic Insights -

African women livestock farmers face significant barriers in accessing formal financing due to the informal nature of their livestock and the lack of reliable documentation. However, Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya, a young Congolese engineer, has developed a solution using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform animals into bankable assets. Her company, Neotex.ai, has rolled out its services in new rural areas in Kenya, registering over 1,250 head of livestock and proving the viability of its model.

Key Takeaways:

  • Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya's AI-powered solution, Halisi Livestock, uses facial recognition technology to create digital identities for livestock, providing farmers with a reliable way to count and value their herds.
  • The digital inventory serves as irrefutable proof of ownership, transforming a moving asset into a verifiable guarantee, and gives financial institutions the confidence to approve loans.
  • The "Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa" programme, supported by Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), provided strategic guidance and refinement of the product to achieve a better fit between the product and the market.
  • The company has rolled out its services in new rural areas in Kenya, registering over 1,250 head of livestock and proving the viability of its model.
  • Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya's vision is to redefine the role of rural economies in Africa and to call on financial institutions to invest in high-potential local economies, often led by women.
  • Her message to young African women dreaming of innovating is to "dare to create" and to tap into the potential of technology to reinvent sectors.

Statistics:

  • 200 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • 60 percent of these farmers are women, representing an economic force of 80-120 million rural female livestock keepers
  • Women receive only 10 percent of smallholder-targeted loans and barely 1 percent of all agricultural loans
  • An estimated 70-115 million women are effectively excluded from formal financing
  • 1,250 head of livestock registered through Neotex.ai's services in new rural areas in Kenya

Sources:

  • "World Youth Skills Day: For Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming African women livestock farmers' herds into a source of finance" (M2 COMMUNICATIONS RDATE: 15072025)
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  • African Development Bank Group (AfDB)
  • Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA)
  • APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB)